Apple’s iOS 9 Will Chew Up Less Battery, Even On Your Old iPhone


A few months ago, tech blogs began speculating that Apple‘s forthcoming iOS 9 upgrade would buck the trend of built-in obsolescence, and feature greater compatibility with “legacy hardware.”
“Legacy hardware” means pretty much any iPhone model behind the current one – it’s basically Apple’s polite way of telling you that, if you’re still holding on to that iPhone 4:
With iOS 9 rolling out from today, and Australians among the first to have access to it, Apple have confirmed the specs, and the one that people are the most excited about is the new Low Power Mode, which will extend the battery life of iPhones, even older ones. 
The new iOS is compatible with iPhones dating back to the iPhone 4s, and Low Power Mode dims the brightness of the screen and stops some background tasks from running, to add mucho extra time to your browsing. 
The Wall Street Journal tested it on an iPhone 6 and found that it added an extra 40 minutes of battery life when switching onto Low Power Mode at 20% power and continuing to use the phone constantly.
More interestingly, when Low Power Mode was used for the entire duration of the test, the battery life of the phone jumped up from around 8 hours to 11 hours, 38 minutes. 
Long story short, Low Power Mode will get you out of a tight spot. 
Other iOS 9 features include:
– Split screen apps on the iPad Air 2, and some split screen viewing on older iPads
– Searchable settings
– The ability to embed notes in photos
– A newer, smarter and therefore more sinister Siri, who responds more readily to commands and has skills like showing you photos from a particular location
– An equally cool and sinister Siri suggestion page that keeps track of the time of day you use certain apps, and gently nudges you into using them accordingly
Meanwhile, ICYMI, we recently spoke to a mad individual who is in the process of camping out for an iPhone 6s in Sydney, to benefit homelessness charity Mission Australia:
via News Corp
Photo: Justin Sullivan via Getty Images

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