iPod touch iOS 9.1 vs 8.4 on iPT 6G

[Vansman]

Hello MacRumors forums! I have a question. I've kept my iPod touch 6g on the stock firmware (8.4) and I would like to know from those who have updated to either 9.0.1 or 9.1, whether or not they have experienced a performance/speed reduction, and if so, by what perceptible margin comparatively? Do you notice any lag or stutter? (Also, make note whether you did it from a backup, or as a fresh install.)
Thanks!

 

[OldCorpse]

Hello MacRumors forums! I have a question. I've kept my iPod touch 6g on the stock firmware (8.4) and I would like to know from those who have updated to either 9.0.1 or 9.1, whether or not they have experienced a performance/speed reduction, and if so, by what perceptible margin comparatively? Do you notice any lag or stutter? (Also, make note whether you did it from a backup, or as a fresh install.)
Thanks!

I had a similar question some time ago - see here for the responses:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/i-have-a-new-ipt6g-and-im-on-ios-8-4-should-i-upgrade.1928395/

FWIW, I'm still on 8.4 and the only thing that seems subpar is that the battery life seems pretty bad compared to my iPT5G with 8.4. I'm not in any hurry at the moment to upgrade to 9.1, but I'm keeping an eye open on possible improvements down the line 9.2 etc. At some point, I guess it'll be time to upgrade, but as of yet I don't feel under too much pressure (sure would like the battery life to be better though).

 

[Vansman]

Thanks man, I saw your thread hoping for similar feedback. I'm on the same boat with you. From what I've heard about iOS 9 running on other A8 devices, people are having system wide lag stutter and delays, I'd say it's a safe bet to wait for 9.2/9.3/9.4... I too hope the battery life can be improved through updates. If not, I have a theory. Given that the A8 chip wasn't initially designed for a 4 inch device, it may not be properly suited. It looks like Apple underclocked the A8 from 1.4ghz to 1.1ghz in order to reduce power consumption. My theory is that, despite underclocking, the A8 chip still consumes too much power relative to the amount of battery available.
Check out the numbers.
•iPod touch 6G 1043Mah
•iPhone 6 1810Mah
•iPhone 6 Plus 2915Mah

The iPod touch simply doesn't have the juice the iPhones have, so it's not performing. I'm actually thinking about buying a battery case of some sort.

 

[1961 Scout]

From my experience you have it reversed.
The performance and speed is improved. I have several touches from 3 to 6. My touch 5 has gained at least an hour in battery life and it is now much more responsive. The Touch 6 is awesome and super fast on 9...faster than my kids iPhone 6. Although the battery does drain quickly on the Touch 6...There is no reason not to upgrade in my opinion unless you have a touch 5 on 7 and enjoy the much easier to navigate music app.

 

[Vansman]

Interesting, in my last post I was simply theorizing the battery life issue users seem to be having. Your feedback regarding your performance is valuable to me. I wonder if the smaller screen has any parallel correlation to overall performance? Considering, the smaller iPhone 6 has a slightly better geekbench score than the 6 plus. I'm assuming those results are preportional to the amount of pixels an equivalent processor has to push. Interestingly, the iPod touch 6g has quite a bit lower score than both the 6 and 6 plus, actually just a bit less than the 5s! Probably due to underclocking. However, I think I think the overall responsiveness is a matter of pixels. Someone surely has more insight on this.