When iOS 11 first dropped, we warned you to wait before updating your iPhone. Two weeks later, it may still be worth holding off if you’re using an iPhone 7 or older, at least according to a recent survey from PhoneArena.
iOS 11 Stutters on Older iPhones
Following some initial complaints, the tech blog ran a poll asking its readers whether installing iOS 11 had caused their iPhones to slow down or stutter during use. The answer seems to be a pretty resounding yes.
Out of 3304 people who voted in the poll, 31.34% (1029 people) said their iPhone “stutters really bad,” while another 24.85% (821 people) claimed it “stutters slightly more.” Just 22.85% (755 people) said it runs well, and the remaining 21.6% were Android users.
PhoneArena doesn’t have any way to verify these votes, so you should definitely take them with a grain of salt. Still, the results are pretty clear. For over 50% of people, iOS 11 is causing issues on older phones.
What About iOS 11.1?
It’s also worth noting that PhoneArena’s poll doesn’t take the latest version of iOS into consideration. Apple just released iOS 11.1 this week, and according to some reports it brings a noticeable performance improvement (including better battery life) for older devices.
ZDNet reports that iOS 11.1 removes much of the lag and frame drops from iOS 11. However, the site adds that you should really only install it on an older device if you’re already running iOS 11. Otherwise it will still be a performance downgrade. Forbes adds that there are fewer issues overall with iOS 11.1, though some people have encountered problems with the keyboard, stutter and screen dimming.
So if you plan on holding onto an older iPhone for a while, you probably shouldn’t update. Just keep ignoring those prompts from Apple if you don’t want your phone’s performance to take a hit.