Latest software update boosts performance of older device

Jan 21, 2016 12:50 GMT  ·  By

Apple rolled out iOS 9.2.1 to fix security issues and to improve performance under certain conditions, but it turns out that the new update actually brings significant enhancements on older devices.

A YouTube video comparison between iOS 9.2.1 and 8.4.1 running on the iPhone 4s shows that the new version of the operating system makes the device faster and more responsive, with apps clearly loading more quickly than on the latest iteration of iOS 8.

Truth be told, iOS 9.2.1 takes a lot longer to load than the older version, but that’s not at all an issue, given the fact that you’re not supposed to reboot the phone too often anyway.

Improved app performance

On the other hand, 9.2.1 seems much snappier when it comes to apps, and the best two examples are the Weather and the App Store. The biggest delay on iOS 9.2.1 seems to be experienced when launching the keyboard, as it takes more time than on 8.4.1 to show up in Messaging and most likely in other applications too.

While this speed improvements is easily noticeable on iPhone 4s, it’s expected that several older devices benefit from the same performance, as Apple has spent more time optimizing the operating system for iPhone 4 and iPhone 5.

Recently, Apple got sued for slowing down older iPhone models with the iOS 9 update, with a group of approximately 100 iPhone 4s owners starting a class action against the company after their devices became almost unusable following the “forced” upgrade to the new iOS version.

It’s not yet clear if Apple has specifically tweaked 9.2.1 to address complaints it received following this lawsuit, but it’s still a good thing that older iPhone models can benefit from performance boosts too. And yet, it’s very clear that as more time passes by, it’s nearly impossible to maintain the same performance without hardware upgrades.