How fast are the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s models compared to one another? How fast are the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s compared to the iPhone 5 and earlier iPhone models?

Please note that the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, and iPhone 5s have been discontinued. However, this Q&A has been updated subsequently and can be useful to anyone considering one of these devices on the used market.

In the company press release for the iPhone 5c, Apple declares that the mobile has a "blazing fast A6 chip," but does not specify exactly how "blazing" it is. For the iPhone 5s, Apple notes that the mobile has a 64-bit "Apple A7" processor as well as an "M7 motion coprocessor" and more confidently states that the device provides "up to twice the CPU and graphics performance" of the iPhone 5.

The iPhone 5 and iPhone 5c both use the same dual core Apple A6 processor with a 1.3 GHz maximum clockspeed and both have 1 GB of onboard RAM. Consequently, it would be reasonable to expect both devices to provide essentially the same performance.

On the other hand, it would be reasonable to expect that the iPhone 5s is significantly faster, at least when running iOS apps written for a 64-bit processor. As first determined by AnandTech, the "Apple A7" processor is an ARMv8 derivative of Apple's "Swift" dual core architecture called "Cyclone." However, the iPhone 5s also only has 1 GB of onboard RAM.

Although one could take Apple's marketing department at its word, independent testing always is worthwhile to confirm or deny the official results as well as ascertain exactly what "up to twice as fast" means in real-world use.

Benchmark Performance Overview

For a solid general overview of the performance differences between the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, and iPhone 5s -- as well as all other iPhone models and the iPad and iPod touch lines -- Everyi.com's own Ultimate iComparison makes it quick to compare side-by-side Geekbench benchmark averages for hundreds of possible performance comparisons.

The Geekbench 3.0 benchmark shows that the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5c roughly are the same speed, although the iPhone 5c actually is around 2% slower than its predecessor, but this difference is not perceptible in day-to-day use or application performance. Geekbench 3.0 also shows that the iPhone 5s is in the neighborhood of twice as fast as the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5c alike -- 97% faster than the iPhone 5 and a clean 100% faster than the iPhone 5c.

Geekbench 3.0 also shows that the iPhone 5s is a whopping 521% faster and 1107% faster than the older iPhone 4s and iPhone 4 models, respectively.

Other Benchmark Tests & Real-World Performance Results

Although Geekbench 3.0 demonstrates clearly that the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5c basically are the same speed and that the iPhone 5s is around twice as fast, additional benchmarks also can be useful for theoretical maximum and actual performance not only when running 64-bit iOS apps, but also when running older 32-bit iOS apps. Real-world day-to-day evaluation can be quite useful, too.

The always detailed AnandTech hit the iPhone 5s with a wide variety of CPU and GPU benchmark tests and reported:

We see the most modest example of the A7 [CPU] performance superiority at roughly 25% better than the iPhone 5. Not to understate the performance of the iPhone 5s, but depending on workload you'll see a wide range of performance improvements. . . the G6430 [graphics processor] in the iPhone 5s is more than twice the speed of the part in the iPhone 5. It is also the first device we've tested capable of breaking the 30 fps barrier in T-Rex HD [benchmarks] at its native resolution. Given just how ridiculously intense this test is, I think it's safe to say that the iPhone 5s will probably have the longest shelf life from a gaming perspective of any previous iPhone.

As part of a longer review, ArsTechnica compared 32-bit and 64-bit iOS apps on the iPhone 5s and found:

Without being touched by their developers, 32-bit applications currently in the App Store should be able to expect a performance increase of around 50 percent going from the A6 to the A7. . . As an example of the performance jumps that are possible when an application is recompiled for 64-bit . . . Mobile Safari is a 64-bit app on the iPhone 5s, and as such is capable of taking full advantage of the A7. . . The 64-bit version of Safari on the A7 outruns the 32-bit version on the A6 by around 100 percent, usually by a little more.

However, in day-to-day use, 9to5Mac found the "twice as fast" difference between the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 5s to be barely noticeable:

For those coming from an iPhone 5, the speed increase will not be very noticeable for minor tasks. I remember when I upgraded from an iPhone 3G to iPhone 3GS, the speed increases were certainly visible to me throughout the system. Moving from the iPhone 5 to iPhone 5s does not take the same leap in my usage. However, those upgrading from anything below an iPhone 5 will be delighted. . .

The new speed is slightly visible in terms of animations. For example, swiping through Home screens on the 5s feels ever-so-slightly smoother than on the 5. Moving between camera modes on the iPhone 5s is noticeably quicker than on the 5, and even swiping down to access system-search on the 5s's Home screen is smoother than on the 5. Similarly smoother is swiping down the transparent Notification Center panel.

Real-World Video Test Results

Benchmarks are an excellent way to quantify performance difference and performance descriptions are helpful, as well, but for how this speed difference "feels" in actual use, perhaps nothing beats a side-by-side video.

This video, from Tom Rich, compares the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 5s using benchmarks, app launch tests, and most noticeably, the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the Infinity Blade III game:

Performance Summary

Ultimately, Apple's "up to twice as fast" claim for the iPhone 5s is quite reasonable. However, this speed boost does not feel particularly significant in many day-to-day tasks. It is most noticeable when playing high-end games. Perhaps most remarkably, though, the actual performance of the iPhone 5s can increase going forward as more apps are rewritten to fully take advantage of the 64-bit processor.

Also see: What are all the differences between the iPhone 5c and the iPhone 5s? What are all the differences between these devices and the iPhone 5 replaced?