Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Big GUI Speed Difference between iPhone 4 and 4S?

ryanflucas

ryanflucas

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 28, 2006
146
17
Milwaukee, WI
I'm in the market for a unlocked iPhone 4, but I haven't decided if I want a 4 or 4S. I make calls, text, email, web browse the most. Simple gaming (card games). I only use the camera for snapping photos to help with price checks while shopping or snapping photos in antique shops. I have an iPad 3 with Siri now and hardly use it. I would be using it with my unlimited data plan on T-Mobile. I've used a 3GS in the past, but currently use an Android device with a custom rom.

I'm aware one is dual core while the other is single. Aside from that, do you see any big GUI speed differences between the two devices when using iOS 7? I don't think what I'm doing is going to take up massive amounts of graphic processing power.
 
There's a huge difference between iOS 7 on an iPhone 4 and 4S. IMO, I think the iPhone 4 on iOS 7 is unusable. It's pretty good on the 4S, however.

You can see my thread regarding this.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1698529/

Personally, I wouldn't buy either of them. They are old tech. Depending on what Android you have, I would keep it.

If you had to buy one though, definitely the 4S.
 
Definitely go with the 4s.

The speed difference is actually quite significant, because the A5 processor of the 4s is far superior in terms of multitasking and graphics performance. Basically, for everything you do, it will feel smoother and zippier on the 4s compared to the 4, as IOS7 itself can be quite computationally intensive, even if you just use your phone for the very basic tasks.

Also, IOS7 on the 4s gives you more features compared to the 4, such as turn-by-turn on maps, Siri and FaceTime over 3g, panorama and filters in camera.

Since you will be taking photos, the 8mp camera of the 4s will definitely be an improvement over the 5mp camera of the iphone4 as well.
 
I agree with the posts above. iOS7 on the iPhone 4 is a dog. I have the 4 running iOS7, and I HATE it. A friend has the 4S, and it runs iOS7 noticeably faster than my phone.
 
I've had every iteration of iPhone. The performance boost from 4 to 4S was astonishing in terms of noticeable/tangible performance. The downside I had going from the iPhone 4 to 4S was battery life. iPhone 4 and previous versions always had amazing battery life. Once the 4S came along, battery life is now classified as good to great. That was the price paid for getting a significant boost in performance.

At some point, the 4 will no longer be supported by iOS software. Not sure how long you plan on keeping your new phone; however, I recommend getting the newest version you can possibly afford to help future proof your investment. Therefore I say get the 4S...it's a no-brainer!
 
There's a huge GPU difference. The A5 in the 4S is about 7x faster than the A4 GPU found on the iPhone 4.
 
i wouldn't use the 4 or 4s on tmobile because it doesn't support tmobile's main 4g bands.
 
It's a massive difference. I've had a 4 all along and it's slow. I just purchased a coworkers 4s and it's much quicker. It's the difference between unbearable and quite nice.
 
Intell said:
In places where T-Mobile has refarmed their networks, 3G and 4G work just fine on all GSM 3G and 4G capable iPhones.
Click to expand...

Even in Seattle, which is one of their best markets, the pcs hspa is never as reliable and widespread as their aws hspa. It's getting their but it's just not the same thing especially if your not in a major city.
 
Go with the 4S. iOS7 on the iPhone 4 is unsuable. And not only that, the graphics on the 4S are "7x faster" and the iPhone 4 uses the same GPU as the 4 1/2 year old 3GS while pushing 2x the resolution and 4x the pixels running apps made 3 1/2 years after the phone was released.
 
I used to use a 4 on iOS7 and it was SO laggy. I then bought a 4S (Used) and performance went up by miles. It was a huge difference.

I heard iOS 7 is getting more enhancements for the 4 though to speed it up. I'm not sure what the performance is now. It was a POS at launch.
 
ryanflucas said:
I'm in the market for a unlocked iPhone 4, but I haven't decided if I want a 4 or 4S. I make calls, text, email, web browse the most. Simple gaming (card games). I only use the camera for snapping photos to help with price checks while shopping or snapping photos in antique shops. I have an iPad 3 with Siri now and hardly use it. I would be using it with my unlimited data plan on T-Mobile. I've used a 3GS in the past, but currently use an Android device with a custom rom.

I'm aware one is dual core while the other is single. Aside from that, do you see any big GUI speed differences between the two devices when using iOS 7? I don't think what I'm doing is going to take up massive amounts of graphic processing power.
Click to expand...

Guess I'm being redundant, but there's a HUGE difference between the 4 and 4s. 4 was basically the same hardware as the 3g was. The 4s isn't just dual core, it's A9 versus A8, and faster ones at that. Well over 2x the GPU power also (might be 4x, I can't remember).

Also the 4 will almost certainly be dropped from the next iOS version, which means it'll no longer be safe to use online for things like web browsing/email. I'd think the 4s will get at least one more year, since a TON of iOS hardware is based on that platform (4s, iPod Touch 5, iPad 2 and sort of 3, iPad mini).
 
Wolfpup said:
Guess I'm being redundant, but there's a HUGE difference between the 4 and 4s. 4 was basically the same hardware as the 3g was. The 4s isn't just dual core, it's A9 versus A8, and faster ones at that. Well over 2x the GPU power also (might be 4x, I can't remember).

Also the 4 will almost certainly be dropped from the next iOS version, which means it'll no longer be safe to use online for things like web browsing/email. I'd think the 4s will get at least one more year, since a TON of iOS hardware is based on that platform (4s, iPod Touch 5, iPad 2 and sort of 3, iPad mini).
Click to expand...
4 was a decent improvement over 3GS (a whole new processor architecture, and twice the memory, alone, are huge changes, not to mention camera differences, more radio bands/frequencies, etc.), and certainly quite a big one over a 3G.

Also, why wouldn't it be safe to use online especially for basic things like web browsing/email? Simply because it won't have the latest version of the OS? Plenty of devices and computers don't, and they are just fine.
 
Last edited:
C DM said:
Sorry but 4 was quite an improvement over 3GS (a whole new processor architecture
Click to expand...

No it doesn't. It uses the exact same CPU and GPU, although the CPU may have been clocked a bit faster (can't remember off hand). Both used A8s, though the clocks may have been 800 vs. 600mhz.

2x the RAM is obviously a huge deal, and obviously there are other changes, but the 3g and 4 used basically identical GPU/GPU.

Also, why wouldn't it be safe to use online especially for basic things like web browsing/email?
Click to expand...

Because it'll no longer be getting security updates. Technically even text message could be a threat, although I might just risk that, but certainly browsing the web or email is a bad idea on an unsupported OS.

Things like using the calender/netflix/Nook, etc. should be safe as they're connecting only to known good services.
 
Wolfpup said:
No it doesn't. It uses the exact same CPU and GPU, although the CPU may have been clocked a bit faster (can't remember off hand). Both used A8s, though the clocks may have been 800 vs. 600mhz.

2x the RAM is obviously a huge deal, and obviously there are other changes, but the 3g and 4 used basically identical GPU/GPU.



Because it'll no longer be getting security updates. Technically even text message could be a threat, although I might just risk that, but certainly browsing the web or email is a bad idea on an unsupported OS.

Things like using the calender/netflix/Nook, etc. should be safe as they're connecting only to known good services.
Click to expand...
Browsing, texting, or emailing on an iOS device with a recent although not the latest OS is a threat? Have there been widespread reports of virus or malware issues due to older iOS versions? Plenty more with older or even current versions of Windows or even Android and yet there's no real problem with most people using those versions either.
 
iOS 7 on iPhone 4 is beyond unusable, makes iOS 4 on iPhone 3G look reactive.

iOS 7 on iPhone 4S is usable, but not nice.

iOS 7 on iPhone 5 is OK performance-wise, but still far worse than iOS 6.

iOS 6 runs like a dream even on a 3GS, about as smooth UI-wise as iPhone 5S with iOS 7.

iOS 7 is a totally broken, laggy and buggy mess on any iPad, with stretched iPhone UIs everywhere.

iOS 7.1 is a little bit smoother than 7.0, but nothing dramatic and still much slower and buggier than iOS 6 or even Android 4.*.
 
C DM said:
Browsing, texting, or emailing on an iOS device with a recent although not the latest OS is a threat?
Click to expand...

Yes, of course.

Plenty more with older or even current versions of Windows or even Android and yet there's no real problem with most people using those versions either.
Click to expand...

The same thing applies to ALL computing systems. In the case of Windows, that's not the same thing as Microsoft continues to support older versions of Windows for years. XP was released in 2001 and is still supported, though that support ends in April of this year.

----------
deluxeshredder said:
iOS 7 on iPhone 4S is usable, but not nice.
Click to expand...

It runs fine on my iPad 2, which is the same hardware (but clocked 200MHz faster).

iOS 7 is a totally broken, laggy and buggy mess on any iPad, with stretched iPhone UIs everywhere.
Click to expand...

Works fine on my iPad 2. I have other issues with 7, interface elements that aren't as good, and they severely worsened podcast support, but it runs fine.

iOS 7.1 is a little bit smoother than 7.0, but nothing dramatic and still much slower and buggier than iOS 6 or even Android 4.*.
Click to expand...

In my experience iOS 7 is MUCH faster than Android. Android 4.x is MUCH slower than Windows RT running on the same hardware (which is sad given RT is almost just Windows 8 and far more capable than Android).
 
Wolfpup said:
Yes, of course.



The same thing applies to ALL computing systems. In the case of Windows, that's not the same thing as Microsoft continues to support older versions of Windows for years. XP was released in 2001 and is still supported, though that support ends in April of this year.

----------



It runs fine on my iPad 2, which is the same hardware (but clocked 200MHz faster).



Works fine on my iPad 2. I have other issues with 7, interface elements that aren't as good, and they severely worsened podcast support, but it runs fine.



In my experience iOS 7 is MUCH faster than Android. Android 4.x is MUCH slower than Windows RT running on the same hardware (which is sad given RT is almost just Windows 8 and far more capable than Android).
Click to expand...
While what you are saying about security is certainly sound and applicable in theory (pretty much to anything in general too), as far as iOS devices go, in actual practice, there simply hasn't been a reasonable enough threat or level of threats to warrant much, let alone significant amount of worry about using an older version of iOS. Sure, people should be vigilant, and perhaps more so with older devices, but not to the level where it's something they should see as being dangerous or suddenly think they are in a position where it's no longer safe to use online.

----------
Wolfpup said:
No it doesn't. It uses the exact same CPU and GPU, although the CPU may have been clocked a bit faster (can't remember off hand). Both used A8s, though the clocks may have been 800 vs. 600mhz.

2x the RAM is obviously a huge deal, and obviously there are other changes, but the 3g and 4 used basically identical GPU/GPU.



Because it'll no longer be getting security updates. Technically even text message could be a threat, although I might just risk that, but certainly browsing the web or email is a bad idea on an unsupported OS.

Things like using the calender/netflix/Nook, etc. should be safe as they're connecting only to known good services.
Click to expand...
Are we talking about 4 compared to 3G (as you mentioned)? If so, there are way bigger differences in play there, and they are not even close to being even basically the same. If we are talking about 4 compared to 3GS, the differences are fewer/smaller, but they still exist even when it comes to processor/GPU/memory (even though that's only part of the hardware, and not everything by far). They are not basically the same, even if some things might be close (processor), while others aren't all that close (memory, resolution, camera, radio, etc.).
 
C DM said:
While what you are saying about security is certainly sound and applicable in theory (pretty much to anything in general too), as far as iOS devices go, in actual practice, there simply hasn't been a reasonable enough threat or level of threats to warrant much, let alone significant amount of worry about using an older version of iOS. Sure, people should be vigilant, and perhaps more so with older devices, but not to the level where it's something they should see as being dangerous or suddenly think they are in a position where it's no longer safe to use online.
Click to expand...

If you want to take the risk, be my guest, but it's irresponsible to encourage others to. That's security through obscurity, which isn't security at all.

Are we talking about 4 compared to 3G (as you mentioned)? If so, there are way bigger differences in play there, and they are not even close to being even basically the same. If we are talking about 4 compared to 3GS
Click to expand...

If I said 3G I meant 3GS. 3GS and 4 used the same CPU/GPU.
 
Wolfpup said:
If you want to take the risk, be my guest, but it's irresponsible to encourage others to. That's security through obscurity, which isn't security at all.



If I said 3G I meant 3GS. 3GS and 4 used the same CPU/GPU.
Click to expand...
It comes down to reasonable threat--it doesn't really exist to be reasonable enough to just say it's plain unsafe and that's that. One extreme isn't better than the other--can't say it's completely safe, but it's not doing much good to say it's just unsafe (and imply it's basically essentially useless in that respect because of it).

As for 3GS and 4, the 3GS uses a 600 MHz Cortex-A8 (perhaps downclocked from 800 MHz, while a 4 uses 1 GHz Apple A4 (even it might be downclocked to 800 MHz or slightly lower). Although Apple A4 is based on Cortex-A8 it's still not the same thing. GPU does appear to be the same. RAM is certainly increased. Factoring just those basics--CPU/GPU/RAM--there's still an overall noticeable improvement, even if it's not a huge one, meaning it's not the same thing as far as the end user is concerned, even if some of the components might be exactly the same, while most aren't (even if some of them might be similar).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back