Report: Apple updates don't slow down older iPhones

Oct 10 2017, 9:48 pm

Every fall, like the inevitable season change, Apple releases updates which, also inevitably, results in plenty of iPhone users complaining about slower phones.

For a while, it seemed like iPhone users with older models were doomed with every iOS update. And claims were based on data that shows Google searches for “iPhone slow” spiking when new models are released.

But now data is proving that these claims are inaccurate.

According to data accumulated using over 100,000 iPhones, Futuremark shows that Apple’s updates doesn’t actually slow down phones.

“Our benchmarking data shows that, rather than intentionally degrading the performance of older models, Apple actually does a good job of supporting its older devices with regular updates that maintain a consistent level of performance across iOS versions,” reported Futuremark, a company that creates benchmarks that enable people to measure, understand and manage computer hardware performance.

iPhone 8/Apple

Their one-year analysis collected data for seven different iPhone models across three different versions of iOS.

The company says that there are “no signs of a conspiracy” when it comes to these updates.

But Futuremark did blame apps for slowing down some systems.

“There are some factors that might affect people’s perception of performance after updating an older device with a newer version of iOS,” stated the report, which indicated that sometimes an update might add new features that use more resources or require more processing power.

“New apps developed for the latest models might not run as smoothly on older devices. Conversely, apps designed for an earlier version of iOS might not take full advantage of optimizations in the latest version,” said the report.

And, probably the biggest factor in thinking the iPhone is slow, Futuremark mentions the psychological effect of a new model.

“There is always the psychological effect of knowing that there is a new and improved model available, which can make your own device seem outdated.”

Of that, we’re all guilty.

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