iOS 4.2 to Bring More Performance Improvements to iPhone 3G?

[ctdonath]

No one is forcing 3G users to update. If you don't like the performance, stay at 3.x.

Idiocy. Ditto for the "+1" support.

You have a computer (yes, the iPhone counts in this scenario).
A new version of the OS is released - free.
Installation is near effortless, and takes just a few minutes.
It has lots of new features you want and solves lots of problems.
Are you going to NOT upgrade to the new version?
Are you going to sit on the old version until you gather enough convincing info that other people don't have enough problems with the new version to affect your decision to upgrade?
Remember: downgrading is not an option with iOS.
When last faced with an OS upgrade, did YOU act on the reasonable implementation of your own advice?

You're right. No one is forcing 3G users to update. They can stay at 3.x. You can ride a horse to work tomorrow too (carbon footprint, big oil, et al).

 

[Small White Car]

The iPhone 3G was sold, by Apple, up until June 23rd, 2010. Shortly after that iTunes tells users they should update their 3G phone to 4.0. This updates made the phone unusable and it is impossible to go back to the old software.

At the same time, iPhone 1 users were NOT prompted to download 4.0, thus proving that Apple does know how to cut devices off from software they shouldn't have.

I have not seen a SINGLE good reason in this thread explaining why users shouldn't sue over that. There have been many posts attempting to do so but all of them consviniently ignore at least one of the facts I've posted.

If new software fixes the problem (and it seems 4.1 has done so) then I agree that the lawsuit should be dropped at this point. But at the time no one could be sure of that. It absolutely should have been filed when people still had no assurance that it would be fixed.

 

[lsvtecjohn3]

Good for the people with a 3G. Will 4.2 make the iP4 run even faster?

 

[paul4339]

They just should have never put 4.0 on the 3G. That would have solved this problem quickly and easily.

I agree... one reason why people buy Apple stuff is because 'it just works'. With the iOS4 upgrade on the 3g things became so frustrating --- and worse, there was no Apple approved way to go back.

I was planning to upgrade anyway (at the time I was waiting for the white iphone4 to come out!), but just couldn't stand it any longer.



P.

 

[Don Kosak]

Do Apple still have the 3.x iOS versions for download? (genuine question).

Because I can't buy apps on my iPhone as it's using an old version of 3.x, but when I try and upgrade iTunes is offering me 4.x; which I don't want - for the reason above.

Yes, if you have an iPhone. (Note: not iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, or iPhone 4, just plain "iPhone".)

If you have an old version of the OS, you are prompted to upgrade to 3.1.3, even today.

I believe the same is true if you try to buy an upgrade for an early generation iPod Touch - but I don't have one, so I can't say for sure.

So, the answer to your question is "Yes - as long as you have the right type of device - iOS 3.x is available for download."

 

[sclarksons]

upgrade game

they've been doing this for years with macs.

It's simple, when your apple device is over a year old, do not under any circumstances upgrade the software expecting better performance.
The newer software is built for different hardware, (and to drive sales) and will gum up your older hardware.

Moral of the story:
"improvements are not always improvements."

Oh- and I'm 100% happy with my iPhone 3 (not 3gs) after downgrading to 3.1.3 a couple of months ago. Works fine, and I'll upgrade when I see the Verizon offering.

Downgrading is lots easier than a lawsuit!

thank you to the brilliant person who facilitated that downgrade for us in the cyberworld.

 

[Glideslope]

maybe the lawsuit gave them some motivation...

Uh, think so?

 

[BC2009]

The lawsuit is just silly. Even so, I'm glad to hear that 4.2 will help the 3G in performance. I gave my 3G to my brother so I'm sure he'll appreciate it.

The lawsuit is ridiculous. Apple is only responsible for the iPhone 3G doing the things they said it would when they sold it to her. Let her install iPhone OS 2.0 and prove that those functions no longer work with acceptable performance.

Apple could have just as easily have said "sorry iPhone 3G owners, you can't run iOS 4.x". Instead they have been trying to squeeze performance out of an old platform for a relatively small number of users.

Their biggest user base for iPhone 3G is probably in countries where iPhone is not sold by Apple and folks have been selling second-hand iPhone 3G units there that were obtained through mass buy-backs.

Apple advertises their phones as the best, Motorola does the same, so does HTC. Does this mean that I can sue one of them if I purchase their phone and decide that some other manufacturer makes a better phone? Did they dupe me into buying their phone with their misleading advertising?

The answer is simple: No, I would not have a case.

The cry that "the latest version is slow on my old hardware" has been around since the early Commodore and Apple computers. This is a fact of life in the world of computing.

 

[Intarweb]

The lawsuit is ridiculous. Apple is only responsible for the iPhone 3G doing the things they said it would when they sold it to her. Let her install iPhone OS 2.0 and prove that those functions no longer work with acceptable performance.

Apple could have just as easily have said "sorry iPhone 3G owners, you can't run iOS 4.x". Instead they have been trying to squeeze performance out of an old platform for a relatively small number of users.

Their biggest user base for iPhone 3G is probably in countries where iPhone is not sold by Apple and folks have been selling second-hand iPhone 3G units there that were obtained through mass buy-backs.

Apple advertises their phones as the best, Motorola does the same, so does HTC. Does this mean that I can sue one of them if I purchase their phone and decide that some other manufacturer makes a better phone? Did they dupe me into buying their phone with their misleading advertising?

The answer is simple: No, I would not have a case.

The cry that "the latest version is slow on my old hardware" has been around since the early Commodore and Apple computers. This is a fact of life in the world of computing.

And just how is she supposed to do this and any other typical iPhone 3g owner?

 

[Small White Car]

Apple is only responsible for the iPhone 3G doing the things they said it would when they sold it to her.

That's correct.

But iTunes said "you should download this" and when she clicked 'ok' her phone was unable to do things it could do before. They didn't do what you said they're responsible for.

Your own post explains why the lawsuit is needed. iTunes should not have asked her to do that. It's not like she went out and bought Snow Leopard at the store. It was an automatic feature.

 

[WannaGoMac]

Apple is really at fault here despite all the excuses.

1) Apple should allow you to install whatever version of iOS you like on your hardware. Or at least, allow you to go back to a prior version if you find issues with a new iOS version.

2) Absolutely inexcusable that Apple didn't do better testing for iOS 4 on the 3G iphone. It should not have taken until version 4.2 to get it right for 3G.

 

[BC2009]

And just how is she supposed to do this and any other typical iPhone 3g owner?

So okay -- I'll admit where I'm wrong if the "Restore from Backup" feature does not do this for you. I was under the assumption that "restore from backup" (which I've used to recover my mother-in-law's iPhone would actually restore the operating system).

If you are telling me that restore from backup does not do the trick here, then Apple needs to provide a way and they are liable for that. If she just failed to take a backup before upgrade and that iTunes feature does work, then shame on her.

 

[Jayomat]

I know this is about the 3G, but what does that mean for the 3GS? Any slight improvements? (Though I have nothing to complain about)

 

[Mistrblank]

upgrade to a newer phone, people

Not an option. Sorry, my 3G isn't even 2 years old, I shouldn't need a whole new piece of hardware (one that I consider a functional downgrade given the drop call issues surrounding it). I was promised a functional update, it wasn't, it's still slow even on 4.1 and there is no "Rollback" button to go back to 3.1.3

Even if I did, most of my Apps probably wouldn't work because of the forced push to upgrade apps to function with iOS4. There's no facility to easily rollback App versions either.

 

[nilk]

The lawsuit should be thrown out. It's called planned obsolescence. Companies do this all the time. Older hardware will eventually not be able to support newer software as time goes on. Consumers are always demanding new and improved features in the new OS's and thus that requires better hardware.

In this case of iOS 4.x on a 3G iPhone, it is to be expected that it will run slower. A 400MHz processor and what, 128MB of RAM, it's going to be slow. Apple can optimize iOS 4.x as much as they can, but it won't be a cure-all, end-all.

That is all fine and well, but the dick move here is that Apple does not offer a downgrade back to 3.1.x. Sure, the community offered up tools to be able to do this, but Apple sure didn't.

I think it would have been better for them to not even offer iOS 4 to 3G users than to allow them to upgrade to it, but not downgrade, causing them to be stuck with a phone that is practically unusable. I'm sure a lot of people bought new phones as a result of this, so its more money for Apple, but it's just a shady move on their part.

I understand that they stopped supporting downgrades to combat jailbreakers, but this is a very bad thing to not be able to downgrade, especially when they are pushing out releases that are so completely flawed that they render a device practically unusable.

BTW, my 3G was only 15 months old when iOS 4 came out. That's a little bit too soon to be destroying the user experience of a device. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say none of this was intentional, they just somehow managed to miss this major performance issue in QA; well, it's taking them a hell of a long time to come up with a solution. An officially supported downgrade to 3.1.x would've been nice.

 

[Small White Car]

If you are telling me that restore from backup does not do the trick here, then Apple needs to provide a way and they are liable for that.

Yep, once you've upgraded, you're stuck.

Apple: Try this!
You: Hmm, this sucks. Can I have what I had before?
Apple: Ha ha! Suck it.

THAT's the problem. Of course new hardware is faster than old hardware. Everyone knows that. It's this basic conversation I played out that's the problem.

 

[squirrellydw]

Yes because people just have money floating around that they can upgrade a phone every two years.

my wife and I do

 

[SandboxGeneral]

That is all fine and well, but the dick move here is that Apple does not offer a downgrade back to 3.1.x. Sure, the community offered up tools to be able to do this, but Apple sure didn't.

I think it would have been better for them to not even offer iOS 4 to 3G users than to allow them to upgrade to it, but not downgrade, causing them to be stuck with a phone that is practically unusable. I'm sure a lot of people bought new phones as a result of this, so its more money for Apple, but it's just a shady move on their part.

I understand that they stopped supporting downgrades to combat jailbreakers, but this is a very bad thing to not be able to downgrade, especially when they are pushing out releases that are so completely flawed that they render a device practically unusable.

I do agree with the opinion that should provide a downgrade option and that they should have had a warning on performance issues for 3G owners when going to iOS 4.x.

I have a friend with a 3G and iOS 4.1 and it does work, albeit slow, but it does work. So I cannot see suing over this. If iOS 4.x rendered a 3G totally inoperable then by all means file the litigation.

Say for example people who chose to stay on 3.1.3 with a 3G or even a 3GS, and as new apps come out that are iOS 4.x only, should they be able sue someone or a company because their older iPhone/iPod Touch cannot run the new app on their version of iOS?

 

[WannaGoMac]

Yep, once you've upgraded, you're stuck.

Apple: Try this!
You: Hmm, this sucks. Can I have what I had before?
Apple: Ha ha! Suck it.

THAT's the problem. Of course new hardware is faster than old hardware. Everyone knows that. It's this basic conversation I played out that's the problem.

haha, well written! Exactly the issue.

 

[nilk]

Windows 7 is unusable on my 866 MHz Pentium 3.
Snow Leopard won't work on my old Mac at all.
4.x is slow on my old 400 MHz phone.
Same problem.

Anyone can install whatever OS they want 866 MHz Pentium 3. Windows 7 too slow? Install XP, Win2k, Linux, BSD, Solaris, etc.
You can install any version of a compatible OS on an old Mac.
Owners of the iPhone 3G are stuck on an unbearable slow 4.x if they upgraded, because they cannot officially install any previous version of iOS.
Not the same problem.

Thankfully, jailbreaker tools save the day here, and you can downgrade to 3.1.x if you are savvy enough. But I think most of the iPhone users (not ones who are Macrumors readers) are not savvy enough or simply are not aware of these things. They will likely just have to live with their broken device or buy a new device. Apple screwed up here and should have provided a solution by now.

 

[squirrellydw]

Apple always preaches that they would not allow updates to hardware if it wasn't able to perform up to their "standards", which are usually pretty high. Since they released iOS 4 to be able to support iPhone 3G, minus multitasking (and other features), it would mean that the iPhone 3G should run just fine with iOS 4, especially without multitasking. The fact that the 3G was rendered useless (like mine) from iOS 4.0, the lawsuit is perfectly justified. Actually, all iPhone 3G owners should have been given, at the least, a heavy subsidy from Apple (or maybe a rebate) to upgrade to iPhone 4. Maybe a rebate such the end cost for the customer would be like $50 or less. Yes, the contract would be extended, but....

Apple updating to "fix" the iPhone 3G took way too long and they need to provide 3G owners something for their trouble.

Apple owes you NOTHING!! you have an older phone that can run it and YOU choose to upgrade. Because YOU think its slow does not mean it is. I have an old iMac G5 that ran great and fast till I installed Leopard on it and now it a lot slower. Guess Apple owes me to.

 

[Brinkman]

There are some bitter people on this forum. This is great news for a phone 2 generations old. Other brand customers wish they had this support.

 

[OzyOly]

The lawsuit is just silly. Even so, I'm glad to hear that 4.2 will help the 3G in performance. I gave my 3G to my brother so I'm sure he'll appreciate it.

It's not silly at all. I had to upgrade my iPhone when iOS4.0 came out because it made my 3G unusable.

I couldn't text because the keyboard took nearly 3 seconds per character to type in, I couldn't answer calls because the UI would freeze up and be come unresponsive. By the time it registered me pressing 'answer', the person had hung up.

I had many restores and setting up as a new phone etc, but after a day it would be back to unusable. Apple shouldn't be allowed to 'break' people's hardware to force them to upgrade, they could have just released iOS4.0 for the 3G and iPhone 4 only.

 

[squirrellydw]

I also agree Apple should offer away to downgrade for whatever reason. I just hate when someone is unhappy with a product the first thing they do is sue or think they should be compensated in some way.

Consumer beware, EDUCATE yourself

 

[squirrellydw]

It's not silly at all. I had to upgrade my iPhone when iOS4.0 came out because it made my 3G unusable.

I couldn't text because the keyboard took nearly 3 seconds per character to type in, I couldn't answer calls because the UI would freeze up and be come unresponsive. By the time it registered me pressing 'answer', the person had hung up.

I had many restores and setting up as a new phone etc, but after a day it would be back to unusable. Apple shouldn't be allowed to 'break' people's hardware to force them to upgrade, they could have just released iOS4.0 for the 3G and iPhone 4 only.

YOU did NOT have to upgrade YOU CHOOSE to. You did not have to hit the button that says update, no one held a gun to your head, at least I hope not. Stop trying to be the first on the block with the latest. Educate yourself first.

Just my opinion, not trying to be rude to anyone.