When Apple rolled out iOS 8 a few months ago, it seems that many iPhone 4S owners were advised to not bother with the update due to performance issues. It was found that the update to iOS 8 slowed the device down considerably, but with iOS 8.1.1, Apple is claiming that this should breathe some new life into older devices, the iPhone 4S included.
So the question is, is this for real or is it just Apple talking big? Well the folks at Ars Technica decided to put it to the test (they also did the initial test for iOS 8 on the iPhone 4S) and found out that there really were performance improvements post-iOS 8.1.1. As you can see in the table above, they compare how long it takes for apps to launch on the iPhone 4S.
They compare it against iOS 7.1.2, followed by the GM build of iOS 8, and then iOS 8.1.1. For the most part it looks like Apple has made some slight improvements, most noticeably with Safari which used to take 2.16 seconds to load on iOS 8, but now loads at 1.85 seconds. Oddly enough in some cases some apps actually took longer to load with iOS 8.1.1, albeit by a few seconds.
So should iPhone 4S owners still bother with the update? While it does shave off a few seconds here and there, it’s still considerably slower than iOS 7.1.2 and that’s something worth thinking about, but if you think the difference in seconds is worth updating, then go for it.