iPhone 4 and iOS 7...

[Peter Schwarze]

Good Evening,

I am presenting this question the iPhone community to hopefully ease my troubled mind pertaining to the news about the most recent iOS update; iOS 7. I am currently operating an iPhone 4 with more than a year left on my Verizon account (due to my stupid self which is a long story that I am not delving into today), so upgrading my device is not in the near foreseeable future. I recently went to an apple store and talked with a blue shirt, whom proceeded to horrify me about the idea of upgrading to iOS 7 with an iPhone 4; that I don't want to be the first guy on the block downloading the update; iOS 7 is really for the more "up-to-date" iPhones, not really for the iPhone 4, etc. etc.... Needless to say I'm not going to be speaking with this gentleman again pertaining to any sort of apple support. Mainly I just want to know from the community what every one's thoughts were about upgrading my device (iPhone 4) to the new iOS 7. I am extremely excited for iOS 7, it seems to have a lot of new features that seem interesting. Furthermore, I am aware being that the device is an iPhone 4 I will not receive all of the new features of iOS 7; but I have done research about the features compatible with the 4. I just want some closure, so give me your thoughts and defend your argument. All arguments and points are taken. Thanks for your time everyone.

 

[kch50428]

While the iPhone4 won't receive all the features of iOS7 - it will still be a satisfactory end user experience - or Apple would not allow it on the iPhone4... the 'BlueShirt' you talked to wanted to sell you a phone, and when they figured they weren't going to, told you some things to end the conversation and move on... it happens that way sometimes. Don't be leery. It will be fine.

 

[Fausty82]

While the iPhone4 won't receive all the features of iOS7 - it will still be a satisfactory end user experience - or Apple would not allow it on the iPhone4... the 'BlueShirt' you talked to wanted to sell you a phone, and when they figured they weren't going to, told you some things to end the conversation and move on... it happens that way sometimes. Don't be leery. It will be fine.

Keith is spot on. The very reason why Apple isn't pushing out the entire suite of is 7 features to the iPhone 4 is to guarantee a satisfactory end user experience. Clearly the iPhone 4 is less powerful (memory and processor) than the iPhone 5 is (and that the iPhone 5s will be) - so Apple limits some of the more advance, memory/processor intensive features from those older devices...

And while we don’t want to hear that there are "BlueShirts" who behave that way, we are forced to admit that they do exist. Fortunately they are few, and far between. Sorry that you had to endure that treatment. If it had been me, I’d have found that guys supervisor before leaving the store and would have reported his behavior.

 

[parker5011]

So has anyone updated a 4 yet. I want to but am nervous it'll be like the 3G.

 

[Fausty82]

So has anyone updated a 4 yet. I want to but am nervous it'll be like the 3G.

My son-in-law has been running the GM for a week... no issues reported...

 

[RoccoI]

I installed it last night, it runs fine. Little stutter here and there but nothing bad.
Not crazy about the design though, icons and the change they made to the keyboard.

 

[NoleScream]

I installed it last night, it runs fine. Little stutter here and there but nothing bad.
Not crazy about the design though, icons and the change they made to the keyboard.

The main stutter I see is the first time I load the numbers for the keyboard. Other than that, I'm pleasantly surprised by how smooth and well the 4 runs with iOS 7. Makes me feel better about giving it to my parents when I get my hands on the 5s.

 

[Crude Berry]

I upgraded my 4 to iOS 7. Works flawlessly and I couldnt be happier..........well besides the fact that the icons and signal meter make the phone look like a 15 year old girl designed it.

 

[kent002]

One thing to note about iOS 7 on the iPhone 4 is that it looks slightly different than it does on most other supported devices. The iPhone 4 is the last device standing that uses Apple's A4 SoC (the original iPad was dropped in iOS 6, and iOS 7 drops the fourth-generation iPod touch), and as such it's working with a slower CPU and GPU than the A5, A6, and A7-equipped phones and tablets that make up the rest of Apple's lineup. To take some of the load off of its weaker hardware, Apple has turned off translucency and other graphical effects throughout the OS in favor of simpler and less taxing transparency. It's worth noting that you can also disable these visual effects on newer iPhones and iPads in the accessibility settings by enabling "Increase Contrast." Best iPhone Apps

 

[ninjamattic]

I'm curious about this myself. For now I've warned my wife off of upgrading her iPhone 4. I know she'd like to be up to date with her family running the latest software, but I still get cold chills from my experience with the iPhone 3G debacle. My 5 obviously runs iOS 7 perfectly, but the 4 is already a wee slow on iOS 6. If there's enough community support for upgrade, I'll take a plunge, but until then I'm wary.

 

[jmr1015]

The iPhone 4 is the last device standing that uses Apple's A4 SoC (the original iPad was dropped in iOS 6, and iOS 7 drops the fourth-generation iPod touch), and as such it's working with a slower CPU and GPU than the A5, A6, and A7-equipped phones and tablets that make up the rest of Apple's lineup. To take some of the load off of its weaker hardware, Apple has turned off translucency and other graphical effects throughout the OS in favor of simpler and less taxing transparency. It's worth noting that you can also disable these visual effects on newer iPhones and iPads in the accessibility settings by enabling "Increase Contrast."

If you're getting some lag and stuttering on your 4, even with the watered down version of iOS7... You can enable "Increase Contrast" on the iPhone 4 as well, which gets rid of what little translucent/transparency and other graphical effects the 4 does still retain... and smooths out some animations and such.

You'll find it under Settings>General>Accessibility>Increase Contrast

 

[arsan_sa]

I have a cellular data problem since beta 3, and even after the official release the problem still continues. I don't think it is software related, but be careful anyways.