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Why do iPhones slow after a year

macfacts said:
So basically a lot of comments saying the thread creator is a liar. Can't be because the Apple experience is inconsistent.
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The thread creator has made him/her self appear as a liar in your eyes because instead of asking what experiences other users have had, thread creator made a blanket title statement that concluded slowdown based only on their own experience.

You should not be so judgemental of the thread creator. Many have provided plausible reasons that could slow down down any computer such as loading up with a lot of junk files, and getting near max use of storage memory, and filling the phone with potentially hundreds of tracking files by not using content blockers.

The fact that I, as well as others have not experience slow downs on our phones is simply stating fact. And doesn't mean the thread creator hasn't. We are simlpy covering plausible possibilities among which perception is one as well.
 
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smacrumon said:
From my experience iOS slows down when storage becomes low, which is why it's a good idea to back up the device and free up storage.

Also experienced is when updating to a new version of iOS. Even though Apple suggested iOS8 worked fine on older devices, upgrading iOS7 to iOS8 on some devices was terrible, slowing down the device.

Apple suggesting users upgrade to a new iOS version is an example of planned obsolescence in my opinion. This view is supported by the fact users can not rollback or downgrade their iOS*.
(*Except for a very small window of about a week after the new version has been released. After that Apple stops signing older versions of iOS making rolling back or downgrading not possible.)

My view is that devices with a 64 bit architecture appear to be more robust than those with older 32 bit architecture. For instance, devices with an A7 processor including iPhone 5S, iPad Air, iPad Mini 2 or later appear to be resilient from iOS7 through to iOS9. Hopefully that's still the case come iOS10.

I think the bigger question is why does Safari for iOS keep crashing when visiting the MacRumors forums.
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Use content blocker my iPhone never crashes in Safari when visiting macrumors.
 
I ran a 16gb for 3 years and a 16gb for 3 and a half years always updating to the latest iOS software fairly soon after its launched and was fine the vast majority of the time. Only major issue i had was after jailbreaking my 3GS when i assume it just got clogged up with numerous tweaks as i restored as new, did a fresh jailbreak and it was fine again.

I think i restored the 5 once from new during my time with it and once restored it ran like new again so its definitely worth doing after a while just to clean the phone up. I have my contacts, email and calendar stored with Google, didnt really care about restoring messages from 4 years ago like some folk seem to do and also just used it as a chance to clean Apps up by just putting back on what i think i need so restoring was never a big hassle for me.

I only swapped my 5 in Jan to a 6S and up to that point it was still running more than fast enough to use on a daily basis with no issues. The only reason i had to change it was i had to have a bumper case on it to hold the screen on that was peeling away from a corner crack where i'd dropped it a while ago and was gradually getting worse.
 
HEK said:
The thread creator has made him/her self appear as a liar in your eyes because instead of asking what experiences other users have had, thread creator made a blanket title statement that concluded slowdown based only on their own experience.\.
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But is that any different to your blanket statement?
His experience is certainly echo'd by my own as well as many of the people i know....

A quick google shows lots of threads around iOS 9 slow down.. in your eyes these people are all lairs too?
Its doesn't have to be a binary answer!!!!!
 
AFEPPL said:
But is that any different to your blanket statement?
His experience is certainly echo'd by my own as well as many of the people i know....

A quick google shows lots of threads around iOS 9 slow down.. in your eyes these people are all lairs too?
Its doesn't have to be a binary answer!!!!!
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Read what I wrote again. You will see I don't consider the OP a liar. I was in fact criticizing the person that brought up the "liar" statement.

I am just as valid in relating my experiences with the iPhone. I have experienced no slow down. Others have stated the same. Just because I don't automatically run with the heard saying it slows down does not make me wrong. Nor does it make me out as a person calling those that have experienced a slowdown liars.

If anyone is attempting to be polarizing and argumentative it is you. I never disputed the veracity of any of the claimants. I did offer some possible reasons some may experience slowdowns.

I do find it interesting, and call your attention to the fact that these types of threads tend to start out as one sided statements or degenerate into a push and shove contest over other brands of phones. Which does raise thoughts, in my mind at least, that there may be motivations beyond seeking answers and assistance to an issue.

As to google searches and numbers of posts. I tend to take these with a grain of salt. Topics seem to trend and then die off. So I am not so quick to form any conclusions of validity based on Internet volume. Case in point, have heard very little about bent phones after the big hullabaloo a year or so back. So either people have stopped sitting on their phones as much or perhaps it isn't the hot topic any more.

My experience in owning my and my son's iPhones has been that we have never experienced a hang up or slow down upgrading from one iOS version to another. This has been across two each of 3GS, 4S, 5S, 6 Plus, and 6S Plus. Knock on wood. This does not make me doubt other people when they say they have experienced issues. I add my experiences to lend some balance and that slow down issues are NOT universal. While this may not suit some people's agenda, it is worth stating.
 
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My point is its not binary. It's not on or off.
Different people can and do have varying experience of the same devices and software.
 
The main reason iDevices slow down are the major yearly iOS updates. They become increasingly demanding as hardware is improved and older devices start to stutter and lag -- but usually that starts after the second major release. Many people simply don't update, but of course you miss out on new features and eventually app makers stop supporting your iOS version.

Every single iDevice I have owned has started to stutter and lag by the 2nd major iOS update and it usually gets worse from there. It's incremental though and isn't always immediately apparent, which is why you can't always trust the reviews of people who recently updated their own devices. My experience with the dreaded iPad 3 was worst of all so far. It took a nosedive even after the *first* update.
 
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AFEPPL said:
My point is its not binary. It's not on or off.
Different people can and do have varying experience of the same devices and software.
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Actually it may very well be binary. These are computers. No two people will have identical apps, trackers, features turned on and off, reception, memory loading. At any given point software can hang up, applications interfere, flags get mis-set upon uploading. All it takes is a single bit to be copied incorrectly.

I do recall one of my phones slowing down once. Finally narrowed it down to wifi link to AirPort Extreme. Only the one iPhone was slow. Everything other device worked as normal. I naturally thought it was the phone. Turned out the cure was resetting the AirPort Extreme to as new and recreating my router network. Computers can be a pain in ass to debug when something goes amiss.

When something is universally wrong, it becomes evident rapidly when tens of millions of devices are updated. As has happened and apple stopped signing an update.

If this were truely a systemic problem the number of reports would be astronomical. With that said, it seems logical that as new versions of an operating system are released that encompass latest iPhone features and processor speeds this software would not run as well on older computers.

Every Windows computer I have ever owned slowed down over time. Only a lean install ever fixed it temporarily. And newer versions of Windows ran slower on my older machines. Dah, not a big surprise.

In my opinion, Apple has done the best job of any computer/software producer in keeping older devices running on newer software. Goes for iPhone, iPads and Mac computers.
 
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I dont agree with "Apple has done the best job of any computer/software producer in keeping older devices running on newer software", windows 10 shames OS X in this regards and thats well reported.

Both iOS and OS X are continuing to bloat, all of which adds to the slow down.
The fact a re-install on iOS device fixes the very public and very well known issue shows apple are no better at all.
 
AFEPPL said:
I dont agree with "Apple has done the best job of any computer/software producer in keeping older devices running on newer software", windows 10 shames OS X in this regards and thats well reported.

Both iOS and OS X are continuing to bloat, all of which adds to the slow down.
The fact a re-install on iOS device fixes the very public and very well known issue shows apple are no better at all.
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Haha. Windows 10? The OS that's so incredibly amazing that it has to annoy its users to death to install, and when that doesn't work, it schedules an install without consent and has to trick users into installing it by swapping out the function of the "X" close window button? Ok.
 
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AFEPPL said:
I dont agree with "Apple has done the best job of any computer/software producer in keeping older devices running on newer software", windows 10 shames OS X in this regards and thats well reported.

Both iOS and OS X are continuing to bloat, all of which adds to the slow down.
The fact a re-install on iOS device fixes the very public and very well known issue shows apple are no better at all.
Click to expand...
I disagree Windows 10 will not run on my older Windows machines and the old software is so bad now I junked all my windows laptops and desktop. My 7 year old MacBook pro runs latest os as does my new MacBook Pro. I'm done fooling with Windows computers and trying to keep them free of viruses spam ware and the inevitable slowdowns.
 
Actually you will find all those feature in apple products but on steroids.
Do you want to upgrade now? "no". i'll schedule that tonight? everytime you log on... pretty extreme or desperate in order to try and claim OS adoption rates!!

OS X installs updates "without" your agreement too.
All been discussed at length before. but let me guess, facts and reality can be blur'd when it comes to apples products.

HEK said:
I disagree Windows 10 will not run on my older Windows machines and the old software is so bad now I junked all my windows laptops and desktop. My 7 year old MacBook pro runs latest os as does my new MacBook Pro. I'm done fooling with Windows computers and trying to keep them free of viruses spam ware and the inevitable slowdowns.
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Strange, i just junked a 2012 mini as an iTunes server for an older PC running W10 and it totally out performs OS X and is more stable. but maybe I'm just a liar?

All well documented W10 does more with less....
Begin to sound like a religious bigot when its not all hail apple
 
AFEPPL said:
Actually you will find all those feature in apple products but on steroids.
Do you want to upgrade now? "no". i'll schedule that tonight? everytime you log on... pretty extreme or desperate in order to try and claim OS adoption rates!!

OS X installs updates "without" your agreement too.
All been discussed at length before. but let me guess, facts and reality can be blur'd when it comes to apples products.



Strange, i just junked a 2012 mini as an iTunes server for an older PC running W10 and it totally out performs OS X and is more stable. but maybe I'm just a liar?

All well documented W10 does more with less....
Begin to sound like a religious bigot when its not all hail apple
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Not well documented with me. You can site as many articles as you want. I junked all my windows crap based on my experiences with them. All my apple stuff still works fine.

I'm happy you have good experiences with what you use. Hopefully you can wish me the same. Even if all your studies say otherwise. And no need to get all upset, I don't think you are a liar.
 
I wish everyone the best, regardless of the direction they choice to go technology wise.
I dont do religious wars, I'm more than happy to share experience of all platforms good and bad.
 
I never did understand why people who decide to leave to another platform have to go out with drama. When I left Android and came back to iOS I quietly just left the AndroidCentral forums and didn't say a word.

OP on the other end has to blast his ex-girlfriend (iOS) after leaving her for someone new (samsung).
 
Never upgrade iOS. Never. Don't be tempted, no matter what. Then your phone will run as fast as when you got it.
 
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Nope - have you ever used iOS?
the prompt at EVERY logon, the prompt again even though you said no and the prompt to schedule for update tonight...

and WHO agreed apple could download it without my permission?
 
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