futuremark Does Apple throttle performance for old iPhones? Futuremark settles the question

[captain_to_fire]

Source: Futuremark via ZDNet

 

Quote

A new report from tech benchmark testing firm Futuremark shows that Apple in fact does a good job of maintaining the performance of older models when it releases a new version of iOS and new hardware.

 

Futuremark's report is based on 100,000 benchmark results for seven iPhone models across iOS 9, iOS 10, and iOS 11. The results are submitted from iPhone owners who've installed its 3DMark benchmarking app. The company's chart for CPU and GPU performance of the iPhone 5s across the three versions of iOS show that performance remained consistent over time. The same was true for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s. The iPhone 7 results for iOS 10 and iOS 11 also show little difference.

"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," the firm notes.

 

Futuremark released the report in response to a recent blog that suggested iPhones did slow down after new models were releases. The blog mentioned the results of a 2014 study by a Harvard economics student, who used Google search trends to investigate 'planned obsolescence'. The student found searches for 'iPhone slow' spiked just after Apple releases a new iPhone. But as the lecturer who inspired the research noted at the time, the spike only shows that people suddenly feel that their iPhone became slower, not that it did, nor that Apple actually engages in the practice.

 

Still, there are reasons why people may feel the performance of their phone is affected after updating an existing phone with a new version of iOS.

"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," the firm explains.

Tests are based from 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme Graphics test for both iOS and Android.

 

So what causes the alleged performance degradation? Futuremark says that:

Quote

Why do searches for "iPhone slow" spike when new models are released?

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.

 

That said, there are some factors that might affect people's perception of performance after updating an older device with a newer version of iOS. 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. And then 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.

I would say that my iPad Air from 2013 doesn't run as smooth as before with iOS 7. But it only shows that it's more of a hardware issue rather than the common conspiracy theory that Apple is throttling performance. I attest though that iOS 11 is perhaps the buggiest iOS release just yet and I hated it more than iOS 7 when it was released. A lot of these older devices especially the iPhone 5s and the iPad Air only have a paltry 1 GB of RAM and it only shows that iOS has became more and more beefier as years go by not to mention a lot of these older devices start at 16 GB as base model. But then Apple is known for keeping devices updated, something that a lot of Android OEMs can't touch. But most of the performance penalties on older iPhones is because of iOS bugs especially iOS 11.0.2. 

[Hayabusa1989]

7 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

Source: Futuremark via ZDNet

 

Tests are based from 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme Graphics test for both iOS and Android.

 

So what causes the alleged performance degradation? Futuremark says that:

I would say that my iPad Air from 2013 doesn't run as smooth as before with iOS 7. But it only shows that it's more of a hardware issue rather than the common conspiracy theory that Apple is throttling performance. I attest though that iOS 11 is perhaps the buggiest iOS release just yet and I hated it more than iOS 7 when it was released. A lot of these older devices especially the iPhone 5s and the iPad Air only have a paltry 1 GB of RAM and it only shows that iOS has became more and more beefier as years go by not to mention a lot of these older devices start at 16 GB as base model. But then Apple is known for keeping devices updated, something that a lot of Android OEMs can't touch. But most of the performance penalties on older iPhones is because of iOS bugs especially iOS 11.0.2. 

looks like a gradual slowdown to me. 

[Gaurav S Rao]

On 10/10/2017 at 4:23 PM, hey_yo_ said:

Source: Futuremark via ZDNet

 

Tests are based from 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme Graphics test for both iOS and Android.

 

So what causes the alleged performance degradation? Futuremark says that:

I would say that my iPad Air from 2013 doesn't run as smooth as before with iOS 7. But it only shows that it's more of a hardware issue rather than the common conspiracy theory that Apple is throttling performance. I attest though that iOS 11 is perhaps the buggiest iOS release just yet and I hated it more than iOS 7 when it was released. A lot of these older devices especially the iPhone 5s and the iPad Air only have a paltry 1 GB of RAM and it only shows that iOS has became more and more beefier as years go by not to mention a lot of these older devices start at 16 GB as base model. But then Apple is known for keeping devices updated, something that a lot of Android OEMs can't touch. But most of the performance penalties on older iPhones is because of iOS bugs especially iOS 11.0.2. 

 

On 10/10/2017 at 4:31 PM, Hayabusa1989 said:

looks like a gradual slowdown to me. 

If about bootup times it is significantly slower

[Teddy07]

Galaxy s2 still rocking

 

I am too poor for an iphone  

[Gaurav S Rao]

On 10/10/2017 at 4:45 PM, Teddy07 said:

Galaxy s2 still rocking

 

I am too poor for an iphone  

S2? You can get better phones for 60-150$ nowardays

[Gaurav S Rao]

23 hours ago, Gaurav S Rao said:

S2? You can get better phones for 60-150$ nowardays

Also a 5s is around 150$

[Teddy07]

2 minutes ago, Gaurav S Rao said:

S2? You can get better phones for 60-150$ nowardays

That is true but I have to spend money and why should I when my S2 does the job? I don't use my phone that much

[Gaurav S Rao]

On 10/10/2017 at 4:54 PM, Teddy07 said:

That is true but I have to spend money and why should I when my S2 does the job? I don't use my phone that much

oh,then you can probably run it for 20 yrs! JK! probably another 5 yrs and will be tired of it

 

[Teddy07]

8 minutes ago, Gaurav S Rao said:

oh,then you can probably run it for 20 yrs! JK! probably another 5 yrs and will be tired of it

 

It is getting slowly so maybe 1 more year and that´s enough

[Not_Jony_Ive]

The real question is: Do android updates slow down older android devices?? 

 

Spoiler

/s

[mrchow19910319]

iPhone 6 and below only has 1GB of ram or less. 

That is a huge deal today. 

[tsk]

I've been using iOS for nearly ten years now, and Apple needs to take a note from Google when it comes to making iOS run smooth. It's turning into a resource hog. I have Android 7.1 running on a Snapdragon 800 and a Snapdragon 430 device and it runs way better than iOS 10 on something like an iPad air or iPhone 5s.

[captain_to_fire]

Just now, mrchow19910319 said:

iPhone 6 and below only has 1GB of ram or less. 

That is a huge deal today. 

New iOS with a four generation old iPhone is kinda like an old Core 2 Duo and 2GB of RAM with Windows 10. 

[captain_to_fire]

Just now, tsk said:

iOS 10 on something like an iPad air or iPhone 5s.

My iPad Air ran so much better when Apple released iOS 10.3 which convert the file system from HFS+ to APFS. It’s more about bugs that haven’t been ironed out like iOS 11.0.2. 

[mrchow19910319]

Just now, hey_yo_ said:

New iOS with a four generation old iPhone is kinda like an old Core 2 Duo and 2GB of RAM with Windows 10. 

The thing I've experienced is that right after the new OS release, your phone will slow down a bit, then after a few patches down the road, apple will get rid of the bugs and inefficiency in the OS, and things will get smoother later. 

[mrchow19910319]

Just now, hey_yo_ said:

My iPad Air ran so much better when Apple released iOS 10.3 which convert the file system from HFS+ to APFS. It’s more about bugs that haven’t been ironed out like iOS 11.0.2. 

With more featured coded in, more bugs will come out. 

No way to eliminate this kind of things... it is a nature of programming. 

[captain_to_fire]

8 minutes ago, mrchow19910319 said:

The thing I've experienced is that right after the new OS release, your phone will slow down a bit, then after a few patches down the road, apple will get rid of the bugs and inefficiency in the OS, and things will get smoother later. 

This reminds me back in 2010 with the whole Antennagate brouhaha and one of its issues aside from holding the phone wrong is that bugs in iOS 4 miscalculated the signal strength so five bars actually mean two and two bars means no signal coverage at all and Apple quickly released a software update a few weeks later. I hope same goes well with iOS 11 although I think iOS 11.1 already fixes a lot of bugs according to @DrMacintosh. 

[mrchow19910319]

2 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

This reminds me back in 2010 with the whole Antennagate brouhaha and one of its issues aside from holding the phone wrong is that bugs in iOS 4 miscalculated the signal strength so five bars actually mean two and two bars means no signal coverage at all and Apple quickly released a software update a few weeks laters. I hope same goes well with iOS 11 although I think iOS 11.1 already fixes a lot of bugs according to @DrMacintosh. 

I am a pro apple person. But iOS 11 and macOS high sierra is just a fuck fest. 

If you want me to tell you all the little thingy that apple did not get it right it would take me a hour. And its gonna be pure rant. 

 

Also yeah. There were a few issues that comes out when newer gen iPhone got release to the market. 

From my own experience, iOS 11 is okay, still acceptable. macOS high sierra, PUKE. 

[Hayabusa1989]

1 hour ago, Gaurav S Rao said:

 

If about bootup times it is significantly slower

I mean the benchmarks, "new features" does not cut it for me, they are slowing going down across all of the benchmarks from launch. I honestly find it crazy that they actually get less optimized ?

[Gaurav S Rao]

23 hours ago, Hayabusa1989 said:

I mean the benchmarks, "new features" does not cut it for me, they are slowing going down across all of the benchmarks from launch. I honestly find it crazy that they actually get less optimized ?

yeah,they wanna give so many updates,make it slow (so slow) that you are forced to switch to a new device

[AlTech]

Since when did we trust Futuremark about mobile device performance?

 

On Mobile, Futuremark's products in my experience have been almost as bad as Geekbench.

[Hayabusa1989]

Just now, Gaurav S Rao said:

yeah,they wanna give so many updates,make it slow (so slow) that you are forced to switch to a new device

Yeah, It's how i see it honestly its Gradual sure, but its still a downwards slope. When do you ever see a device get worse with updates, Seems Bizarre. 

[Gaurav S Rao]

updates add more features,well now the only thing in updates is they add a feature of making your phone slow

On 10/10/2017 at 5:53 PM, Hayabusa1989 said:

Yeah, It's how i see it honestly its Gradual sure, but its still a downwards slope. When do you ever see a device get worse with updates, Seems Bizarre. 

 

[goodtofufriday]

If a new ios version significantly  impacts performance adversly, but apple rele6it anyway, then thats planned obsolescence. 

You cant tell me an iphone 4 or 5 performs as snappy as it did at launch. 

If the hardware cant provide a good experience then it shouldnt get the update. 

[captain_to_fire]

Just now, goodtofufriday said:

If the hardware cant provide a good experience then it shouldnt get the update

I actually wouldn't mind if Apple reduced their support duration from five years to just four years just to keep their devices running smoothly. 

2 minutes ago, goodtofufriday said:

You cant tell me an iphone 4 or 5 performs as snappy as it did at launch

Well the reason why the iPhone 5 will no longer receive the iOS 11 update is because iOS 11 stripped off 32-bit compatibility and the A6 chip in the iPhone 5 is a 32-bit SoC. But yes, I can tell that I hated iOS 7 when it arrived on the iPhone 5 the same reason I detest iOS 11.0.2 on my iPad Air. I think Apple should at least add more RAM to their iPhones and iPads for future proofing.