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jamesr19

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 7, 2009
251
0
If you have an iPhone 3G, now is the time to upgrade to a newer model.

Apple has removed support for generating builds to pre iOS 4.3 devices using 'armv6'. With the taller iPhone 5, most developers will update their apps to support it, but as a result they will have to drop support for anything less than iOS 4.3

There are some work arounds (it seems) but most developers will not have the time or patience to work around to support iPhone 3G - many don't even bother now!

As a developer, I will be updating all of my apps to support the iPhone 5 bar one - my Twitter app (because the object of it is slightly defeated with iOS6). I imagine the majority of developers will be doing the same!


So long iPhone 3G!
 

jamesr19

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 7, 2009
251
0
You'd be surprised at the number of people who still use the older technology. Our logs still show a reasonable percentage of users use the iPhone 3G and iPod Touch.
 

borgqueenx

macrumors 65816
Jul 16, 2010
1,357
258
i always have the newest model, but it is indeed sad to know that apple abandones older iphones like this. No updates okay, but dropping complete support for it, meh i dont like that from apple.
 

x-evil-x

macrumors 603
Jul 13, 2008
5,576
3,234
i always have the newest model, but it is indeed sad to know that apple abandones older iphones like this. No updates okay, but dropping complete support for it, meh i dont like that from apple.

android barely supports devices a year old be happy(updates).
 

tann

macrumors 68000
Apr 15, 2010
1,944
813
UK
So does this mean all people with 3gs's who update apps will then no longer be able to use them? Or just that devs can't give updates to their existing iphone 3g apps? aka 3g users will not see app updates anymore?

if it's the latter then its not too bad.
 

LaunchpadBS

macrumors 6502a
Nov 11, 2008
653
5
iLondon/iDurban
So does this mean all people with 3gs's who update apps will then no longer be able to use them? Or just that devs can't give updates to their existing iphone 3g apps? aka 3g users will not see app updates anymore?

if it's the latter then its not too bad.

I think it's safe to assume that people with a 3G aren't all that concerned with upgrading software and updating apps, I'd be surprised if they even knew what that all meant anyway.

I met a guy last week with an iPhone 4 who's still on iOS 4.2... :D and he was non the wiser.
 

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,419
43,307
I still see people on the train using the original iPhone, never mind the 3G. I figure while the technology is dated. The phone fits thier needs. Heck, I see people using flip phones still.

It doesn't matter how obsolete the phone may be, as long as it fits the needs of person - just my $.02
 

Dwalls90

macrumors 603
Feb 5, 2009
5,426
4,391
If you have an iPhone 3G, now is the time to upgrade to a newer model.

Apple has removed support for generating builds to pre iOS 4.3 devices using 'armv6'. With the taller iPhone 5, most developers will update their apps to support it, but as a result they will have to drop support for anything less than iOS 4.3

There are some work arounds (it seems) but most developers will not have the time or patience to work around to support iPhone 3G - many don't even bother now!

As a developer, I will be updating all of my apps to support the iPhone 5 bar one - my Twitter app (because the object of it is slightly defeated with iOS6). I imagine the majority of developers will be doing the same!


So long iPhone 3G!

Why not try windows phone 7? Oh, right, all of those phones can't be updated to windows phone 8 or support any new functionality despite being not even a year old.

Why not try android? Oh, right, almost all android phones released 12+ months ago won't be getting ice cream sandwich or jelly beab and will have to wait months for an upgrade at all.

At least iOS gives you FOUR years of support. That's at least four times the completion.

Plus, anyone on a 3G should have had TWO upgrades at this point. So I'm really not sure why you would be using a 3G as you could upgrade every TWO years to a newer iPhone for FREE.
 

donrsd

macrumors 6502
Dec 16, 2011
269
1
South Florida
I still see people on the train using the original iPhone, never mind the 3G. I figure while the technology is dated. The phone fits thier needs. Heck, I see people using flip phones still.

It doesn't matter how obsolete the phone may be, as long as it fits the needs of person - just my $.02

Fantastic point.
All I use my older iPhones for (2 old 2g iPhones) are as music players for my car radio.
Both are 8GB and both hold all my music videos & some 80s movies (Karate Kid, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future etc) so the kids can view them on my car tv.
 

OneMike

macrumors 603
Oct 19, 2005
5,813
1,795
If you're using a 3G you're already missing out on a lot so I doubt this will be that big.
 

Persondude

macrumors newbie
Dec 3, 2012
1
0
Its sad to know I can't even download a twitter app onto my iPhone anymore because of this lack of support apple decides to not give. Smartphones should be treated the same way computers are and if windows 2000 and windows xp can still run all that we need I think all iPhones should be the same way. It's a joke. The only difference between this iPhone 3G and all of your silly iPhone 5 users is that there's milliseconds less for all you impatient consumers who want to play clash of clans all day and ask Siri to write yourself a message that youre all too lazy to type. Seriously guys, there's nothing amazing that the new phones are doing that these older models can't do. I've been using a prepaid until now and being 19 years old, I'm alot more tech needy than many of you. but as far as a new version of a phone??? It's a phone! Geez.
 
Last edited:

Interstella5555

macrumors 603
Jun 30, 2008
5,219
13
If you have an iPhone 3G, now is the time to upgrade to a newer model.

Apple has removed support for generating builds to pre iOS 4.3 devices using 'armv6'. With the taller iPhone 5, most developers will update their apps to support it, but as a result they will have to drop support for anything less than iOS 4.3

There are some work arounds (it seems) but most developers will not have the time or patience to work around to support iPhone 3G - many don't even bother now!

As a developer, I will be updating all of my apps to support the iPhone 5 bar one - my Twitter app (because the object of it is slightly defeated with iOS6). I imagine the majority of developers will be doing the same!


So long iPhone 3G!

Considering most devs haven't even bothered to update to retina I find this less than shocking, as is the constant call to drop "obsolete" tech. "old" ≠ unusable or broken and have been quite happy using my 2G as a backup for the last several years. My TV, PS2, Gamecube, Wii, PS3, MBP Rev 1 and Mac Mini all must be ready for the trash since they're more than 5 years old and certainly couldn't still function.
 

josh995

macrumors member
Dec 2, 2012
81
1
i always have the newest model, but it is indeed sad to know that apple abandones older iphones like this. No updates okay, but dropping complete support for it, meh i dont like that from apple.

Not to be mean but your comment is silly. Look at Android phones. They get updates for... a year at best. But 4 years? No way.

And look at Windows Phone, the apps for Windows Phone 8 won't work on Windows Phone 7 devices.

4 years for phones is ancient nowadays.
 

Beeplance

macrumors 68000
Jul 29, 2012
1,564
500
The phone itself may be old, but it's still usable. I still have an spare iPhone 3G 16GB with me, and it's in near perfect condition. On iPhone OS 3.1.3, because anything above iOS 4 is crap on it.

Only problem is app compatibility. Other than that, it still can do basic things like text messaging, calling or even web browsing, just slower.

And yes, there are still people using the original iPhone 2G, it's kinda cool!
 

avanpelt

macrumors 68030
Jun 2, 2010
2,956
3,877
Anything pre-3GS is basically the iPhone "feature phone" at this point. The 3GS will likely join the ranks with the 3G and original iPhone when the next iPhone comes out.

Sure, people still use the 3G and earlier hardware because it works just fine to surf the web, check e-mail, text, and (gasp) make calls -- all the things people typically would do with feature phones. So, they get the feature phone price and the brand "coolness" of the iPhone without a bunch of extra features they'd never use anyway.
 

EstaVidaLoca

macrumors regular
Sep 4, 2012
149
0
You can't expect Apple to keep supporting a 5 year old device because Microsoft still supports 10 year old operating systems. The only reason they do that is because all of their recent offerings have been so bad that people simply refuse to update.
 

RenoG

macrumors 65816
Oct 7, 2010
1,275
59
I still see people on the train using the original iPhone, never mind the 3G. I figure while the technology is dated. The phone fits thier needs. Heck, I see people using flip phones still.

It doesn't matter how obsolete the phone may be, as long as it fits the needs of person - just my $.02

Agreed, heck I sold my 4 to get the ip5 something more important came up that required I spend the money on it instead and now I'm stuck using my old fall back 3g. Although dog slow it fits my basic needs (text, web surfing, calling, music etc). Funny I don't even bother with apps in this phone, as I see it its a bare bones use phone. With all the issues with the new blk 5 I'm thinking of just waiting it out for the 5s..
 

BFizzzle

macrumors 68020
May 31, 2010
2,443
0
Austin TX
6zlq9x.gif
 

Mr Hill

macrumors 6502a
Apr 28, 2012
500
1
Charlotte, NC
I agree that those using an iPhone 3G these days aren't the type who care about having the latest apps or features. You would be surprised at how many people are satisfied simply with having a touchscreen phone that is easy to use, makes calls, texts, and allows them to surf the web. Plus they can still say "I have an iPhone" so they are happy.

I also find that a lot of the people using the iPhone 2G or 3G are usually using T-Mobile or some MVNO carrier since those who are on contract with AT&T can get the iPhone 4 for .99 cents anyway.
 

xlost6

macrumors 6502
Feb 28, 2011
487
102
BFizzzle, that gif is cracking me up. The iPhone 3G is old. Either you adapt with the new technology or stay behind. It's like with any video game system. Nintendo released the Wii in 2006. People played it. The Wii U released. Guess what? Nintendo dropped all support from that system and went straight to the Wii U. Evolution OP, evolution. That's life.
 

TacticalDesire

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2012
2,286
23
Michigan
Any modern app would run horribly on it anyway. Even iOS 4 runs awful on it. Besides, mobile sites for twitter and such will still work just fine.
 
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