Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Level 1

17 points

IOS 5 on iPhone 4 - Problems

I've started this thread to collect information and experiences from those that have the original iPhone 4 and have upgraded to IOS 5.

Background

This thread was prompted by a very frustrating call yesterday to AppleCare. I own an iPhone 4, and asked the simple question: "If I upgrade to IOS 5, will my phone operate at least as well as it did with IOS 4, or will there be speed and compatibility issues?" Apple did a very flashy tap-dance all around the answer, never giving me a "yes it will be fine" "it will be better" or "it won't be as fast". Nothing of the kind! Their answer got down to a dodge: "if you have problems, we will work with you", and "check Google to find out if there are problems". The first answer is exactly the situation I had with my old iPhone 3 (see below)! "We will work with you" means "upgrade at your own risk, if the phone performance is poor, but there are no hardware issues, you're stuck with it". And the second "check Google" answer was the creator and manufacturer directing me to an unknown third party, without accountability, for information. As if Apple doesn't know, or hasn't tested for full iPhone 4 compatibility. Right.

Previous experiences by owners of less-than-current iPhones that upgrade to a new and flashy OS haven't been great. My example is I had an iPhone 3 running OS 2. When OS 3 showed up, I upgraded almost immediately, not realizing how bad an idea that was. The phone did operate, but became very sluggish and unresponsive, basically, a real frustration. Of course, no way to back up to OS 2, it was a one-way street. No, a full restore or reset did NOT revert the OS. Apple's position on support was that there was nothing wrong with the hardware, so they offered no fix. It took almost a year of updates before the phone's speed improved, but never returned to what it was with it's original OS.

Why Upgrade to IOS 5?

Owners of previous generation products have always had this problem: do I upgrade or not? Will I get better performance, or will this be a side-grade, or back-grade? The reality is, as much as we'd all like the latest and greatest features (as many of them as we can get with our hardware, at least), we shouldn't have to pay an unknown performance penalty. Apple always presents the latest software upgrades to us when we sync, but taking it immediately, though logical, hasn't always worked out well.

So, until Apple presents consistently fully working and bug free upgrades, gives us a means to revert to a previous, working OS environment, or provides a support option for "permanent software damage" caused by an OS upgrade, alll we can do is share information.

So, does OS 5 work on an origina iPhone 4? What issues have you had, and have they been resolved?

Posted on Oct 27, 2011 6:11 AM

56 replies

Nov 20, 2011 1:52 PM in response to Qtin777

You are sadly one of thousands left with issues! Apple have missled again as do most technology giants do and my only advice to all is this;

Don't update any apple product until apple know the consequences and then release the results. If it ain't broke don't try to fix it!!! Wait until you can afford the product that is designed for the new os, new os ruin older devices as the devices can't cope with the advances in the new software.

jes-13

Level 1

8 points

Nov 21, 2011 9:45 PM in response to andybliss

andybliss wrote:

[snip]

The home button only responds 60% of the time ...

I had this probelm intermittantly before I upgraded to iOS 5... A reboot fixes the problem. I assume it's one or more of the Apps. I haven't bothered trying to debug further than that, as it isn't that frequent for me...

Dec 30, 2011 4:21 PM in response to mmellor10

mmellor10 wrote:

After upgrading my iphone 4 to ios5 I've noticed a considerable performance degradation. Apps take much longer to launch, and overall everything is sluggish....reminds me of my old Droid! Has anyone found anything that helps?

Thanks.

Exactly the same problem. Sluggish and unresponsive. And discovered that by moving out of the city for the Xmas holidays and not being in any Mobile or Wifi range the battery would drain within a few hours. Which wouldn't have bothered me but I needed it as a Clock and Alarm! (modern technology, eh?)

Have read about Location Based Service issues and reckon something within iOS5.0.1 kept searching for a Carrier or WiFi network even though I switched them off the first day the battery drained unexpectedly.

So, iOS5 upgrade - distinctly sluggish and unresponsive performance. Now want to go back to v4. Also, battery life fine in city. Useless in the countryside with no Carrier service.

Trawling through all the threads for a solution to no avail.

Dec 30, 2011 9:23 PM in response to bit-mover

I'm currently having a major issue and I can't seem to find the thread that will help me. I was updating my mother's iPhone 4 (which she had not been updating regularly, in probably a year or so) and when iOS 5 was installing and restoring the phone, i got an error saying it cannot be restored and now the phone is stuck on the connect to iTunes screen. I have held down the home and power buttons in hopes to fix but it just goes right back to the connect to iTunes screen. I've held it down for long periods of time. The computer no longer recognizes the phone either. Please help!

Dec 30, 2011 11:53 PM in response to GennieLynn

Had same problem when updating to IOS 5.I have restored phone but is now stuck on connect to itunes screen.It is not recognised on itunes, and keeps turning itself off and on.Did you find a solution? If not need help!

jes-13

Level 1

8 points

Jan 3, 2012 11:45 AM in response to lazy_atom

lazy_atom wrote:

... And discovered that by moving out of the city for the Xmas holidays and not being in any Mobile or Wifi range the battery would drain within a few hours. Which wouldn't have bothered me but I needed it as a Clock and Alarm! (modern technology, eh?)

.... Also, battery life fine in city. Useless in the countryside with no Carrier service.

Cell phones adjust power output based on signal strength... when you're in a fringe area the phone turns up the power when you make calls and to do regular "checkins" with the network. As a result, battery life is propotional to signal strength... the worse/weaker the cell signal, the shorter the battery life. When there is no signal, some phones (don't know about the iPhone) go into sleep mode, where they only wake up to check if there is service. This extends the battery life. If you know there is no usable service or WiFi, you could always put it into Airplace Mode. That will turn off all the radios in the iPhone...

Alok V

Level 1

0 points

Feb 5, 2012 3:59 AM in response to iluvboyznbikes

In settings go in the notifications icon - click and check the repeat alert to 'never' and thats it!

Apr 16, 2012 4:04 PM in response to bit-mover

My experience has been this. I've had several iPhones, 3g, 3gs and now 4, and all upgrades work smoothly until a new iPhone is launched. My iPhone 4 worked great even after upgrades and sometimes better...there were no battery or speed issues. After the iPhone 4s was launched and I upgraded to ios 5.0.1, my iPhone 4 is now sluggish, heats up, needs a charge twice a day, some apps crash. I seriously think this is a deliberate ploy to encourage users to purchase a new iPhone. If I decide to stick with iPhone, I have to remember NOT to upgrade the ios when a new iPhone is launched. I refuse to upgrade to 5.1.

isharad

Level 1

0 points

May 11, 2012 1:57 PM in response to Michael Black

Hi all,

I am facing little problem with my iPhone 4(GSM)+ I’m running my iOS 5.1.1+non-jailbreak. It slows down in performance and hangs-up while using an app or sliding to ‘Search iPhone’ Screen and other screens (search,Home, Screen1). For example if I play games the screen freezes and smoothness og graphics is gone like motion comes in frames (lagging). While reading on iBook or Adobe Reader, scrolling of pages is not smooth. Camera app also takes time to open and taking shots (I only had few pictures in my photo gallery i.e >150). In general the performance is lost compare to the my new iPhone about an year back (PS: installed Apple protection plan expires on July 2013)

I did every troubleshooting from my side like reset, hard boot and restore from backup and as new iPhone. Now am using iPhone as ‘New iPhone’ option while restoring my device I just sync ‘d contacts, notes and reminders from iCloud. I also deleted all apps from my iTunes library and also downloaded fresh copy of iTunes from Apple Web and apps from iTunes on Windows XP SP3 Pro.

With all above, performance had improved but no more than 20% as there are only 8 apps (iPhoto, twitter, find iPhone, WhatsApp, Viber, DI Radio, Adobe Reader, IM+ Pro) and with no music and photos.

Please suggest what I should do to have the same pleasure when I bought my iPhone.

Thanks !!

Kousttav

Level 1

0 points

May 16, 2012 11:15 PM in response to Thought Tacos

once bitten twice shy! but fool i am that i gave in to the upgrade and i am banging my head ever since.

my observation is same as that of yours, iphone 3G was murdered with iOS4 upgrade, and now my iphone 4 got killed with iOS5.1.1.

and if by any chance, anyone of us posting some sort of a solution... its being deleted by Apple

Aug 21, 2012 6:10 PM in response to bit-mover

I am having many problems. My picture messaging is all over the place, sends to some people but not others, and my group messaging is all together gone. When someone sends me a text as a part of a group message, I can't respond. In both situations I keep getting the little red exclamation mark. I have full coverage from ATT and my wifi is strong. I don't understand what is going on and there seems to be a lot of talk about the new software. What can I do?

IOS 5 on iPhone 4 - Problems