apache2 speed question

Well I was looking at Nginx vs apache performance and apache seems to be disappointing.. but after that I started to look at my own hosting and apaches behavior it seems the initial start of a page takes like 5 times longer than refreshes afterward, because apache is creating the child process for the person I would assume..

Is apache (the king! ) dying, is it time to switch? Is there a way to make the initial load of a web page not so long..?

I couldn't really find any places to read about this specific stuff, nginx's performance is just insane compared to apache