You might want to tell us where you read this.
My own experience is that 1.4 listviews filled with links are apx. 50% faster than 1.3.
This was a particular problem on much older versions of JQM. The solution is to disable hover with CSS simply by setting the hover color to the same as the "up" color. I don't find hover desirable on mobile devices, anyway. I think it has some limited utility on desktop.