iPhone 3G S Benchmarks and Comparisons: Up to 4x Faster than 3G

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com/2009/06/22/iphone-3g-s-benchmarks-and-comparisons-up-to-4x-faster-than-3g/)

Since Friday's release of the iPhone 3G S, there has been a lot of focus on the actual speed gains provided by the newest iPhone model.

Anandtech performed (http://anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3587) formal benchmarks between the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3G S, Palm Pre and Android G1 to see which was the fastest in web rendering and app launching. The site found a 122% speed improvement in web rendering in the iPhone 3G S over the iPhone 3G and a 22.6% improvement in the 3G S over the Palm Pre in the same testing. The iPhone 3G S was also the leader of the pack in app launching with 14-72% improvements over the iPhone 3G.

Meanwhile, Tap Tap Tap (http://www.taptaptap.com/blog/iphone-3gs-blows-away-iphone-3g-in-3d/) found that the framerate (video (http://www.taptaptap.com/blog/iphone-3gs-blows-away-iphone-3g-in-3d/)) of their currently unoptimized Plasma application runs about four times faster on the iPhone 3G S than the iPhone 3G:As the video shows, in our OpenGL ES testing, the 3GS is generally close to four times faster than the 3G. Results will vary depending on the application but this is remarkable to say the least. Plasma’s pretty heavy on particle animation and fairly CPU intensive.Finally, the developer of AirCoaster 3D [App Store (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=304605624&mt=8)] a roller coaster simulation application put together this comparison video showing the dramatic difference in performance of a particularly complex track on the 3G and 3G S.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F8jivXUzOk


The differences in performance are expected to be even more significant once developers start taking advantage of the advanced graphics capabilities found in the iPhone 3G S.


Article Link: iPhone 3G S Benchmarks and Comparisons: Up to 4x Faster than 3G (http://www.macrumors.com/2009/06/22/iphone-3g-s-benchmarks-and-comparisons-up-to-4x-faster-than-3g/)

[Mykbibby]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7A341 Safari/528.16)

Hmmm... Starting to think I should get one now. Hopefully I'm upgrade eligible.

[thegoldenmackid]

one would have thought Apple would have talked about this a little more...

[slffl]

one would have thought Apple would have talked about this a little more...

I think putting the word 'speed' in the name of the phone was a good start.

[larrymarshall2]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7A341 Safari/528.16)

Hmmm... Starting to think I should get one now. Hopefully I'm upgrade eligible.

You can check at ATT's website. I'm not until Dec even tho I got the 3G on launch b/c my monthly bill is under 99 a month

[sammich]

Hmm, the 3G does everything I want already, except play TTR at a consistent frame rate. If I got the 3GS so I could play TTR, I'd be getting a glorified (very very glorified :)) PSP/DSi thingy.

Lucky bastards those 3GS owners...

[JoshHawn]

This is good news for those planning to purchase a 3GS.

Still not enough to make me want to pay $700 for one, I'm looking forward to next years revolutionary iPhone (that will hopefully spank everything out there ;) )

[sirhumbak]

okay...

im calling BS

i understand it's faster.. really i do..my girlfriend upgraded her shattered screen 3G yesterday for a 32gb GS..

When i asked if it was faster.. she simply shrugged and said, "a little bit yea".
When the windows of range go from 14-70%, credibility is lost for me.

before you grab your blowtorches and try to flame me to a crisp understand that I eventually will be upgrading my 3G to the GS when i feel like it.
Since im of the many jailbreakers the storage capacity is the most (perhaps only) intriguing upgrade i have seen to be noteworthy.

lol @ speed enhancements going from up to 2x faster to 4x faster in a weekend.

[Warbrain]

okay...

im calling BS

i understand it's faster.. really i do..my girlfriend upgraded her shattered screen 3G yesterday for a 32gb GS..

When i asked if it was faster.. she simply shrugged and said, "a little bit yea".
When the windows of range go from 14-70%, credibility is lost for me.

before you grab your blowtorches and try to flame me to a crisp understand that I eventually will be upgrading my 3G to the GS when i feel like it.
Since im of the many jailbreakers the storage capacity is the most (perhaps only) intriguing upgrade i have seen to be noteworthy.

lol @ speed enhancements going from up to 2x faster to 4x faster in a weekend.

I played with one over the weekend and it's definitely faster. I don't know if I would call it 4x or 2x or whatever but the big deal is that it's very, very noticeable and nice.

[oneals2focus]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7A341 Safari/528.16)

Hmmm... Starting to think I should get one now. Hopefully I'm upgrade eligible.



Apple iPhone 3G S Check your upgrade eligibility just dial *639#

[Peter Kim]

okay...

im calling BS

i understand it's faster.. really i do..my girlfriend upgraded her shattered screen 3G yesterday for a 32gb GS..

When i asked if it was faster.. she simply shrugged and said, "a little bit yea".
When the windows of range go from 14-70%, credibility is lost for me.


Oh yes, 14-70% is definitely accurate. After one weekend with mine I am sufficiently blown away.

[sirhumbak]

Oh yes, 14-70% is definitely accurate. After one weekend with mine I am sufficiently blown away.

lol.. 14-70 % reminds me of weathermen who say

"we should be getting 2-10 inches snow"

next week it will be 10 times faster.

[Jayomat]

lol @ speed enhancements going from up to 2x faster to 4x faster in a weekend.

the phrase "speed enhancement" does not tell you "where" the speed increased.. the gfx power for example seems to be the target for "4x" speed. it pretty obvious that the 3GS outperformed the 3G. Meanwhile, the 4x speed does not affiliate to the webspeed...
it's just a question of definition....

[bob122989]

Oh yes, 14-70% is definitely accurate. After one weekend with mine I am sufficiently blown away.

+1. I was upgrading from 2G and its enough to make a person wonder how they lived with the slowness for two years. We don't have 3G coverage anywhere near, but even the Edge speeds are easily X2 for me.

[sammich]

okay...

im calling BS

i understand it's faster.. really i do..my girlfriend upgraded her shattered screen 3G yesterday for a 32gb GS..

When i asked if it was faster.. she simply shrugged and said, "a little bit yea".
When the windows of range go from 14-70%, credibility is lost for me.

before you grab your blowtorches and try to flame me to a crisp understand that I eventually will be upgrading my 3G to the GS when i feel like it.
Since im of the many jailbreakers the storage capacity is the most (perhaps only) intriguing upgrade i have seen to be noteworthy.

lol @ speed enhancements going from up to 2x faster to 4x faster in a weekend.

Does anyone grasp what the article is actually about? Maybe everyone reads the title, then the first paragraph (which is a rehash) THEN it proceeds with the next paragraph with 'MEANWHILE'.

All the of the other were tests between similar apps like phone, app launches and safari loading, but this new 2x-4x speed is with the graphics capabilities, which clearly took until now to get sort of result.

[mobi]

This is good news for those planning to purchase a 3GS.

Still not enough to make me want to pay $700 for one, I'm looking forward to next years revolutionary iPhone (that will hopefully spank everything out there ;) )

Holding out as well, next year should be sweet!

[iZac]

...my 1st Gen iPod touch suddenly feels a bit more sluggish.

[Bullshark]

Who cares what the exact percentage is. It's much faster.. Thats my percentage.. its much% faster than the 3g.. and much^2% faster than the 2g.
Part of the point is the potential that comes with the increased speed.

And next year when the new iPhone comes out, it will be much% faster than the 3gS.. The S will no longer stand for Speed, but for Slow..

[Donz0r]

Where are all the 3G S haters now?
minor update my a$$.

The speed difference is glaringly apparent in just regular usage of the phone. browsing, sms, emails, animations, etc. Everything is way faster, even compared side by side on 3.0.

[Data]

One more example of how the update from 3g to 3gs is a minor update compared to the 2g to 3g update, i mean look at it , it's still the same phone, lol, people are so funny who say that, and all because they can't upgrade yet to the 3gs.
Having said that i will probably be in the same boat next year when i can not upgrade, for an other year ;-).

[LagunaSol]

Wow, a remarkable improvement to say the least. I was dubious when some were comparing the 3G/3GS to the Xbox/Xbox 360, but it looks like the comparison was accurate (minus the RROD, LOL).

Can't wait to see what iPhone gaming holds in the months to come.

Where's my StarCraft - iPhone Edition???

[Donz0r]

This is good news for those planning to purchase a 3GS.

Still not enough to make me want to pay $700 for one, I'm looking forward to next years revolutionary iPhone (that will hopefully spank everything out there ;) )

OUCH $700 is steep! Do you not qualify even after AT&T updated the qualifications?

Every year people are ''looking forward to NEXT YEARS revolutionary device". The iPhone platform (like the iPod) is EVOLUTIONARY. Don't expect to ***** your pants next year either.

[Thex1138]

Can't Wait For it :D

[Donz0r]

One more example of how the update from 3g to 3gs is a minor update compared to the 2g to 3g update, i mean look at it , it's still the same phone, lol, people are so funny who say that, and all because they can't upgrade yet to the 3gs.
Having said that i will probably be in the same boat next year when i can not upgrade, for an other year ;-).

?? You seem to contradict yourself here...

[ghostface147]

I do notice that my GS boots up about 10-15 seconds faster, and the overall response is faster. If anyone can push the new graphics core to the max, it will be John Carmack. While backwards compatibility is great for the masses, eventually Gen 1 and 3g users will be left in the dark somewhat. I am guessing that companies will write a great game for all platforms, but then add special content or code that only runs on 3G S or above. Eventually they will grow tired of coding for two different graphics cores and leave the old graphics platforms behind. I guess we'll cross that bridge when it comes.

[decimortis]

I just recently had my 3G stolen about a week before the 3G-S announcement. I wouldn't have gotten one if I still had my 3G because I thought it was a "minor" update, but having been "forced" into getting the 3GS, I'm glad I did it. Not sure how much "faster" it is, but it is definitely more fluid in everything it does. Very happy with it.

EDIT: internet tethering alone was worth the new 3-year contract.

[Eric5h5]

lol @ speed enhancements going from up to 2x faster to 4x faster in a weekend.

Apparently you didn't bother to actually read the article. There is no "overall speed" that you can point to and say "it's 2X faster"--it depends on what you're doing. The CPU is somewhat faster, but the graphics are much faster. If you're doing something graphically intensive, you can definitely get 4X faster. Maybe even more. Naturally, most apps aren't that graphically intensive and won't be 4X faster.

--Eric

[Doju]

One more example of how the update from 3g to 3gs is a minor update compared to the 2g to 3g update, i mean look at it , it's still the same phone, lol, people are so funny who say that, and all because they can't upgrade yet to the 3gs.
Having said that i will probably be in the same boat next year when i can not upgrade, for an other year ;-).Yeah, you're right. It looks the same so it can't be a big upgrade. Oh, wait. No, it's a lot faster, what a phone looks like has nothing to do what it does internally.

Please try again.

[Data]

?? You seem to contradict yourself here...

I never said that going from 3g to 3gs was a minor update.

And with being in the same boat next year i ment that i won't be able to upgrade because of my 3gs subscripttion wich i'm getting in the coming weeks.

But i won't be saying that een upgrade is minor when it isn't.

Pff what a bad post the previous one was,lol, hope this cleares up what i ment.

[taldric]

Holding out as well, next year should be sweet!

I won't try to put numbers to it, but everytime I pick up my new 3GS I am surprised how fast it is. I bought the original iPhone (2G) on openng day 2 years ago and used it continuously since then. I thought it was acceptably speedy, even after my wife picked up the 3G last year. But this new phone is blowing me away. No hesitation on the keyboard. Much faster app starts. And web page rendering is amazingly fast - desktop Safari fast.

I too waited two years to upgrade my phone, skipping the 3G, and I am glad I did. This thing is smokin'! And voice control and video are very good (for a phone device).

So, I can't put numbers on it, but subjectively the 3GS feels significantly faster. So fast that anything faster probably won't be noticable in normal usage. All my speed frustrations with the 2G phone are gone.

[MadDog31]

I was impressed with how smoothly Google Earth ran on the 3GS. I enjoyed showing it off on the 3G, but since getting the 3GS, it won't be such a choppy ride form outer space to where my location is...haha

Overall, I'm very impressed with this upgrade. A lot of under-the-hood stuff was improved.

[jclardy]

To everyone talking about the 2x - 4x "jump" in speed, the stats are correct. The thing is, the speed increase you get depends completely on what software you are running. If it is just opening Mail it will be a small increase, if you are actually pushing the cpu and graphics hardware like the video demo above then the performance difference will be much greater.

I can attest to this as my game currently in development has a lot of sprites and many particles on screen at once, on my iPod Touch 2G the framerate will occasionally stutter and drop a bit, on my 3G S it runs silky smooth no matter what. In a stress test of my game the 3G S can handle a lot more processor and video load at a decent frame rate than the old processor.

So the point of this post is that the speed increase depends entirely on the application and how it handles memory and utilizes the phones resources.

Oh and one last thing, for next years iPhone I highly doubt there is going to be a speed bump anywhere close to the magnitude of 3G->3G S. My bet is a redesigned case and probably a camera bump again. But it's at least a year away so who knows what will happen between now and then.

[peterdevries]

I'm skipping this one (own a 3G) and will upgrade next year..

Only about 360 days to go. Are there any rumours about the iPhone 3G ES (Extreme Speed) yet? :D

[Pugpuppydude]

I want this speed on my iPod touchable!!!

[peterdevries]

it won't be such a choppy ride form outer space to where my location is...haha


I live in Amsterdam, which is most likely the place that is the furthest from outer space (being beneath sea-level), and it's quite smooth for me..:D

[ciociosan]

wow. that sure is one hefty improvement! i'll be getting mine in a week or two (sweden's in the third batch of countries to get the 3g s)

though i must say, that roller coaster app... positively retarded

[spencers]

that video made me nauseous

[SpaceKitty]

Where are all the 3G S haters now?
minor update my a$$.

The speed difference is glaringly apparent in just regular usage of the phone. browsing, sms, emails, animations, etc. Everything is way faster, even compared side by side on 3.0.

I'm keeping my 3G phone to use for email and videos. After I've been using my 3G S for awhile and pick up the 3G, I wonder why we put up with such a slow device. Seriously, as all 3G S owners know, it is FAST! The 3G is just too slow now!

[QCassidy352]

not to say "I told you so" to all the people who said the 3G S was an insignificant/stop-gap upgrade, but... I told you so. :p

The iphone isn't, fundamentally, a phone, or even a smart phone. It's a 3.5" OS X-lite computer that happens to make phone calls. And when you think of it that way, the idea that doubling the capacity, RAM, and processing power (not sure what the multiplier is on the power of the new GPU, but it's a lot faster) is a "stop-gap" upgrade becomes kinda ridiculous.

[Jimmy James]

"It's a minor upgrade"

lol

[NinjaHERO]

Cool video demonstration. The coaster looked great on the 3GS. But if I bought that game for my 3G, I think I would be pissed...lol

[Kyle23]

I have noticed the speed bump in everything that I do with the phone, from opening and loading the camera to net use and every app that I have, well worth the upgrade

[firewood]

When the windows of range go from 14-70%, credibility is lost for me.


Actually, the complete range of the performance delta between the 3G S and the 3G is even wider that those numbers suggest.

I'm a developer with lots of micro-benchmark test code that I've been running on my new 3GS. I've seen a measured range of from slightly over 4X faster to over 40% slower, depending on the exact test code I'm comparing, with the largest boost for Safari web apps. But for average-ish apps, most users could see from 50% more to 3X the performance of their old device.

[iHalo]

Everything feels so smooth on the iPhone 3Gs. The lag is gone. 3.0 runs perfectly. It is just a simply amazing phone. Apple truly outdid themselves.

[Bryan605]

Holding out as well, next year should be sweet!

You can easily get $350 by selling your old phone on Craigslist. I sold 3 of my friends this weekend. They got the upgrade for $399 and paid like a $100 bucks for the new one.

The 3gs are valuable to people on t-mobile who want the GPS capability. Remember the iphone has great resale value!!!! Why wait when you can upgrade for $100 bucks!!!

[WannaGoMac]

You can easily get $350 by selling your old phone on Craigslist. I sold 3 of my friends this weekend. They got the upgrade for $399 and paid like a $100 bucks for the new one.

The 3gs are valuable to people on t-mobile who want the GPS capability. Remember the iphone has great resale value!!!! Why wait when you can upgrade for $100 bucks!!!

I wonder if the re-sale values will hold once more people realize that the 3G only gets EDGE data speeds on T-Mobile, and once everyone starts dumping their 3gs onto the market within the next 12 months...

[Nausicaa]

I agree with others that while this is a 'minor' update, it's still very impressive.

The 3GS is my first iPhone. Quite frankly, while the previous models were cool, I never bought one because to me, they hadn't yet achieved a sufficient level of polish that makes for a great user experience. The storage capacities were too small, the camera was marginal, there were oversights in the OS, and it wasn't the snappiest of machines. The app store was still in it's infancy, or didn't yet exist at all.

But now? My oh my. The 3GS combined with OS 3.0 makes for a great phone. The speed with which I can open and switch between apps is very impressive - I'm never waiting. The camera is finally workable - I'm actually interested in taking pictures and recording video with it. There's 32 GB so I can achieve a decent balance of apps, music, and video. The app store is unparalelled. On which other device can I run useful or unique apps like Brushes, Ocarina, RJDJ, Newsstand, Shazam, and Photogene? It's got everything! Finally, I never imagined I would grow to love the body design so much. It's comfortable to hold and easy to use. The size and weight feels very natural.

I imagine the 3GS as the first 'complete' iPhone. Previous models always seemed more like work-in-progress devices. I honestly can't find any complaints to make. I can only imagine how much better this device will get as the years go on.

[crisss1205]

the phrase "speed enhancement" does not tell you "where" the speed increased.. the gfx power for example seems to be the target for "4x" speed. it pretty obvious that the 3GS outperformed the 3G. Meanwhile, the 4x speed does not affiliate to the webspeed...
it's just a question of definition.... For me 3G speeds are about 2 to 2.5 times faster on the 3G S compared to the 3G and Wi-Fi is about 3 to 3.5 times faster.

[Surely]

Load times for apps are ridiculously fast on the 3G S⃣ . I opened Peggle up on my 1st gen iPhone and on my 3G S⃣ , and I was already playing by the time Peggle loaded on the 1st gen. It took like 3 seconds for Peggle to be ready to play on the 3G S⃣ .

I know unrelated, but here's my favorite bonus: I can make phone calls in my apartment! With the EDGE phone, I had to stand on my balcony or press against a window. Now that I've got the 3G S⃣ , I can sit on my couch or stand in my kitchen and talk on the phone!

[commander.data]

There should be even more performance to be unlocked in the PowerVR SGX over time. OpenGL ES 2.0 is not directly hardware backwards compatible with OpenGL ES 1.1 so all current iPhone games are emulating OpenGL ES 1.1's fixed function pipeline in shaders. Those shaders will no doubt get better over time. What's more, OpenGL ES 2.0 games will be able to utilize the PowerVR SGX natively and shaders will certainly enable a lot more realistic effects.

[Bryan605]

I wonder if the re-sale values will hold once more people realize that the 3G only gets EDGE data speeds on T-Mobile, and once everyone starts dumping their 3gs onto the market within the next 12 months...

I think they will. The 3g adds GPS functionality and alot of 2g tmobile users want it.

Plus if someone losses thier phone and needs a new one paying $300 is nothing compared to full price.

[Bryan605]

I am getting much better reception with the 3gs as well over the 3g.

Anyone else noticing it!!!

[DotComCTO]

I won't try to put numbers to it, but everytime I pick up my new 3GS I am surprised how fast it is. I bought the original iPhone (2G) on openng day 2 years ago and used it continuously since then. I thought it was acceptably speedy, even after my wife picked up the 3G last year. But this new phone is blowing me away. No hesitation on the keyboard. Much faster app starts. And web page rendering is amazingly fast - desktop Safari fast.

I too waited two years to upgrade my phone, skipping the 3G, and I am glad I did. This thing is smokin'! And voice control and video are very good (for a phone device).

So, I can't put numbers on it, but subjectively the 3GS feels significantly faster. So fast that anything faster probably won't be noticable in normal usage. All my speed frustrations with the 2G phone are gone.

+1

I also went from 2G to 3GS, and the speed improvement is incredible. I played with Let's Golf and Tiger Woods this weekend on my 3GS, and it's fast and silky smooth - especially the course flybys. On the 2G, it would chug a big - not horrible, but you knew these games were pushing the hardware. On the 3GS, it's just much more noticeably faster...in fact, Let's Golf is *almost* too fast now!

:D

--DotComCTO

[DipDog3]

Probably has to do with both the speed and the extra RAM.

That is why it is so much faster.

[QCassidy352]

+1

I also went from 2G to 3GS, and the speed improvement is incredible. I played with Let's Golf and Tiger Woods this weekend on my 3GS, and it's fast and silky smooth - especially the course flybys. On the 2G, it would chug a big - not horrible, but you knew these games were pushing the hardware. On the 3GS, it's just much more noticeably faster...in fact, Let's Golf is *almost* too fast now!

:D

--DotComCTO

I too went from 2G to 3G S and am very impressed. (it makes a really big difference two of my favorite games: Blackbeard and Montezuma. the latter could get almost unplayable on my 2G.)

I'm also impressed with AT&T's 3G network - I was expecting data to be noticably faster than EDGE, but it's well beyond my expectations. Although I'm sure the kbps numbers wouldn't actually bear this out, the subjective experience using 3G in boston has been almost like being on wifi. Not quite that good, but a lot closer to that than it is to being on EDGE.

[Data]

I agree with others that while this is a 'minor' update, it's still very impressive.
.

Wich others here ?

But i'll stop now.

[applecultvictim]

this data is crap and means squat. Reminds me of the sales where they advertise up to 75% off, what the heck does that mean? They have a pair of trousers at 75% and the rest at 10% off.


The average is what is important, and on daily chores. :rolleyes:

[marksman]

lol.. 14-70 % reminds me of weathermen who say

"we should be getting 2-10 inches snow"

next week it will be 10 times faster.

It is weird how some people don't understand how this could be.

It would be like the weather man saying (not that I am defending weathermen, they have most low pressure job in the world since they dont ever have to be right), there will be from 2 to 10 inches of snow in the area. Then the next day there is 2 inches downtown, out to the west there is 10 inches, and to the east 3 inches and to the south 4 inches.

He would be entirely accurate.

Just like them saying 14%-70% would be accurate because it likely spans across a variety of apps, some of which show more of an improvement then others.

[Hattig]

okay...

im calling BS

When i asked if it was faster.. she simply shrugged and said, "a little bit yea".
When the windows of range go from 14-70%, credibility is lost for me.

lol @ speed enhancements going from up to 2x faster to 4x faster in a weekend.

What's so hard to understand?

2x faster - Mostly CPU bound tasks because the CPU is so much better.
4x faster - Mostly graphics intensive applications.
A little big faster - loading from flash memory, which probably isn't that much faster than the flash memory in the 3G, and is the limiting factor.

That's why there's a range of improvements.

The 3GS has far far better graphics hardware, SGX instead of MBX, 4x faster isn't infeasible (especially since the MBX could have been CPU limited), even though it runs OpenGL|ES 1 as shaders on its OpenGL|ES 2 core.

[wonderbread57]

Looks more like the increased VRAM is benefiting the 3GS. The 3G probably has to keep swapping in and out to accommodate that big track model. I doubt this is purely the 3GS being faster at rendering.

A first hand example is that I use to have a 8800GTX with 768MB vram and when I ran an nvidia demo of a face, it ran at around 40fps. When I got the 8800 GT SST (faster clocked but less vram, 512MB) it ran horribly around 6fps. The GTX is not 7 times as fast as the GT, it was the 512MB of the GT that was unable to handle the demo that was custom made for 768MB VRAM. So i'm sure you can push a game to the point where the 3GS looks great and 3G doesn't. I really wonder what the difference is on a small course model. I'm sure the 3GS is better, maybe 2.5x better, but 4x?

[Hattig]

this data is crap and means squat. Reminds me of the sales where they advertise up to 75% off, what the heck does that mean? They have a pair of trousers at 75% and the rest at 10% off.

The average is what is important, and on daily chores. :rolleyes:

The average in this case is actually meaningless without the usage context. Most non-simple averages are meaningless because they make assumptions, such as weighting usage, or assuming that load time is as important as usage-performance.

[twoodcc]

wow. sounds great. i'll most likely be getting one of these things soon, when i can just walk in the store and get one

[Stately]

This is good news for those planning to purchase a 3GS.

Still not enough to make me want to pay $700 for one, I'm looking forward to next years revolutionary iPhone (that will hopefully spank everything out there ;) )

Yeah hopefully and hopefully other carriers would have picked it up as well. :cool:

[TheOrioles33]

okay...

im calling BS

i understand it's faster.. really i do..my girlfriend upgraded her shattered screen 3G yesterday for a 32gb GS..

When i asked if it was faster.. she simply shrugged and said, "a little bit yea".
When the windows of range go from 14-70%, credibility is lost for me.

before you grab your blowtorches and try to flame me to a crisp understand that I eventually will be upgrading my 3G to the GS when i feel like it.
Since im of the many jailbreakers the storage capacity is the most (perhaps only) intriguing upgrade i have seen to be noteworthy.

lol @ speed enhancements going from up to 2x faster to 4x faster in a weekend.


No flaming here but you asked your girlfried? I asked my wife who went from a 1st gen to a 3GS and she said the same thing. Dont ask a woman! They dont know any better. :)

[aardwolf]

wow. sounds great. i'll most likely be getting one of these things soon, when i can just walk in the store and get one

I pre-ordered mine, but my friend walked into an AT&T Store on launch day... in the afternoon. There was no line, and he bought one right there.

[DreamPod]

If you play lots of games, expect some nice framerate increases and speedier load times. If you use a lot of "iFart" or business apps, expect small speed increases. The 3GS's CPU is about 2X as fast as the 3G, including better caching and stuff, but its GPU is about *7X* as fast as the 3G. It's faster accessing onboard storage as well, and apps that use lots of video ram will be less choppy when doing so.

Of course you won't see the biggest speed increases until you get apps designed specifically for the 3GS - apps written to take advantage of the double memory, for example, so that they have to access onboard storage less often.

[RumMunkey]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US) AppleWebKit/530.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Safari/530.17)

To everyone talking about the 2x - 4x "jump" in speed, the stats are correct. The thing is, the speed increase you get depends completely on what software you are running. If it is just opening Mail it will be a small increase, if you are actually pushing the cpu and graphics hardware like the video demo above then the performance difference will be much greater.

I can attest to this as my game currently in development has a lot of sprites and many particles on screen at once, on my iPod Touch 2G the framerate will occasionally stutter and drop a bit, on my 3G S it runs silky smooth no matter what. In a stress test of my game the 3G S can handle a lot more processor and video load at a decent frame rate than the old processor.

So the point of this post is that the speed increase depends entirely on the application and how it handles memory and utilizes the phones resources.

Oh and one last thing, for next years iPhone I highly doubt there is going to be a speed bump anywhere close to the magnitude of 3G->3G S. My bet is a redesigned case and probably a camera bump again. But it's at least a year away so who knows what will happen between now and then.

I have to disagree. In Mail is where I see some of the biggest improvements.

I sync 4 imap mail accounts and on 3G it brought the phone to a screeching halt. I would need to run Free Memory after I closed Mail every time.

On the 3G S it screams. I can just fly in and out of mailboxes like there's nothing to it.

[DELLsFan]

I just recently had my 3G stolen about a week before the 3G-S announcement. I wouldn't have gotten one if I still had my 3G because I thought it was a "minor" update, but having been "forced" into getting the 3GS, I'm glad I did it. Not sure how much "faster" it is, but it is definitely more fluid in everything it does. Very happy with it.

EDIT: internet tethering alone was worth the new 3-year contract.

Um, you meant 2 year contract, didn't you? Since when did AT&T start offering 3-year contracts? What's next? Indentured Servitude? :D

[michael31986]

if i liked to play games on it it would be worth it, but it is a phone for me!

[Donz0r]

Um, you meant 2 year contract, didn't you? Since when did AT&T start offering 3-year contracts? What's next? Indentured Servitude? :D

The iPhone is available in many, many countries. All with different carriers, plans, and prices.

[winterspan]

okay...

im calling BS...

When i asked if it was faster.. she simply shrugged and said, "a little bit yea".
When the windows of range go from 14-70%, credibility is lost for me.


Yes, because why would you trust iPhone developers with a clear video of the difference. /sarcasm
The 14-70% was a completely different metric than game rendering. The iPhone 3GS IS indeed 2-4X faster in rendering depending on the specific workload.

In web browsing, the iPhone 3GS loads webpages in half the time of the iPhone 3G as per Anandtech's tests --- when many large websites are taking up to 30 seconds or more on the 3G . Over the course of a a 30-minute browsing session, that makes an enormous difference.

For basic tasks and application loading, you won't see a 4x difference, but again, if you use it as much as I do, over the course of a day the ~50% increase in speed will be a big time saver/

[winterspan]

Hmm, the 3G does everything I want already, except play TTR at a consistent frame rate. If I got the 3GS so I could play TTR, I'd be getting a glorified (very very glorified :)) PSP/DSi thingy.

Lucky bastards those 3GS owners...

glorified PSP + Decent camera with spot focus + decent video recorder (far better than most smartphones I've useD)

[Master Chief]

The speed improvements are all nice and dandy, and are what people expect, but please macrumors, don't forget to talk about/address the lack of Xenon flash and the still very limited camera, lacking (digital) zoom, and it is still nowhere close to what competitors offer (Apple still playing catch up) and what it should have been by now i.e. 5 mega pixels.

Also, people like me who travel a lot, we are still being ripped off with data roaming – I had to pay over 600 Euro after testing a new turn-by-turn nav application, and I was told that the faster iPhone 3GS (no more 3G spaceS) would have pull even more data so you are warned!

p.s. the new iPhone appears to run a lot hotter, and I will do some testing tomorrow (thanks to Fluke) to see if I am right – you bet I am.

[jplevine]

Hopefully some of you can convince me of the answer to the following...I have a 16GB 3G and am eligible to upgrade, so $199 for 16GB 3GS (I don't think I need 32GB since I usually don't get above around 12GB). It looks like I can sell my 3G for at least the $199 upgrade fee. The issue though is that I would need to sign a 2 year contract, meaning when the really improved model comes out a year from now presumably, I will be out of luck. Otherwise, I can just skip this version and hold out until next year. I am a heavy email user, somewhat regular user of internet, have a golf GPS app and many other smaller apps.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

[PinkyMacGodess]

Maybe this isn't the right place for this question but: What about voice command? Is it working well for people? Anyone tried it?

[HiRez]

I basically just got the 3 GS because it was relatively cheap, since my original contract was old. I really wasn't expecting a whole lot, but I'm really happy with this new phone, it is a lot faster. Now I had the original phone, so obviously 3G is a huge upgrade for me on the network side, but it's really in the interface that I appreciate it. The old phone was just very laggy loading apps and switching views and web pages, scrolling, typing. All of that is gone, it's just a really smooth experience now. Web pages load unbelievably fast now, and again, not because of the 3G. The combination of the faster CPU, more memory, and the new 3.0 Javascript engine makes a huge difference. I probably use Safari at least 50% of my time on the iPhone so this is really important to me.

I still think AT&T's 3G network is pretty pokey, and comparisons with the Pre bear that out, so I'm not hoping for much with this new "double speed" network, if we ever see it. But the 3GS itself is fantastic, well worth upgrading.

[Master Chief]

Maybe this isn't the right place for this question but: What about voice command? Is it working well for people? Anyone tried it?
Yes, but it isn't flawless – but neither are we so... very acceptable.

[HiRez]

Maybe this isn't the right place for this question but: What about voice command? Is it working well for people? Anyone tried it?Yeah, it's pretty flakey for me. Better than nothing, but it's really hit and miss. It can really suck if you, for example, call your ex-girlfriend when you're trying to play an iPod mix or something. This should be something they can improve on in software though, just as with handwriting recognition or whatever.

[Master Chief]

Hopefully some of you can convince me of the answer to the following...I have a 16GB 3G and am eligible to upgrade, so $199 for 16GB 3GS (I don't think I need 32GB since I usually don't get above around 12GB). It looks like I can sell my 3G for at least the $199 upgrade fee. The issue though is that I would need to sign a 2 year contract, meaning when the really improved model comes out a year from now presumably, I will be out of luck. Otherwise, I can just skip this version and hold out until next year. I am a heavy email user, somewhat regular user of internet, have a golf GPS app and many other smaller apps.

Thoughts? Suggestions?
The main question to me would be: "Am I happy with it?". If yes stick to it and when not... get yourself a new one.

[SleepyHead157]

I've been thinking more and more about whether or not I should get the 3GS. I have the 3G and I'm fine with it but my sister is planning to get the iphone. I'm thinking if I should wait till December when i could upgrade for the 300 or just sell her my 3G phone and pay the difference now.

[Braindead360]

The number one reason why I wasn't in line Friday morning was because I'm not eligible until December. Even then, I still won't be upgrading at that point for the simple reason that by the time I'm eligible, we will be just a few months away from the next version. If the 3GS is the phone that adds all of the functionality that has been in mobile phones for years (Video, Voice Recognition, etc.) then I am extremely optimistic about what Apple has in store for the next version of the device. For me, $400+ is just a little too steep for a significant speed boost, video recording, and a digital compass. Here's what I think will probably be in the next version.
(Note: I have no sources, these are just wild guesses.)

Hardware Re-Design with matted aluminum casing
More Memory (32 GB Base - 64 GB Max)
Front Facing/Higher Resolution Camera
Faster Processing
Faster Data Transfer
Tactile Feedback
USB 3.0 Support
More Gesture Controls (Examble: 3 finger swipe brings up spotlight, hangs up, etc.)
Solar Charging (Green is the new trend in tech, and if Apple can implement this into the iPhone, I think people would go crazy for it.)

Feel free to tell me what you guys think will be in the next model. :D

[Rootus]

Maybe this isn't the right place for this question but: What about voice command? Is it working well for people? Anyone tried it? Works great for me. The only potential negative thing I've noticed is that it always seems to try, even when it really ought to say "WHAT?" I've never had it fail to do what I want it to do when I give it a valid command, but I've tried a few silly things and it's always willing to do something.

[Mr Maui]

While the increases in speed, performance and storage have improved in the 3GS over the 3G, can any of the new owners give feedback on the call quality. I've heard that the quality on the 1st gen iPhone was bad and that the 3G was only a slight improvement. I have not purchased an iPhone yet, and call quality is important to me. Thanks.

[mattster16]

While the increases in speed, performance and storage have improved in the 3GS over the 3G, can any of the new owners give feedback on the call quality. I've heard that the quality on the 1st gen iPhone was bad and that the 3G was only a slight improvement. I have not purchased an iPhone yet, and call quality is important to me. Thanks.

Call quality is great. Then again I thought it was great on my 1st gen...I don't know where people were having their issues because I never had any problems, call quality was always good for me.

The volume is louder on the 3GS than the 1st gen, I don't know how it compares to the 3G because I never had one.

[Mr Maui]

Call quality is great. Then again I thought it was great on my 1st gen...I don't know where people were having their issues because I never had any problems, call quality was always good for me.

The volume is louder on the 3GS than the 1st gen, I don't know how it compares to the 3G because I never had one.

I've heard owners of the 3G say that the call quality is bad, even sounding like a hollow or echoing on the receiver's side. Have any of the people you've been talking to complained about the calls they were receiving from you?

[HiRez]

While the increases in speed, performance and storage have improved in the 3GS over the 3G, can any of the new owners give feedback on the call quality. I've heard that the quality on the 1st gen iPhone was bad and that the 3G was only a slight improvement. I have not purchased an iPhone yet, and call quality is important to me. Thanks.The call quality is just "OK" for me. It's acceptable but I do get some echoing, occasionally the person on the other end can hear you but you can't hear them or vice-versa, wind noise is really loud, and some disconnects. I don't think the quality is any better than my first gen iPhone, although the speaker (internal and external) is a little louder so that can help. But I think it really depends on where you live and what kind of connection you're getting. My friend has a Verizon phone and the voice quality is a lot cleaner (again, where I am).

[mattster16]

I've heard owners of the 3G say that the call quality is bad, even sounding like a hollow or echoing on the receiver's side. Have any of the people you've been talking to complained about the calls they were receiving from you?

No, I also talk to a lot of other people on the phone that have iPhones as well and I never have any trouble hearing them.

It could have something to do with the specific network people are on too...maybe?

[Rootus]

Call quality is great. That's been my experience too. Better than my first gen iPhone for sure.

[alexbard57]

I think I may agree. There are aspects that are faster, but the biggest disappointment I've had is with stalls in text message typing and the animation of transitioning between different pages of apps.

Almost every time I text, the system gets choked up and freezes for a brief moment then enters all characters typed after chewing on the input data.

I would say that speed functionality in this department is far more important than graphics for games, and is a shortfall of the 3GS.

Anybody else experience this, or did I get a janky one?


okay...

im calling BS

i understand it's faster.. really i do..my girlfriend upgraded her shattered screen 3G yesterday for a 32gb GS..

When i asked if it was faster.. she simply shrugged and said, "a little bit yea".
When the windows of range go from 14-70%, credibility is lost for me.

before you grab your blowtorches and try to flame me to a crisp understand that I eventually will be upgrading my 3G to the GS when i feel like it.
Since im of the many jailbreakers the storage capacity is the most (perhaps only) intriguing upgrade i have seen to be noteworthy.

lol @ speed enhancements going from up to 2x faster to 4x faster in a weekend.

[Glideslope]

The number one reason why I wasn't in line Friday morning was because I'm not eligible until December. Even then, I still won't be upgrading at that point for the simple reason that by the time I'm eligible, we will be just a few months away from the next version. If the 3GS is the phone that adds all of the functionality that has been in mobile phones for years (Video, Voice Recognition, etc.) then I am extremely optimistic about what Apple has in store for the next version of the device. For me, $400+ is just a little too steep for a significant speed boost, video recording, and a digital compass. Here's what I think will probably be in the next version.
(Note: I have no sources, these are just wild guesses.)

Hardware Re-Design with matted aluminum casing
More Memory (32 GB Base - 64 GB Max)
Front Facing/Higher Resolution Camera
Faster Processing
Faster Data Transfer
Tactile Feedback
USB 3.0 Support
More Gesture Controls (Examble: 3 finger swipe brings up spotlight, hangs up, etc.)
Solar Charging (Green is the new trend in tech, and if Apple can implement this into the iPhone, I think people would go crazy for it.)

Feel free to tell me what you guys think will be in the next model. :D

I'm with you.

Also, if the China deal becomes reality I think there will be a real possibility of a CDMA for the US market late 2010. There has to be CDMA for China IMO.

If your a gamer this phone is a must have. No question. But at&t will always suck. 3.0 on a 3G is a very nice option for non gamers who want to wait.

No question the 3Gs is a great tool, but at&t will always hold it back. Apple knows this. Keep your eyes open. Change is coming. :apple:

[ImNoSuperMan]

Every year people are ''looking forward to NEXT YEARS revolutionary device". The iPhone platform (like the iPod) is EVOLUTIONARY. Don't expect to ***** your pants next year either.

iPhone has a lot more room not just for improvement but a lot of innovation. I bet you 10$ within next 3(if not 2) years there is going to be an update which will definitely require you to change the pants there n then:D. Who knows if Steve Jobs rolls out the new iPhone Nano this september you wont even have to wait a year to loose the bet.

[swagi]

The number one reason why I wasn't in line Friday morning was because I'm not eligible until December. Even then, I still won't be upgrading at that point for the simple reason that by the time I'm eligible, we will be just a few months away from the next version. If the 3GS is the phone that adds all of the functionality that has been in mobile phones for years (Video, Voice Recognition, etc.) then I am extremely optimistic about what Apple has in store for the next version of the device. For me, $400+ is just a little too steep for a significant speed boost, video recording, and a digital compass. Here's what I think will probably be in the next version.
(Note: I have no sources, these are just wild guesses.)

Hardware Re-Design with matted aluminum casing
More Memory (32 GB Base - 64 GB Max)
Front Facing/Higher Resolution Camera
Faster Processing
Faster Data Transfer
Tactile Feedback
USB 3.0 Support
More Gesture Controls (Examble: 3 finger swipe brings up spotlight, hangs up, etc.)
Solar Charging (Green is the new trend in tech, and if Apple can implement this into the iPhone, I think people would go crazy for it.)

Feel free to tell me what you guys think will be in the next model. :D

While I agree with nearly everything you wrote, I have to say that solar charging would be absolute nonsense. The phone itself is either seated in a pocket/protective shell or in your hand/face. So there is nearly no situation, where it could actually recharge, no matter where you put the PV cells.

Well, in case you're one of those guys always bragging with your phone and laying it on a table at every coffee shop you go, there may be some situations, where it could recharge. But if I take my personal usage of a phone as average, it is a real dark life to be a mobile phone.

[Azrel]

I think it's a nice upgrade, but not worth another 18 month contract for me, so I'm sticking with the 3G and waiting for the next iPhone.:apple:

[Skika]

Ok that video gave me a headache:o.

[DiamondMac]

Good friend let me use his 3GS most of today at work and I did in fact find it faster. But I didn't really find it so-much-more faster that I was shocked or surprised.

It is a solid upgrade but I am not sure it is to the point that I tell myself, "I have got to upgrade!"

Now, the added space makes me say that but I am a sucker for more space :cool:

[Rootus]

I skipped the 3G upgrade since it was such a minor improvement over the original, and I'm glad I waited. The 3GS is everything the 3G should have been.

[RITmusic2k]

...not that I am defending weathermen, they have most low pressure job in the world...Only when it's hot outside :p



On topic, I switched from my LG Voyager to a 3GS on launch day, and as a first-time ianything owner, I cannot overstate my shock at what a powerful computing platform the iPhone is... my Voyager was a great phone when I got it ~2 years ago, but even then it felt like a cheap toy in comparison to the 1st gen iPhone my friend owned. Today, the difference is even more dramatic.

We have iPhones of every vintage to compare to at my office, and my 3GS simply blows them out of the water, whether it be browsing websites, launching apps, moving around a map, or any of a dozen other activities...

What makes the difference for me is whether I have to wait on a phone, or it has to wait on me. I'd rather my phone be ready for my input as soon as I figure out what I want to type or launch or whatever, as opposed to me sitting there while it chugs away. So far, the 3GS has never kept me waiting.

[Master Chief]

While I agree with nearly everything you wrote, I have to say that solar charging would be absolute nonsense. The phone itself is either seated in a pocket/protective shell or in your hand/face. So there is nearly no situation, where it could actually recharge, no matter where you put the PV cells...
Well, what about the LCD screen? Seriously, there is a German company working on this (patent filed) so I would assume that it's a matter of time (years?) that we see something like this.

[almandog]

I have the original iPhone and I was waiting for the 3GS review before upgrading. I was very disappointed to see that the new Search feature on the 3GS can't do search in the Contact Notes. I have a lot of notes in the contact application, and I often forget the names of some contacts but I always make notes on them with the expectation that I can search for key words in the notes to bring up the Contact. I have to Jailbreak the original iPhone and install an application called Searcher in order to search contacts notes. All the Bells and Whistles that this phone have one would think a global search is quite in order. But I see that it can now do cut, copy, and paste. A Blackberry user was laughing at me. Anyone also disappointed?

[Shiner]

The number one reason why I wasn't in line Friday morning was because I'm not eligible until December. Even then, I still won't be upgrading at that point for the simple reason that by the time I'm eligible, we will be just a few months away from the next version. If the 3GS is the phone that adds all of the functionality that has been in mobile phones for years (Video, Voice Recognition, etc.) then I am extremely optimistic about what Apple has in store for the next version of the device. For me, $400+ is just a little too steep for a significant speed boost, video recording, and a digital compass. Here's what I think will probably be in the next version.
(Note: I have no sources, these are just wild guesses.)

Hardware Re-Design with matted aluminum casing
More Memory (32 GB Base - 64 GB Max)
Front Facing/Higher Resolution Camera
Faster Processing
Faster Data Transfer
Tactile Feedback
USB 3.0 Support
More Gesture Controls (Examble: 3 finger swipe brings up spotlight, hangs up, etc.)
Solar Charging (Green is the new trend in tech, and if Apple can implement this into the iPhone, I think people would go crazy for it.)

Feel free to tell me what you guys think will be in the next model. :D

Agreed. Just add the OLED screen and everything you mentioned and that is the 4th generation iphone. People that fought tooth and nail to upgrade from 3G to 3GS are going to lose it next year. Kinda sucks, apple was just 3-4 months away from OLED in the phone I bet.

[Ntombi]

I didn't have the original, but I had a 3G since a week after launch, and the 3G S is noticeably faster in every way. Also, that little bit of keyboard lag that would rear its ugly head every once in a while is gone. Simply gone. :)


No flaming here but you asked your girlfried? I asked my wife who went from a 1st gen to a 3GS and she said the same thing. Dont ask a woman! They dont know any better. :)

:rolleyes:

[Drag'nGT]

Is this iPhone running the custom chips that they were rumored to be building a while back?

[mac*jedi*g]

...next year, when Apple comes out with the iPhone G4 upgrade, and my contract expire, I better be able to wipe my a88 with the 3GS :D and I expect the G4 to be able to make me a sandwich on command!!! :cool:

Yea....

[Compile 'em all]

Is this iPhone running the custom chips that they were rumored to be building a while back?

Nope. This is a standard ARM cortex which is the exact same one in the Pre.

[sfditty]

3G S is definitely a lot faster than my 3G. But I don't understand why my 3G S screen tastes funny when I lick it. My 3G never tasted funny.





:D

[ataboc]

i was able to upgrade in march i'm glad i waited!

this is my first iphone and it's pretty awesome.

except for the monthly charges. and that it's not as awesome as i thought it was going to be.

[YoGramMamma]

The 3GS is cool no doubt, but did anyone realize that apple disables the function to record video while also in a phonecall. Maybe it's been mentioed before but I haven't seen it. Maybe that goes to illustrate just how much power the 30fps video recording uses.

Soon as you hang up the call the option to change back to video mode reappears. Secrets secrets...

[HiRez]

The 3GS is cool no doubt, but did anyone realize that apple disables the function to record video while also in a phonecall. Maybe it's been mentioed before but I haven't seen it. Maybe that goes to illustrate just how much power the 30fps video recording uses.

Soon as you hang up the call the option to change back to video mode reappears. Secrets secrets...What happens if you're already recording while you get the call? It just cuts off the video?

[YankeeSR23]

I have the Rollercoaster app and now that looks so much better.

Also I have Monopoly on my iPhone and on the 2G version I would get so many error messages about not having enough memory and it saving my previous game and now I get none of those messages.

Thank God!!!

Gonna suck next year when they release a 4G version and I have to pay out the ass for it. But jumping from the 2G to the 3GS was worth it. Last year was just not enough to make the jump.

[someguy9]

Nice to see a video with an actual strong stress test on it

[peterdevries]

Hardware Re-Design with matted aluminum casing
I don't see them going back to matted aluminium. I think the black and white finish are here to stay. Maybe a satinized version next year. But no aluminium.
More Memory (32 GB Base - 64 GB Max)
I think so too, 8GB will be out, but 16 would be base I think to replace the 8GB 3G version that will be EOL'ed next year.
Front Facing/Higher Resolution Camera
Although a higher resolution camera is probable. I still think the front facing remains wishful thinking.
Faster Processing
Faster Data Transfer
Agree

Tactile Feedback
I don't see this happening. IMO there is not enough to be gained from this from the viewpoint of a user. The BB Storm (although implemented badly) shows this. The rumble feature in games and apps is probably enough.

USB 3.0 Support
Could be. Don't have an opinion on this.

More Gesture Controls (Example: 3 finger swipe brings up spotlight, hangs up, etc.)
I see this also as likely.

Solar Charging (Green is the new trend in tech, and if Apple can implement this into the iPhone, I think people would go crazy for it.)
I don't think so. The tech is not yet mature enough to provide an in-product solution, that fits with the form factor and can charge the iPhone in a reasonable amount of time. It would be great if it would be possible though. I'm sure people would jump on it if it would be implemented succesfully.

Some of my own thoughts/wishes:
Higher resolution , hopefully larger screen.
OLED? I'm not sure. Will they have solved the color degradation problem? If not, we will get a normal screen.
I hope: bluetooth/wifi iTunes synching. It should be possible to do this without that little cable... An automatic sync as soon as I enter the house would be sooooo coool.
I think a different form factor, slghtly more edgy. Maybe a bit thinner, although not as thin as the Touch.

[iphones4evry1]

okay...

im calling BS

i understand it's faster.. really i do..my girlfriend upgraded her shattered screen 3G yesterday for a 32gb GS..

When i asked if it was faster.. she simply shrugged and said, "a little bit yea".
When the windows of range go from 14-70%, credibility is lost for me.

before you grab your blowtorches and try to flame me to a crisp understand that I eventually will be upgrading my 3G to the GS when i feel like it.
Since im of the many jailbreakers the storage capacity is the most (perhaps only) intriguing upgrade i have seen to be noteworthy.

lol @ speed enhancements going from up to 2x faster to 4x faster in a weekend.

I definitely agree with you. On Saturday, I demoed a 3GS at an AT&T store and it was somewhat faster (it was noticeable) but it was NOT 2X or 4X faster!!! Definitely not. I would say maybe 15% faster. What I did notice though is the additional RAM. I could open Yahoo, then open MacRumors in a new page, then go back to Yahoo and it was still there. In certain situations, that can be a very nice ability to have. Also, I noticed that because of the RAM, while a webpage was loading, I was able to stretch and scroll no problem. With the 3G, you get a gray-white checkerboard if you try to stretch and scroll while the page is still loading. The RAM is definitely noticeable. The faster processor is noticable but it is certainly not 2X or 4X. Having experienced that on Saturday, I decided to do a follow up and make sure. I went to the Apple Store today, and at the Apple store, the 3GS was about 50% (1.5X) faster, but certainly not "2X to 4X." Now before you get ahead of me, let me say that I understand that certain Apps exploit the faster processor better than others. Certain "intense video games" for example, could show 4X faster based on the way they render graphics. But, in my comparison I used Safari, which is something that everyone has and is largely considered "the standard" for testing iPhone speed.

[iphones4evry1]

Solar Charging (Green is the new trend in tech, and if Apple can implement this into the iPhone, I think people would go crazy for it.)

Everyone I know has their phone in their pocket most of the time, and spends at least eight hours per day indoors. I think that having pendulums inside the phone and generating electricity from kinetic energy is much more logical. Wrist watches have used pendulums with kinetic energy capture for decades.

[peterdevries]

Everyone I know has their phone in their pocket most of the time, and spends at least eight hours per day indoors. I think that having pendulums inside the phone and generating electricity from kinetic energy is much more logical. Wrist watches have used pendulums with kinetic energy capture for decades.

The energy generated by kinetic energy capture is not sufficient to power the iPhone. You would have to run a marathon to generate the energy required to place a call.

[shen]

Everyone I know has their phone in their pocket most of the time, and spends at least eight hours per day indoors. I think that having pendulums inside the phone and generating electricity from kinetic energy is much more logical. Wrist watches have used pendulums with kinetic energy capture for decades.

Hi, my name is shane, and clip my iPhone on my belt, and I am outside 50% of the day plus.

Now you can't say that again.

BTW, you need to get out more....

[peterdevries]

clip my iPhone on my belt

I hope you live in the states, because here in Europe the fashion police would shoot to kill..:D

[decimortis]

I just recently had my 3G stolen about a week before the 3G-S announcement. I wouldn't have gotten one if I still had my 3G because I thought it was a "minor" update, but having been "forced" into getting the 3GS, I'm glad I did it. Not sure how much "faster" it is, but it is definitely more fluid in everything it does. Very happy with it.

EDIT: internet tethering alone was worth the new 3-year contract.

Um, you meant 2 year contract, didn't you? Since when did AT&T start offering 3-year contracts? What's next? Indentured Servitude? :D

Canada (Rogers & Fido) requires a 3-year contract to get the subsidized pricing. Yeah, it kinda sucks, but what can ya do? They offer free tethering so I don't complain (yet) :D

[sirhumbak]

Where are all the 3G S haters now?
minor update my a$$.

The speed difference is glaringly apparent in just regular usage of the phone. browsing, sms, emails, animations, etc. Everything is way faster, even compared side by side on 3.0.

a camera that's hardly better, a better video camera than cycorder, sure

faster? Yea. But that's expected. And it's not all it's hyped to be. My gf GS next to my jailbroken 3g running sbs and winterboard wasn't worth upgrading at full price.

Will I get it? Maybe. But I can wait till next years iPhone that will likely be a worthy upgrade to the 3g.

[oyebto]

a camera that's hardly better, a better video camera than cycorder, sure

faster? Yea. But that's expected. And it's not all it's hyped to be. My gf GS next to my jailbroken 3g running sbs and winterboard wasn't worth upgrading at full price.

Will I get it? Maybe. But I can wait till next years iPhone that will likely be a worthy upgrade to the 3g.

i agree with you saying the next upgrade would probably be more worthy, but the camera is way more superior den the 3g ( the auto focus makes a whole lot of difference) and the video is comparable to a flip mino

[arcangel67]

This is good news for those planning to purchase a 3GS.

Still not enough to make me want to pay $700 for one, I'm looking forward to next years revolutionary iPhone (that will hopefully spank everything out there ;) )

i would pay 700.00 if the phone were mine to do with as i please. Nothing worse than being told we will unlock every phone we have at the end of your term, except the iphone. I will not be doing business with the overpriced At&t whores.

[iphones4evry1]

a camera that's hardly better, a better video camera than cycorder, sure

faster? Yea. But that's expected. And it's not all it's hyped to be. My gf GS next to my jailbroken 3g running sbs and winterboard wasn't worth upgrading at full price.

I hear you. After the 3.0 update, the normal 3G phone is a lot faster now. To me, the 2.0MP camera is sufficient, I can live without the voice activation for the next 12 months, and the 7.2Mbps AT&T network isn't going to be functional until the very end of this year or next year anyways. The only benefit I really like is the increased RAM. When downloading a webpage in Safari, you can move all around the page and zoom in and out seamlessly while the page is still loading. With the 3G, it will do that but it is slow. I don't see that as enough to get me to sign a new two-year contract though (which wouldn't expire until TWO years from now - by then, there will have been two new iPhones). I'm going to wait for the next iPhone, the iPhone3GOMG.

[redban]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB9zpgVWXvY -katamari comparison

[iMaggot]

If they made the 3Gs this fast in a year, I can't wait to see what they do by next year (That will be my Upgrade).

[Jimmy James]

a camera that's hardly better, a better video camera than cycorder, sure

A camera that's hardly better? Even if they left the 3GS camera at 2MP it would still be worlds better with the current lens.

Really, for those that use their pictures for online postings like Facebook and don't print larger than 5x7, the camera in the 3GS is sufficient for daily use. The camera in the 3G is not. That makes all the difference.

[DiamondMac]

I hear you. After the 3.0 update, the normal 3G phone is a lot faster now. To me, the 2.0MP camera is sufficient, I can live without the voice activation for the next 12 months, and the 7.2Mbps AT&T network isn't going to be functional until the very end of this year or next year anyways. The only benefit I really like is the increased RAM. When downloading a webpage in Safari, you can move all around the page and zoom in and out seamlessly while the page is still loading. With the 3G, it will do that but it is slow. I don't see that as enough to get me to sign a new two-year contract though (which wouldn't expire until TWO years from now - by then, there will have been two new iPhones). I'm going to wait for the next iPhone, the iPhone3GOMG.

Having used the 3GS for several days now, I pretty much agree

Speed is noticable, no doubt, but it isn't really game-changing for me. Apps load a bit quicker but again, nothing earth shattering.

I never really am going to use the video recorder either.

RAM and space are nice upgrades but I can wait until next year as the RAM/Space is fine on my current 3G

[ManOfManyHats]

Does ANYONE out there know of an app that will search the other Contacts fields (in addition to the Name field)? For someone writing software, this would seem like a trivial thing to do, no?

[barefeats]

I used Geekbench, SunSpider Javascript Benchmark, 3D Benchmark, and SpeedTest.net to compare the iPhone 3GS to the iPhone 4:
http://www.barefeats.com/iph3v4.html

Geekbench does not run on the iPad but I was able to include results for SunSpider and 3D Benchmark in the "bonus" section.