In a move that potentially changes the experience of owning an iPhone forever (or at least until the next year), Apple revealed that its iOS 9 upgrade will be able to support older iPhone models like the iPhone 4s and even the first iPad Mini.

Apple has always shown a trend of bogging down older models with every new update. For instance, people who owned an iPhone 4s and installed iOS 8 on their phones, when it was released last year, saw a significant slowing down of their system. The update basically cut down their phone's life.

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Fortunately, iOS 9, which is set to be released sometime in the last quarter of 2015, is reportedly able to improve support for gadgets up to three years old. Apparently, this latest release will be compatible with devices using the A5 processor and above.

Download Size

One of the main issues plaguing iPhone users, when it comes to updates, is the download size. To download either iOS 7 or iOS 8, users needed a whopping 5G of data storage, forcing those with devices capable of only 16G of internal memory to delete precious data like photos and documents just to keep up with Apple. Fortunately, iOS 9 promises a much smaller download size and a slightly smaller footprint.

Battery and Performance

Another common issue from people is that they are complaining about having performance and battery related problems since installing iOS 8. Fortunately for this year's iPhone owners, Apple seems to be hot on the trail of addressing these issues for iOS 9. 9to5Mac's Mark Gurman said that the new iOS update focus on quality, instead of just bogging down devices with hundreds of features.

Security

One of the new iOS 9 features include a security protocol called Rootless. Basically, this kernel-level feature aims to help prevent users, even those on an administrative level, from accessing certain protected files within Apple devices. While this system protects threats to internal data, another feature protects those in the Cloud. It is called iCloud Drive, and it employs a new syncing system that offers better end-to-end encryption than the conventional IMAP servers.

TagsiOS 9, iPhone 4S, ipad mini, iOS 8, iOS 7