Planned Obsolescence, or Every New iOS Update Making iPhones Older than the Newest Model Slower

[Math889]

To be quite honest, much like how there were big performance leaps between early iPhone models, the same is true for early iPad models. Long term iOS support doesn't automatically translate to good performance on later firmware versions as evidenced by your experience with the iPad 2.

With iPhones, the 5s (7th gen) was really the first model to maintain good performance for a relatively long period. Maybe the 5 (6th gen) if you're feeling generous.

With iPads, given the much higher hardware requirements for the 2048x1536 resolution, it's not until the Air 2 (6th gen) when you reach 5s-level longevity.

It's not really so much that the Air is one of the worst iPads ever made. I've used 2, 3, 4 & Air on iOS 7, 8 & 9, and the Air definitely beats the 2&3 and is at least comparable to the 4 age/performance-wise (at least if you don't count iPad 4/iOS 6 combo). That said, hardware on the Air just isn't sufficient to handle software designed for devices with 2.5-3x CPU performance and 4x GPU performance.

IPad 4 with iOS 6 was amazing , I can say that because I ve owned an iPad 4 . Amazing experience. iPhone 5 with iOS 6 too. The 5 series aged well . Now I think when IOS 11 drops , the iPhone 6 performance will decrease.
A7 iPads are underpowered IMO

 

[trifid]

IPad 4 with iOS 6 was amazing , I can say that because I ve owned an iPad 4 . Amazing experience. iPhone 5 with iOS 6 too. The 5 series aged well . Now I think when IOS 11 drops , the iPhone 6 performance will decrease.
A7 iPads are underpowered IMO

I had that, iOS6 was a speed demon on iPad 4, the iOS7 made the keyboard lag to hell, it completely ruined the beautiful snappy feel. All thanks to transparency glass bloated UI and animations.

 

[JamesPDX]

So do you think Apple deliberately codes to make performance worse? Or perhaps its that certain features rely on hardware (such as the hardware decoders used for video or the chips built specifically to deal with a certain type of encryption) that older devices simply don't have in them?

It's STUXNET for iPhones, etc.

 

[steveOooo]

Unwrap the newest iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, and on the latest iOS version both will feel buttery smooth with zero indication of lag or a slowdown. It's a cycle every year: the newest iPhone will undoubtedly perform flawlessly on its respective iOS version that was released alongside it for at the least its first few months. Then, magically as if it was by design it'll begin to exhibit the slightest hiccups and holdups just doing menial tasks.

Sure, Apple does add new features every year to iOS that use up more resources. It's not expected that an iPhone 7 that feels absolutely smooth in every aspect today will feel the same way in five years. However, having owned every single iPhone I am confident in stating that it's doubtful it will perform or feel the same in a year from now when iOS 11 is released.

My iPhone 6s Plus like my iPhone 6 Plus before it slowly started to lag past the point of usability so much so that I had to do a factory reset. Even with a factory reset though, it still is not as buttery-smooth as it was on iOS 9 the year before. Frames are noticeably dropped even doing a UI task as basic as using Force Touch.

It's absolutely expected that Apple's newest flagship phone is buttery-smooth and that the latest iOS version is optimized for the best experience on the newest phone. But the question is whether Apple purposefully neglects to optimize to retain that smoothness on older devices. All that is immediately apparent is that Apple creates the best experience for its new software versions around its newest devices, which is totally fine. If you want the best iOS 9 experience, buy an iPhone 6s. If you want to use the newest iOS 10 to its fullest potential, buy an iPhone 7. Just don't expect either to perform as well as out-of-the-box on newer software versions after a year, even with a factory reset. Apple's not the only one doing it, and updating to a new phone every year isn't a huge hassle provided they continue adding a myriad of desirable features annually.

Pretty much this

It's in apples interest to make more advanced os that requires faster hardware.

Just keep as far back from the latest os as possible, i.e. My ipad2 still uses ios6 - some apps no longer work but it's certainly better using the iOS that was around at the time you both get it.

iPhone 4s you'd be best staying on ios6 or ios7

I now use a iPad mini 2 (£180 from refurb store, 64gb) and have ios10 - performance seems ok.

 

[rui no onna]

IPad 4 with iOS 6 was amazing, I can say that because I ve owned an iPad 4 . Amazing experience. iPhone 5 with iOS 6 too. The 5 series aged well . Now I think when IOS 11 drops , the iPhone 6 performance will decrease.
A7 iPads are underpowered IMO

I know that's why I mentioned if you don't count iPad 4/iOS 6. The A6(X)+iOS 6 combo just went really well together. The thing is if you installed iOS 7 and higher on the iPad 4, it's noticeably slower than the iPad Air.

Personally, I don't think Air+iOS 7, Air 2+iOS 8 or Pro 9.7+iOS 9 has been able to match iPad 4+iOS 6 smoothness. I guess all the effects on iOS 7+ are just too graphically demanding and I find any iPad older than Air 2 has trouble coping.

 

[Devyn89]

Every iPhone I've had when I update I don't notice many issues at all.

 

[Septembersrain]

My 5c has definitely slowed but if I think about the features they're adding on each new iteration, it's not surprising. It doesn't make the device unusable, it's just slower.

There really are only two routes, Android with sporadic updates and only to certain devices or uniformity that may slow down older devices a bit.

You can't please everyone, that's why there is options. Those who are on an older iOS, jailbreak and stop updates if you really want. On Android, if you want a newer OS there is likely a ROM port of the newest you can can flash.

 

[eyeseeyou]

Basically the circle of life for all "new" technology.