iPhone SE (2016) Old IPhone SE IOS Question

[ronniejoe]

I am still using the old iphone SE from 5 years ago. I will be buying a new iphone soon and most likely the iphone 13 mini.



My main issue with my phone is the battery is extremely bad. Thus it drains very quick especially if making video calls. When watching youtube and other things, it still gets worn out. I had the battery replaced I believe close to 3 years ago at apple. Around that time, the battery was really bad. But after replacement, i remember battery was very good for a bit over a year before it started not being good. The other issue is there is a ton of lag on my phone. Example when I watch youtube, many times when I click on a video and the comments, it takes a long time before comments load. Also youtube program would close many times and I have to reopen it again. Thus its extremely glitchy if that is the correct word to use. Are all old IPhone SE users still experiencing this issue? So this obviously isn't a battery issue that is causing all this lagging right?



But for the time being, am I suppose to always update to the new IOS? I remember not long ago I got message to update to IOS 15 but I never did. I did upgrade to whatever is the 14.x each time there is a software update though.



I'm curious but what if I would do a reset of my iphone SE? Would it be really fast like in factory new condition? Only exception is the battery would be bad just like it is now?



However, if i were to backup my iphone... i never did it fully since i don't have enough space to backup... and I never paid that one dollar a month for icloud i believe... does that mean even if i back it up now by paying for icloud... then reset my iphone factory new... then back it up... would it still be like factory new or would it go back to being as laggy/glitchy as it is now?



I know its mentioned how old iphones don't support new IOS etc. So is that what is meant by like how my old iphone SE lags and has all these issues because its an old phone?

 

[now i see it]

Before you go down that road, check your Battery Health reading in settings. If the phone ever unexpectedly shut down just once, iOS will be throttled and the phone will be always slow because the CPU will be down clocked. If it doesn’t say “Peak Performance” then reset it.

If the battery health is near 80% - just replace the battery.

 

[ronniejoe]

Battery health is 85%. What do you mean unexpectedly shut down once? I had youtube suddently close while watching it and then having to reopen. Is that the same?


But do you suggest updating to the newest IOS always? Current IOS is 14.8.1. But I see there is option to upgrade to IOS 15. Do I do that or not?

 

[BugeyeSTI]

Battery health is 85%. What do you mean unexpectedly shut down once? I had youtube suddently close while watching it and then having to reopen. Is that the same?


But do you suggest updating to the newest IOS always? Current IOS is 14.8.1. But I see there is option to upgrade to IOS 15. Do I do that or not?

Keep it on 14.8.1 and get the battery replaced if you want to keep the phone. If the battery is 3 years old it would benefit from a replacement

 

[now i see it]

Don’t install iOS 15 on it right now. It’s still a mess.

 

[ronniejoe]

Can others here confirm do not install IOS 15 ? I had this message to update it but never did to that.

 

[TrickyTreeRed]

Battery health is 85%. What do you mean unexpectedly shut down once? I had youtube suddently close while watching it and then having to reopen. Is that the same?


But do you suggest updating to the newest IOS always? Current IOS is 14.8.1. But I see there is option to upgrade to IOS 15. Do I do that or not?

I'm still using an original SE (128GB purchased in late 2017) and I was in a similar situation as you a few months ago. For about nine months, my battery health remained at 85%. My daily battery life was poor and my phone was running hot and slowly. I was perhaps getting about three to four hours screen-on-time maximum - and that was without using YouTube.

After reading and watching the reviews for the Mini 12 and paying attention to the complaints about lacklustre battery life, I decided to replace my SE's battery at a nearby Apple Store (It was $69 CAD, plus taxes) and wait for the Mini 13 to be released.

I'm really glad I did this as my SE is now like a new phone. It runs at a normal temperature, does not experience any lag and battery life is great. And I'm running iOS 15 and I feel it's a noticeable improvement over iOS 14.

My advice is to buy a new battery but do not reset the phone. It won't help. A new battery is about 1/15th the cost of the Mini 13 and if your SE still suits your needs, why waste money? It runs on the latest OS.

Also, you should back up your iPhone as a matter of routine. You back it up on your laptop, PC or Mac, instead of the iCloud. It's dead easy!

Here's how to do it: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/itunes/itns3280/windows