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LegendKillerUK

macrumors 6502
Apr 9, 2010
398
0
Right, the 3G got iOS 4, and people complained non stop about performance. Looks like they are trying to avoid a repeat of this.

We're not used to it in the fairly mature hardware world of laptops and desktops, where gains is software are significant, but hardware doesn't change too much. But at the moment, mobile hardware capabilities and development is outpacing software development. We can't expect the same amount of OS backward compatibility on mobile devices.

Remember Apple stated that the original iPhone wasn't powerful enough to run iOS 4. Yet the iPhone 3G could, despite being almost identical in hardware. 400Mhz CPU, 128MB RAM etc. The 3GS was an actual hardware upgrade.
 

chrmjenkins

macrumors 603
Oct 29, 2007
5,325
158
MD
Right, the 3G got iOS 4, and people complained non stop about performance. Looks like they are trying to avoid a repeat of this.

We're not used to it in the fairly mature hardware world of laptops and desktops, where gains is software are significant, but hardware doesn't change too much. But at the moment, mobile hardware capabilities and development is outpacing software development. We can't expect the same amount of OS backward compatibility on mobile devices.

But performance won't be an issue. The cores are very similar in performance. One is a 600 MHZ Cortex A8 ARM core and the other is ~800 MHZ Cortex A8 ARM core.

Not being able to install the later an greatest version of an operating system does not make a product obsolete...

It still does everything and more than it did when it was purchased, so there really is no need to complain.

In this case, it does. The operating system is the product. Sure the hardware is nice, but it's just a conduit for the real product, iOS. It's what gets people to buy apps and make Apple revenue after the device is sold.
 

Popeye206

macrumors 68040
Sep 6, 2007
3,148
836
NE PA USA
The fact that Apple is still selling the iPhone 3GS makes this pretty ridiculous. At least 3G supported some versions of iOS 4, although it didn't get much of the new features and made it laggy as hell. Buy a brand new phone today and you won't be able to get the newest OS in few months. Well, I guess it is Apple's way to make money.

What's the big deal? It will be just like many Android Phones?

Really... as long as iOS 4 keeps getting updated (like they've done with MacOSX 10.5 even though 10.6 is most current) it should be fine. The iPhone3Gs people will still have a great phone.... but we must move forward and the new processors are so much faster and I'm sure the next iPhone will be much faster than the iPhone4.

Actually... maybe they can make iOS4 even better for the 3Gs people and get rid of the lags completely.
 

alectheking

macrumors 6502a
Mar 9, 2010
584
28
If true, I have some friends who are gonna be pretty pissed. What next, my VZW iPhone gonna get skipped too? Still sitting on this 4.2.X crap.
 

nefan65

macrumors 65816
Apr 15, 2009
1,354
14
If it's anything like iOS 4, then they'll give 3Gs owners the first iteration, with some features unavailable, and 5.1 and beyond, it won't run. Or similar.

Also, the 3Gs phones selling right now are only $49. Again, same as the 3G/iOS 4. You get an older handset, at a much lower cost, so you don't get all the bells/whistles.

I don't see any issue...
 

BLACKFRIDAY

macrumors regular
May 23, 2011
224
0
Would be a big mistake if they did. Tons of people still have a 3Gs including myself :) And it would be ridiculous if they're selling a phone that can't run the latest software!

So you buy a phone that was released a year or two before and expect it to always run the latest operating system?
 

joeconvert

macrumors 6502
Nov 18, 2003
299
0
TX
Well... It's my opportunity to sell my 3Gs and move to Android ^^"...

Because the upgrade path is so clearly defined with Android handsets? IN other words, lucky to get one release after the one that shipped on it.
 

acfusion29

macrumors 68040
Nov 8, 2007
3,128
1
Toronto
Would be a big mistake if they did. Tons of people still have a 3Gs including myself :) And it would be ridiculous if they're selling a phone that can't run the latest software!

o ya, so i can hear all you 3GS owners bitch and moan because iOS5 runs like a pile of ****?

i would rather Apple build an operating system on NEW HARDWARE instead of old hardware. that just screws everything up.

They are still selling the 3Gs.
So they should offer at least security updates, if that rumor will be true.

in order for there to be security updates, they have to find a problem first :rolleyes:
 

chrmjenkins

macrumors 603
Oct 29, 2007
5,325
158
MD
This isn't really much of a surprise. It's likely because of the amount of memory it has.

That's likely what they'll ascribe it to, but there's no expected big memory hits like we got with iOS4 and multitasking. Even in that case, Apple simply didn't allow the 3G to do that new feature, they didn't hold back the entire upgrade.

You'll also remember the iPad 1 only had 256MB of RAM, yet it did multitasking just fine.
 

JNGold

macrumors 6502a
Aug 25, 2009
889
73
What's the big deal? It will be just like many Android Phones?

Not really. Hardware being release right now are still getting older versions of the OS. In addition, hardware that is perfectly capable of running > Froyo are still sitting in a holding pattern.

At least Apple gives it's model line breathing room (~2 years) in terms of OS upgrades.
 

fabian9

macrumors 65816
Nov 28, 2007
1,147
146
Bristol, UK
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-gb) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

chrmjenkins said:
Right, the 3G got iOS 4, and people complained non stop about performance. Looks like they are trying to avoid a repeat of this.

We're not used to it in the fairly mature hardware world of laptops and desktops, where gains is software are significant, but hardware doesn't change too much. But at the moment, mobile hardware capabilities and development is outpacing software development. We can't expect the same amount of OS backward compatibility on mobile devices.

But performance won't be an issue. The cores are very similar in performance. One is a 600 MHZ Cortex A8 ARM core and the other is ~800 MHZ Cortex A8 ARM core.

Not being able to install the later an greatest version of an operating system does not make a product obsolete...

It still does everything and more than it did when it was purchased, so there really is no need to complain.

In this case, it does. The operating system is the product. Sure the hardware is nice, but it's just a conduit for the real product, iOS. It's what gets people to buy apps and make Apple revenue after the device is sold.

And will you still be able to use iOS after other people with later hardware have updated to iOS 5? Yes! Will you still be able to install apps? Yes! Will you get support from apple if your phone is still under warranty? Yes!

Will you be able to use the latest and greatest functions? Of course not, but that's the price you pay for using old hardware. The 3GS is 2 years old now, that's ancient is today's technology terms.
 

snebes

macrumors 6502a
Apr 20, 2008
810
713
So you buy a phone that was released a year or two before and expect it to always run the latest operating system?

You really need to look at it from a normal persons perspective. They are still being sold as new, so they are the latest and greatest to a lot of people. These types of people will blindly update their device when iTunes says so. However, when they see that their phone doesn't get the highly advertised iOS5, there may be problems.
 

Westside guy

macrumors 603
Oct 15, 2003
6,341
4,160
The soggy side of the Pacific NW
I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being true - I could have speculatively said the same thing. The bigger question is:

Why would MacRumors - or anyone else - consider some random dude's tweet as having any basis behind it at all? I wouldn't put any more weight on this than I would if Arn said it. It's a tweet - the guy probably pulled it out of his... hat.
 

BLACKFRIDAY

macrumors regular
May 23, 2011
224
0
That's likely what they'll ascribe it to, but there's no expected big memory hits like we got with iOS4 and multitasking. Even in that case, Apple simply didn't allow the 3G to do that new feature, they didn't hold back the entire upgrade.

You'll also remember the iPad 1 only had 256MB of RAM, yet it did multitasking just fine.

iPhone 3G had 128MB of RAM. iPhone 3GS had 256MB of RAM.

I can still see some performance hits but the phone is way useful, smooth and productive.

I am fine with the 3GS not being updated. 2 years of great usage and experience. Time to buy a new phone. :)
 

alent1234

macrumors 603
Jun 19, 2009
5,688
170
too bad for the sucker that bought my water damaged 3GS back in february. HTC Inspire 4G cost me $20. i'll only see one OS upgrade with it from HTC/ATT but it only cost me $20 and is faster than the iphone in some ways
 

daneoni

macrumors G4
Mar 24, 2006
11,612
1,160
I guess its down to which would you rather have, stable iOS 4 or patchy, glitchy, half-featured iOS 5?

They probably don't want to deal with the whole iPhone 3G/iOS 4 fiasco again. Also like someone already pointed out iOS 5 may simply be heavily optimized for the A-series chipsets.
 
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xxBURT0Nxx

macrumors 68020
Jul 9, 2009
2,189
2
On one hand a lot of people are going to be bitching because the 3GS is still being sold and they are going to be irate that they can't get the latest OS.

On the other hand, if they did allow it, people would be complaining about how slow iOS 5 makes their iPhone 3GS. (much the same as 3G owners complaining about iOS 4)

Guess you can't please everyone, whether they allow it or not, people are going to bitch.

IMO, if it sucks as bad as iOS 4.0 did on the 3G, don't release it. If you can release a USABLE version, even if you have to cut or hamper some features, release an iOS 5.0 lite*

Also of note to all 3GS users... your phone isn't going to stop working when 5.0 is released, so quit saying you are being FORCED to upgrade. Only reason you would need to upgrade is if you want the latest features, which is ALWAYS a fact, with any technology.
 

jclardy

macrumors 601
Oct 6, 2008
4,161
4,376
If it really is a decent overhaul then I guess I can agree with it, but I have a hard time beleiving that the iPhone 3GS wouldn't be able to handle it, but a fourth gen iPod Touch can.

The 3GS has a Cortex A8 CPU versus the A4 in the iPod Touch 4th gen, but the A4 design is based on the Cortex A8 and both have an equal amount of RAM.

In fact, the 3GS actually uses less RAM as all textures, images and fonts used by apps and the OS are all a quarter of the size of those used in the Retina display iPod Touch.

So graphics performance between the two is actually quite similar when you take into account the extra resources required to fill the 4x pixels of the retina display.

I don't have a 3GS, but as a developer it is a little annoying as it means you can't really take advantage of new features because you are cutting off a large portion of users who can't upgrade.

But if iOS 5 has some killer feature that no one knows about yet then I can understand :D
 

D0rk

macrumors member
May 23, 2009
56
0
I figured this would happen. I'll gladly upgrade if you, you know, release an iPhone 5 soon. My 3GS is on it's last legs anyways.
 
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