Apple iOS 7.1 update brings iPhone 4 back to life

If you are an Apple smartphone user, chances are you would be using (or have owned) an iPhone 4 before. Personally, I consider it a landmark device by Apple, with newer models being nothing more than incremental updates. Unfortunately, the release of iOS 7 in September 2013 simply killed the user experience on my iPhone 4.

The whole interface was so sluggish even with all animations turned off. Everything was slow with random crashes and apps that couldn’t  run properly.The various incremental updates up till 7.0.6 also did not result in any speed improvements at all. Fortunately, the debut of iOS 7.1 last night has given my iPhone 4 a fresh lease of life.

I was admittedly reluctant and hesitant on whether to proceed with the update, and was concerned that the so-called “speed improvements” would actually make things worse like what the iOS 4 upgrade did to the iPhone 3G. However, I was left pleasantly surprised when I finally decided to take the plunge , noting great improvements from cold boot up to the adjustments of settings and multitasking.

Indeed, I heartily agree with what Ars Technica reported when it wrote that “iOS 7.1 makes the experience good enough that using the iPhone 4 is no longer unbearable.” And if numbers are what that really matters to you, the following chart from Ars below says it all.

iOS 7.1 Comparison
Credit: Ars Technica

A word of caution though, as much as iOS 7.1 speeds up the phone significantly, apps that require high processor resources such as games will still not be able to run well. In a nutshell, don’t expect your iPhone 4 to function like it was back in 2010.