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Apple releases iOS 8.1.1 w/ bug fixes & performance improvements for iPad 2, iPhone 4s

Apple has released iOS 8.1.1, a minor update to last month’s iOS 8.1 release for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The public release for iOS 8.1.1 follows a beta release to members of Apple’s developer program. Last month Apple released iOS 8.1 which introduced Apple Pay support for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users as well as the iCloud Photo Library public beta.

According to Apple, iOS 8.1.1 will improve performance for older, A5-powered devices running iOS 8, namely the iPad 2 and iPhone 4s; Apple’s current selling iPod touch first released in 2012 is also powered by Apple’s A5 chip. The update appears to be without issue unlike the botched iOS 8.0.1 rollout.

The update is available over-the-air through the Settings app under General and Software Update. As always, you will need to be on WiFi with 50% or more battery or be connected a power supply to download and install the update.

In addition to releasing iOS 8.1.1, Apple also shipped OS X 10.10.1 with WiFi performance fixes and other improvements as well as a maintenance update for the third-generation Apple TV bringing it to version 7.0.2.

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Comments

  1. armandornd - 10 years ago

    On my phone it’s 2 gigabytes.

    • eastpointvet - 10 years ago

      You Probably had the beta installed

      • armandornd - 10 years ago

        Yeah I fucking do. I didn’t know that it’s going to be a bigger download going beta to stable rather than stable to stable.

    • eastpointvet - 10 years ago

      from what i gathered those of us on the beta when we do OTA updates it basically reinstalls the whole thing as opposed to just getting the changed bits. i guess thats smart to prevent us from having problems that we could only have doing to having beta code

    • Marshall Karr - 10 years ago

      I just downloaded this fix to my Ipad and it is making me restore to original settings. I just lost all my data!! whats up with that?

  2. Joseph (@joek1971) - 10 years ago

    On mine it is 64.1 MB

  3. Drew (@gettysburg11s) - 10 years ago

    I’ve updated an iPhone 6, iPad mini 2, and an 8GB iPhone 4S. No problems with the size of the update, and no problems afterwards.

    • Do you find performance is better on the 4S?

      • Greg Kaplan (@kaplag) - 10 years ago

        one thing that seems notable to me on my 4s is that interacting with app icons seems to process faster when going to and from the home screen. For example I can leave an app and as it’s still animating tap another app and it seems to launch pretty quick.

  4. 8to4forumposter - 10 years ago

    Its 2GB on my iPhone 6+ too

  5. Archis Vaze (@Archis4) - 10 years ago

    Since iOS 7 every update seems to bring more bugs than fixes… hope this update brings less bugs!

  6. Yeah, on the iPhone 6 Plus it’s 2 gig and the iPad Mini 3 it’s 1.9gig, but that’s OTA

  7. Taste_of_Apple - 10 years ago

    Thank goodness. Hoping this helps some of the issues I was having on my iPhone 6 (8.1 was really buggy for me – even after a full reset and set up as new phone).

  8. Edison Wrzosek - 10 years ago

    I’m about to go update my Mini 2 and iPhone 5S with this via iTunes to ensure full installation, on it like a fat kid on a cupcake!

    • Honestly, even though that’s an “old school” way of doing it, it’s still my preferred method of updating.

      • Edison Wrzosek - 10 years ago

        Yeah same here… If I’m travelling, I usually won’t update my devices, unless my inner geek wins out, then I risk the OTA.

        Doing it via old-school iTunes ensures a full, fresh copy is installed onto the device, and it doesn’t require any additional steps.

        BTW, updates completed flawlessly. I am noticing marked improvement in both my iPad Mini 2 and iPhone 5S, especially with WiFi reliability and speed, and also Safari on my iPad is MUCH smoother scrolling thru large pages, and switching between several open tabs.

        Nice job !

  9. Bill Bennett - 10 years ago

    Has anyone benchmarked or otherwise tested how much it improved performance on A5 devices? I found the move to 8 has seriously affected the performance of my iPad 2 – almost to the point where it is unusable.

    • feonix2014 - 10 years ago

      It’s only 64 mb on mine too. Does anyone know of it bricks your phone yet? Also I see from the notes it’s not going to help with the current wifi problem we are having with 8+ IOS.

    • Brian Batch - 10 years ago

      My iPad Mini (1) is MUCH speedier with 8.1.1. There must be some improved memory allocation procedure with this update.

    • lysiajoy - 10 years ago

      Mine too. It’s been a nightmare to use, especially since it’s my primary device. Seriously considering switching to a Windows tablet. Oops, need to slow my typing lest Safari freezes and crashes my whole system for the next 15 mins! Haven’t been able to update yet – keep getting an error message when I try to check for updates. Will let you know if it helps, if and when I’m successful. Good luck to you too!

      • Bill Bennett - 10 years ago

        12 hours in and the iPad 2 is working much better. I can’t say for sure this is as good as iOS 7, but if it is slower, the difference is no longer huge.

      • lysiajoy - 10 years ago

        Mine is doing better so far too. Mucho speedier (I swear I typed “much” and it autocorrected :)) Things are functioning better across the board.

    • abel9037 - 10 years ago

      I have been testing my iPad mini 1st gen on the previous OS and got:

      Single Multi
      iOS 8.0.2 259 492
      iOS 8.1 260 494

  10. Tiffany Lehman - 10 years ago

    It put my iPhone 6 Plus in recovery mode!

  11. Matt - 10 years ago

    On my Mini 1, I haven’t noticed a single degradation in speed with any release of 8 I have installed. It has always been just as usable as the day I got it. What 8 and every release since has given me is an immensely better wifi signal. Before 8 I couldn’t connect to wifi in my bedroom and before 8.1 it would take awhile to get connected. I wonder what 8.1.1 will give me.

  12. Greg Kaplan (@kaplag) - 10 years ago

    Hey 9-to-5 a video comparison would be awesome for iOS 8.1.1 vs iOS 7 and iOS 8.

    if 8.1.1 has noticeable improvements I’d love to have it as a link I could point people at in to dispel the planned obsolescence argument

  13. Farrokh Afzooni - 10 years ago

    there is a Long delay while dialing or calling someone in iphone 4s since ios 8 and it’s not fixed even in ios 8.1.1 how can I report this issue to apple ?

  14. Tony Price - 10 years ago

    My Air 2 was like 360 something MBs. I want to know if the update deals with Safari brain farting all over itself and the random lockups and reboots.

  15. Rodí O'Leary (@RodiOL) - 10 years ago

    8.1.1 still hasn’t fixed the terrible terrible wifi issues. Getting really peeved now with Apple’s reaction to this. My new iPhone 6 is practically useless on Wifi. I shouldn’t have to go get a new phone to fix a simply function like this.

  16. Spotlight app search broken for anyone else after the update? Now when I search for an app it just comes up with web hits.

    • Toggled the application setting off and on again in spotlight settings and it seems to be working again in case anyone else runs into this issue.

      • echovault - 10 years ago

        I tried toggle Applications off and on with no luck. Then I tried moving Applucations down in the list and that fixed. Moved back to top and still good.

      • Zubin Shah (@bornsmart) - 10 years ago

        Still does not work for me.

    • echovault - 10 years ago

      Spotlight search no longer matches installed App names. I use lots of folder so fast way to open some apps is swipe down and search but since 8.1.1 it no longer works. Carp!

      • Jamie Louther (@jlouther) - 10 years ago

        I updated my iPad Air last night. Lost ability to find apps using Spotlight. I checked settings and nothing had changed. Through multiple unchecking activities, I got it working by unchecking everything but applications. Performed a search and saw apps. Then I went back and rechecked the options I wanted in spotlight. Performed a search and we’re good now.

  17. fjpoblam - 10 years ago

    Maybe just me. On our iPhone 6s and iPad Mini, no problem (as might be expected). On our ol’ iPad2 (which I took was a main intended beneficiary): greatly slowed performance; entirely crippled iCloud Drive. Apps using iCloud Drive out-and-out crash—period. I thought this was supposed to be an iPad2 performance booster: quite the opposite. Hindsight: don’t update!

    • fjpoblam - 10 years ago

      I finally did a “Remove all content and settings” and “Restore from iCloud backup” (ironic, eh?) and it seems to have fixed the problem. Went back to a Nov 11 set.

  18. Substance (@substance104) - 10 years ago

    I updated my 4S to 8.1.1 and its still a stuttering mess. Apple needs to stop smoking whatever crack its on.

  19. Klaus Jacobsen - 10 years ago

    Talked to a few friends that had iPad 2 and iPhone 4S.. .They say it is somewhat faster, but they are not too sure… Placebo effect maybe.. In this test made by Youtube user Kabriolett it seems like that there are not much of a difference.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbpbd45geYk

  20. dwevans91 - 10 years ago

    If anyone could let me know what the performance of the iPad 2 is now would be great. I reverted back to iOS 7 after trying iOS 8 GM for a couple of days as it made the iPad 2 pretty much un-useable.

    • Gay Irwin - 10 years ago

      how did u do that ….. best idea i have heard so far is to backup and restore defaults …. but going back to 7 would be better… i cant believe they havent fixed this yet …. garbage in garbage out ….. first sentence i learnt when learning about computers 30 years ago

  21. Guillermo Andrade - 10 years ago

    And…completely broke the wifi on my iPad 2. Boooooo.

  22. edred77 - 10 years ago

    Updated my 5c to 8.1.1 (~40 MB) and now I’m seeing some UI sluggishness that definitely wasn’t there in 8.1.

  23. Roxana Marinkovic - 10 years ago

    It has killed my 5S battery :(((

  24. imsor:( (@easytolo) - 10 years ago

    Hey just wondering… does copy/paste work yet? I miss being able to do that.

    • lysiajoy - 10 years ago

      For some reason I haven’t been doing much copying lately but I just tested a C&P from notes to web and vice versa and it worked. My biggest issue before was C&P between programs – what a headache that was.

  25. Mark Millier - 10 years ago

    I cannot see the ” comments” I type on a Facebook post….the keyboard covers the area I type in after this 8.1.1 upgrade

  26. Unfortunately mine has yet again decided to crash and reboot again even with 8.1.1 installed twice now from a Factory Restore, I only had one app on it and today added the Pinterest App and attempted to login to the Pinterest app and once again it began crashing and looping reboot.

    So I have sent an email off to the “Senior Technical Specialist” at Apple who’s dealing with my case explaining that after the iPad 2 crashed when I attempted to log into the “Pinterest” App that after spending time in a reboot lopp it is now displaying the “Connect to iTunes” image on the screen, am now awaiting an email/response as can’t really spend another 1.5hr on the phone while at work trying to resolve it.

    I will be requesting that I be called after 5:30pm if they wish to discuss over the phone, I have also requested that they provide me with the information that the Senior Engineers where able to ascertain from the crash logs as I am still waiting for this information, at present the only information they have provided me with from the engineer is the following :

    The engineer came back to me yesterday but I was off the office, telling me to ask you to do the update.

    The update is meant for the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S, for the performance issue. So it should resolve your issue.

    Obviously this has not resolved my problem, so surely with the crash logs that I have provided Apple with they should be able to see what is the route problem, and how is an iPad continually crashing when opening apps and going into a reboot loop a performance issue ?

    Apple please get your fingers out of your ears and your head out of the sand and start listening to your customers and do something about this . .

  27. Glad to read that people are getting some relief. I have an iPad Air and and iphone 5, both are having terrible problems with safari crashing saying the server connection has been lost and both systems are very slow. I have reset the network setting and also done the reboot (holding down the on/off button and the home button at the same time) it’s very frustrating. We pay too much for these electronic devices for us to have problems like this with them. My husband was planning on getting an iPad air 2, now he’s not so sure he wants to paid $600+ and have the issues I’m having. Very sad. If there is a fix, please let me know. Thanks!

  28. lysiajoy - 10 years ago

    Since the update my ipad 2 is def running smoother and faster (not as good as 7 but WAY better than previous 8’s). I still can’t use my 3rd party 30pin-to-hdmi cable though, which is such a bummer! It used to work beautifully but since 8, my iPad screen will show up on my tv for a moment and then disappear, with a message on the iPad itself saying the accessory is not supported. Anyone have a fix for this? I am not willing to bend to Apple on this one and buy their overpriced adapter PLUS an hdmi cable, esp since I’ve already bought my current one twice (1st one broke – my & gravity’s fault). Thanks guys!

  29. Dianna Ducs - 10 years ago

    I cannot see the ” comments” I type on a Facebook post….the keyboard covers the area I type in after this 8.1.1 upgrade … It used to work beautifully but since 8.1.1 it doesn’t work. Anyone else have this problem or a solution?

  30. Angela Moyers - 10 years ago

    I have the 8.1.1 on my IPad 2 and it crashes constantly. Any ideas on how to fix this?

Author

Avatar for Zac Hall Zac Hall

Zac covers Apple news, hosts the 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast, and created SpaceExplored.com.

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