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.
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iPhone 3G S Benchmarks and Comparisons: Up to 4x Faster than 3G
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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.
EDIT: internet tethering alone was worth the new 3-year contract.
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
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.
3GS is faster
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.
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.
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.
Overall, I'm very impressed with this upgrade. A lot of under-the-hood stuff was improved.
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 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'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?
Only about 360 days to go. Are there any rumours about the iPhone 3G ES (Extreme Speed) yet?
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..
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
though i must say, that roller coaster app... positively retarded
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Not sure why
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!!!
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...
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.