NEWS

iOS 12 Speeds up Even an Acient iPhone 5S, at Least in Beta

07/02/2018

2366

It’s speed test time. This is what it’s like to run iOS 12 on the iPhone 5S.


The iOS 12 beta has a boatload of features to grab your attention: Memoji, group FaceTime calls and improved notifications.


But one of the most significant changes is performance gains under the hood, especially for older devices like the iPhone 5S.


Apple made some big claims during the WWDC keynote when iOS 12 was first unveiled. Using the example of an iPhone 6 Plus:


  • Apps launch up to 40 percent faster

  • Keyboard comes up 50 percent faster

  • Slide to take a photo is 70 percent faster


iOS 12 Speeds up Even an Acient iPhone 5S, at Least in Beta


On paper, these appear to be big improvements. But the iPhone 6 Plus isn't even the oldest device that can run iOS 12. That's the iPhone 5S.


So to see how the newest iOS performs on the oldest phone, we took two 16GB iPhone 5S models and factory reset them. Then we replicated some examples from the keynote. One was running the iOS 12 public beta and the other iOS 11.4.


We don't claim this to be a scientific test, just an anecdotal account of how quickly the OS performed when performing real-world tasks. Bear in mind that iOS 12 is still in public beta and performance may change between now and the final release in the fall.

iOS 12 Speeds up Even an Acient iPhone 5S, at Least in Beta

Launching apps like Safari and Mail were noticeably faster in the iOS 12 beta, but the difference in others, including Weather and Maps, was hardly visible.


Apple's claim during the keynote was that the share sheet comes up twice as fast when the system is under load. We found that the share sheet came up much faster than it did on iOS 11, even when there were no other apps open. However, this result wasn't always consistent -- after running it several times in a row, iOS 11.4 mostly caught up to the beta.


Startup time was the category where the iOS 12 beta clearly fell behind. iOS 11.4 loaded much faster and was ready to go 9 seconds before iOS 12.


Stay tuned for official performance testing once the final version of iOS 12 is released.


How to get iOS 12 right now in 3uTools?


Windows
Mac OS
iOS
Linux
3uTools
Win 64-bit For this device
V9.01 2025-12-27
Download
Win 32-bit For this device
V9.01 2025-12-27
Download
3uTools
Intel Chip How to Identify Chip Type
V9.01 2025-12-31
Download
Apple Silicon
V9.01 2025-12-31
Download
How to Identify Chip Type
1.  Click the Apple icon in the top-left corner of the screen and select About This Mac.
2.  Check the Processor or Chip field to determine if it is "Intel" or "Apple".
Please use the 3uTools PC client to install the iOS client:
1、 Install either the Windows or Mac version of 3uTools on your computer
2、 Open the PC client and connect your device to the computer via USB cable
3、 After the connection is successful, wait for the computer to automatically install the mobile app for the device, or locate “Install Mobile App” on the computer and manually click to install.
3uTools
deb file
V3.01 2025-11-20
Download
rpm file
V3.01 2025-11-20
Download
Windows
Windows
iOS
iOS
Android
Android
TV
TV
3uAirPlayer
Win 64-bit For this device
V6.0.2 2025-11-19
Download
Win 32-bit For this device
V6.0.2 2025-11-19
Download
iOS Device Mirroring (No App Required)
1、 Install 3uAirPlayer on the Windows PC
2、 Open Control Center and select Screen Mirroring
3、 From the list, choose your PC to start mirroring
4、 Or connect your iOS device to the PC via USB to begin mirroring
Scan to get "3uAirPlayer" App
3uAirPlayer TV V1.0.18
2025-11-28
TV System Requirements: Android 7.0 or later
Download the TV installation package, copy it to a USB drive, insert it into your TV or set-top box, then select the file from the home screen to install.