iPhone User Performance Tests

Do iPhones really get slower over time, or is it just our imagination? This repository aims to keep records of iPhone performance for various models over time to objectively answer this question.

Overview

When my iPhone 6+ started getting really slow, I wondered how much of it was real and how much was false nostalgia. I couldn't answer this without seeing how it worked when it was new. I can't go back in time to see that, but I can do the next best thing: record my devices now, and keep a record for the future.

The goal of this test is to be easy to perform while still giving a sense of the speed of some basic tasks. Some important points about its design:

1. It is meant to be performed on a working device, not something freshly wiped just for a test.
2. To that end, apps which might display private info (e.g. Mail, Messages) are avoided.
3. Network access is mostly avoided, since it can differ for reasons beyond the device. The one exception to this is Siri.
4. Times are really approximate. Don't read anything into minor differences.
5. There is no attempt to control for hardware slowdowns (e.g. degrading flash?) versus clutter from user data versus slowdowns from new versions of iOS. It's not practical to stay on old versions of iOS for long (security fixes are important) or to refrain from generating more user data, so there's not much difference between the different reasons for slowdowns. It would be interesting to know, but it wouldn't really change much.

I Want to Time My Device!

Here's how to do your own timing with my methodology! If you think your results might be useful to add to the list here, feel free to submit a pull request.

1. Set up a camera that can record your device while you use it. This could be a MacBook camera, another iOS device, or something else. To make things easiest on yourself, suspend the camera above a table somehow, and point it down at the phone sitting on the table.
2. If the table surface is dark, put something light-colored under the device's camera. Part of the test involves the camera, and it's hard to figure out when things happen if the camera picture is pure black.
3. Open test-plan.txt and read through it so you know what you'll be doing. Follow the preparation steps described at the top.
4. Start recording video.
5. Go through the test plan.
6. Stop recording video.
7. If you want to make the test public, trim out the part where you enter the password, then upload the remainder of the video.
8. cd into a local clone of this repository, and run ./record.swift make somefilename.json.
9. Put in your information, then the time of each event as prompted.
10. The result will be written to the JSON file you specified.
11. To generate Markdown from that file, run ./record.swift read somefilename.json.

Results

Here are the recorded measurements:

Device: iPhone X running iOS 11.1.1
Recording date: 2017-11-12
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAzIGsu-ORs
Comment: The phone was five days old at the time of recording. It was restored from a backup of my old phone.

Description	Time Taken
From: Pressing power button To: Passcode/lock screen appears	25s
From: Pressing enter to accept passcode To: Springboard appears	1s
From: Settings tapped To: Settings finishes launching	1s
From: Home pressed in Settings To: Springboard appears	0s
From: Safari tapped To: Safari finishes launching	1s
From: Address bar tapped To: The keyboard appears	1s
From: Home pressed in Safari To: Springboard appears	0s
From: Siri button pressed To: Siri begins listening	1s
From: Siri begins processing To: Siri displays the response	1s
From: Siri displays the response To: Siri begins speaking the response	0s
From: Home button pressed in Siri To: Springboard appears	0s
From: Control Center summoned To: Control Center appears	0s
From: Camera button tapped To: Camera UI appears	1s
From: Camera UI appears To: Camera image appears	0s
From: Camera button pressed To: Photo is taken	1s
From: New picture tapped To: New picture appears fullscreen	1s
From: Home button pressed in Camera To: Springboard appears	0s
From: Swipe down on Springboard To: Search appears	0s
From: Search appears To: Keyboard appears	1s
From: Swipe up on Springboard To: Springboard appears	0s

Device: iPhone 6+ running iOS 11.1
Recording date: 2017-11-12
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5UbM4JP8B0

Description	Time Taken
From: Pressing power button To: Passcode/lock screen appears	60s
From: Pressing enter to accept passcode To: Springboard appears	7s
From: Settings tapped To: Settings finishes launching	4s
From: Home pressed in Settings To: Springboard appears	4s
From: Safari tapped To: Safari finishes launching	4s
From: Address bar tapped To: The keyboard appears	3s
From: Home pressed in Safari To: Springboard appears	0s
From: Siri button pressed To: Siri begins listening	5s
From: Siri begins processing To: Siri displays the response	4s
From: Siri displays the response To: Siri begins speaking the response	0s
From: Home button pressed in Siri To: Springboard appears	0s
From: Control Center summoned To: Control Center appears	1s
From: Camera button tapped To: Camera UI appears	1s
From: Camera UI appears To: Camera image appears	0s
From: Camera button pressed To: Photo is taken	1s
From: New picture tapped To: New picture appears fullscreen	2s
From: Home button pressed in Camera To: Springboard appears	1s
From: Swipe down on Springboard To: Search appears	1s
From: Search appears To: Keyboard appears	0s
From: Swipe up on Springboard To: Springboard appears	0s