How Does Jailbreaking Affect Performance?

[megahertz]

I want to jailbreak for the perks but I'm not certain on how cleanly the jailbreak works with the iPhone's performance. Will it slow it down at all (Short-term and Long-term)? Is it a hassle to upgrade once 5.1 comes out?

Basically, if I jailbreak, will my iPhone be as smooth, quick, and precise as it would be in it's regular state?

 

[Mikhailov]

Unless you install an incompatible tweak, you should be just fine. I had a problem with SB Rotator, uninstalled it, and the phone worked fine after that.

You may see a small decline in battery life if you install a data heavy tweak, or something that is running constantly.

 

[labman]

for the most part yes somethings can actually make it appear faster Fakeclockup somethings can slow it down. research before hand is best. Most of us that have Jailbroken a while stick with certain tweaks. Using the KISS system Keep it Simple Stupid. BiteSMS SBsetting Folderenhancer on Infinatefolders and a few others.. some like Winterboard some don't again reserch.

 

[i hate phones]

once 5.1 comes out you can't update (without losing your jailbreak) until they release a jailbreak for 5.1.

the jailbreak itself will not affect your phones performance... it's the tweaks that can. so if you're worried about it just install things one at a time and test them first so you'll know which one is the culprit if you notice a decrease in performance.

 

[RobT]

Like others have posted, the jailbreak itself in my experience does not slow performance. What you install may impact performance.

I don't install a lot of tweaks but of what I have installed I have found Winterboard to cause the biggest hit to performance. Other tweaks, like 3GUnrestrictor, InfiniFolders, NoNewsIsGoodNews don't in my experience slow the phone down. Things like apps (PDA Net, MXTube) shouldn't impact performance at all as they aren't tweaks running all the time, they're apps that only consume resources when you're using them, (like most apps in the app store).

It also really depends on your device as well. I have an iPhone 4S and iPad 2 and they can handle what you throw at them pretty well. An iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPad (1) will struggle more with the tweaks than the newer models (obviously).

I recommend doing the jailbreak and slowly adding things over time and watch the performance. If you add something that causes a performance hit, drains the battery, or makes the phone unstable, you can usually just remove it and the problem goes away.