As mentioned in an earlier post (and at WWDC), one of the major features of the iOS update is performance. Apple has indicated that they are paying particular attention to their older devices. This is good news as iOS 12 is going to be able to run on every iPhone and iPad that could previously run iOS 11. I’m not surprised that Apple has done this, considering how much of a big deal it was when Apple released the last update. You might remember it – some are even referring to it as #BatteryGate – and rightfully so. People had to either replace their battery or upgrade to a new one iPhone altogether as the performance on older iPhones slowed down. Which is why it is no surprise that Apple is getting out in front of this one now.
Apple is anticipating system-wide gains, quicker app launches, and easier scrolling. Of course, the internet is being flooded with iOS speed test videos and the good news – there are promising results. The one key piece of information that I think is necessary to understand is that they are estimating apps to launch 40% faster. That’s a big jump, isn’t it? Apple is also saying that the keyboard will load about 1.5x faster and have the ability to be more responsive to what you’re typing. What might be the clincher for me is that they are also estimating that the camera will activate 70% faster from the lock screen – specifically on the iPhone 6 Plus.
I say clincher, not because I have an iPhone 6 Plus, but because that whole feature needs some updates. What does this mean, overall? Well, to start we need to take into consideration that the current version of iOS 12 that people have right now is only beta 1. Meaning, if there are bugs, this is the time to find them. What’s important here is that people are already seeing improvements with iOS 12 beta 1, then they were with some shipping versions of iOS 11.4. That’s sad, and likely why Apple was running into all those issues last year. That’s not to say that there aren’t some glitches – that’s just the way it is with a beta product. I mean, that’s why it’s released in beta, to begin with. The number of issues thus far are minimal compared to what we saw with iOS 11. I have always said why ship it, if it’s that bad, to begin with? But who am I to make these statements, after all?
Apple’s newer devices are seeing noticeable improvements like more responsive scrolling, but the big wins are on older iPhones and iPads like iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s. I am not trying to sound elitist with this statement, but I’ve made it before. I understand why people hang onto older hardware, but at the same time, it can only survive for so long before it’s no longer able to be updated. That’s just the way it is. That said, the oldest supported iOS 12 device is the iPhone 5s. If you’re still using a 5s, I encourage you to upgrade because I think you’ll love it. I really do. But, if you can’t bring yourself to do it, now you will at least be able to enjoy iOS 12 without any slowdowns or issues, like #BatteryGate.