Last week, Apple released the iOS 9.2 with a plethora of new features and bug fixes to the public. It brings a new Top Stories section to Apple News, a Download button in Apple Music to save songs for offline listening, and tweaks to Safari View Controller. It is a 250MB download. It is compatible with the iPhone 4S and later, iPad 2 and later, the iPad Pro, iPad Mini and later, and 5th generation iPod Touch or later.
Does it slow down older iPhones?
Historically, new iOS updates slow down the phone, especially the older models. It leaves many users of the old iPhones and iPads wondering whether to stick to the version they have already installed or upgrade to the newest version. Upgrading to a new version depends on a lot of factors such as whether you want to jailbreak. Chinese hacker group Pangu is already working on an iOS 9.2 jailbreak.
To see whether users of older iPhones and iPads should upgrade, folks at YouTube channel iApple Bytes (via Redmond Pie) compared the speed of iOS 9.2 with that of the iOS 9.1 on older models such as the iPhone 4S, 5, 5S, and 6. In these tests, the last week’s update shows no signs of slowing down the phone. It is arguably the best version of the iOS 9. If you want to jailbreak, it is not currently jailbreakable. Pangu and other hacker groups are working on it, but you don’t know when the jailbreaks will be available.
iOS 9.2 expected to fuel adoption
Check out the videos below. Apple seems to have done a good job keeping older phones and tablets stable with the new update.
At the end of November, the iOS 9 adoption skyrocketed to 70%. The release of iOS 9.2 is expected to further fuel adoption rate. Apple has been very successful in bringing its users to the newest software. By comparison, only 0.3% of Android devices run the latest Marshmallow version.
