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I have iPhone 4S running iOS 6. I've never upgraded to iOS 7 since at first I didn't like the new graphics. but overtime, apps are not being supported anymore. some simply don't work, and some can't be updated as they require at least iOS7. for example, on whatsapp, I can no longer preview about 25% of the messages I'm receiving. It's very sporadic, sometimes It lets me and sometime it doesn't.

So is it about time to finally upgrade? Any risks involve? I guess I can only update it straight to the latest 8.4, right?

  1. Any way to upgrade to iOS 7? is it recommended?
  2. I've read the screen is too small on iOS 8 so you can barely see the email you compose. is it the same with 8.4 as well?
  3. will it be really slow? my 4s with iOS 6 is already kinda slow.
  4. I only have 2.5GB free, can I install it straight from iTunes and it will be ok too?
  5. are there serious Wifi problem with 8.4?

Anything else I should consider?

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  • I am in the same boat... Rockyraw did you update? If so, how did it work for you? I am just concerned about the melting down once updating as I have heard that if you don't continuously update that doing a big update can fry the phone. I do not want to give my 4s up because I love the size...If I wanted something bigger I'd use my macbook. I know this is an old thread but if I'm curious what you'd advise!
    – user166205
    Jan 17, 2016 at 20:11
  • This should really be a comment on the original question, not an answer. However, here's my personal experience: When iOS 7 came out, I upgraded my iPhone 4s and iPad 2 (similar specs). It was slow and crashed a lot, and it broke WiFi on my iPhone. When iOS 7.1 came out, I upgraded again, and it helped, and 7.1.1 fixed the crashes and most of the speed issues. Because of the bad experience though, I didn't upgrade to iOS 8, but apps are starting to not be compatible. So I upgraded my iPad to iOS 9.2. It works fine and is slightly slower than iOS 7.1. I use VoiceOver, and when that's off...
    – kal-al
    Jan 17, 2016 at 21:59
  • ... then it's mostly just as fast as iOS 7.1 was. Camera's slower though to launch. I decided that it would probably be safe to upgrade my iPhone 4s, but I'm holding off to see if iOS 9.3 is faster. Also I want a smaller size phone, so I might just upgrade to the 5s or I'll see in March '16 if I want to upgrade to the "6c" they announce.
    – kal-al
    Jan 17, 2016 at 22:01
  • Also note that with iOS 9, there's a chance to iCloud so if you want to have your stuff sync'd like in apps that use iCloud, everything needs to upgrade to iOS 9/El Capitan.
    – kal-al
    Jan 17, 2016 at 22:03
  • I did the upgrade, it went fine, phone is pretty slow though it was slow before as well, in my case it becomes much faster if I have more free memory. I downloaded the installation via itunes.
    – rockyraw
    Jan 18, 2016 at 17:56

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To answer your questions in order: 1. No, you can only update to 8.4. 2. I don't have any problem composing emails with 8.4. I believe that there is an Accessibility setting for font size, anyways. 3. YMMV. My iPhone 4S ran great on iOS 8, but some don't have that great of luck. 4. I think 2.5GB is enough to download. 5. I believe any connectivity issues with iOS 8 were fixed within the first few updates.

iOS 8.4 ran well on my iPhone 4S, but when I gave it to my Mom, when I upgraded to an iPhone 5S, I've noticed that for whatever reason it doesn't work as smoothly as when I had it. Also iOS 9 is right around the corner in the fall, likely next month, stability and performance are what iOS 9 is mainly addressing and the iPhone 4S will get that update, so you might just wait for that.

I haven't really ever had any major problems with iOS 8, I think it is pretty safe to download.

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  • Thanks, does anyone have a different opinion? about the email, I'm not talking about font size, but rather that you can only see one row at once when you type - see screenshot here
    – rockyraw
    Aug 6, 2015 at 14:06

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