iOS 9 may give old iPhone 4S, iPad mini new life

Don't junk your old iPhone 4S or your iPad mini just yet - they might just get a new lease on life from the next version of the iOS operating system.

These legacy iDevices will be able to run iOS 9 and likely without the lag associated with older devices, 9to5mac.com reported.

"In what will come as a surprise to many people, our sources note that even A5-based Apple devices, including the original iPad mini and discontinued iPhone 4S, will be able to run iOS 9," it said.

Even better, it said iOS 9 may be minus the "sluggishness and bugginess" in iOS 7 for the iPhone 4.

According to the site, Apple is working on a core version of iOS 9 that can run efficiently on older A5 devices.

With this new approach, "an entire generation (or two) of iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches will be iOS 9-compatible rather than reaching the end of the iOS line," it said.

Other features of iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 (codenamed Gala), the operating system for computers and laptops, include:

- focus on improved stability and performance
- interface tweaks
- security upgrades including Rootless, iCloud Drive and Trusted Wi-Fi

Rootless

Sources within Apple are particularly enthusiastic about the new security system dubbed Rootless, a kernel-level feature for both OS X and iOS.

Rootless prevents even administrative-level users from accessing protected files on Apple devices, and could deal the jailbreak community on iOS a big blow.

iCloud drive

Apple is reportedly converting many core applications to an iCloud Drive back end, instead of the present IMAP-based back end for syncing content across devices.

Citing sources, 9to5mac said Apple is also upgrading its iCloud Drive and CloudKit servers to sustain the expected increase in usage when more core applications move to iCloud.

Trusted Wi-Fi

“Trusted Wi-Fi” would allow Macs and iOS devices to connect to authorized wireless routers without additional security measures, but would use a more heavily encrypted wireless connection for non-trusted routers.

Swift programming

With iOS 9 and OS X 10.11, Swift is planned to reach “Application Binary Interface (ABI) stability,” and its code libraries will be pre-installed within the new iOS and Mac operating systems.

"This means that Swift applications updated for iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 will require less space and consume less data when downloaded over a cellular connection. Users with lower-capacity iPhones and iPads or non-unlimited cellular data plans will see at least small improvements over time," 9to5mac said. — Joel Locsin/LBG, GMA News