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There's a cycle Apple has implemented, and they've stuck to it. I would bet money that the iPhone 3GS will be stuck at iOS 5 forever and always.
 
Yes, but they still sell it, so I am not so sure that argument is very solid. As I see it, the only reason to deny the 3GS iOS 6 support are hardware restrictions, the 256MB RAM specifically. If that turns out not to be a concern, I expect Apple to actually make iOS 6 available for the 3GS. If only to show the competition how supporting your products is done.
Ι was thinking the same.BUT maybe until iOS 6 is officially released to all the users in October Apple will stop selling it:|
 
I see you are from Melbourne, Australia. One of my favorite places, very beautiful. Could you give any details about the 3GS sales of Australia?

As far as my description of the phone as GSM, yes, overly descriptive. You have me there.:rolleyes: I hope I have clarified statements better now. :D

Thank you for your comments.

Okay, I'm really confused as in why America and AT&T has anything to do with iOS 6. If Apple releases iOS 6 for the 3GS, any person who owns a 3GS can update to it.

Here the 3GS is sold for $429 (with $10 credit included pre-paid). Though I don't see anyone buying it anymore.
 
This is a really hard call actually.

Both the iPhone 3G(s) and iPhone 4 have the exact same processor and graphical chipset. The only difference is that the 4's hardware got a Mhz boost to help power the Retina display. eDRAM on the 3G(s) is 256MB, though, while the iPhone 4 has 512MB. If that were the only determining factor the original iPad and iPod Touch 4th('10-'11 models) would also not be getting iOS 6.

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The iPhone 3G(s) and iPhone 4 shared the same Cortex-A8 processor.

The first iPhone and the iPhone 3G had the same hardware yet the iPhone 3G got iOS 4 whilst the original did not. Mind you, iOS 4 ran like crap on the iPhone 3G...

Maybe they'll go with the 3GS getting iOS 6 for a time but then being left behind. Like the iPhone 3G and how it stopped at 4.2.1.

I dunno, we'll find out soon enough I suppose.
 
No, the same thing was said for the iphone 3G.
And they dropped support for it with 5.0
And this year they will drop support for the 3GS and next year stop support for the iphone 4 with ios 7.0 etc....

They dropped support for the iPhone 3G at 4.2.1.
 
That's what I was saying. Dropped support for the 3G at 4.2.1 , for the 2G at 3.1.3 and most likely for the 3GS at 5.1.1
Logically I don't see the 3GS getting ios 6.0

Not to be that guy, but you said 5.0 :p

I was getting all wrapped up in the hardware debate and then I saw one key point from other users.. The phone is still being sold! It would make perfect since because the only reason the iPhone 3G got 4.X is because it was still being sold on the iPhone 4's launch day.
 
The only technical reason for them not to support it would be the fact that it only has 256 MB of RAM and the fact that it doesn't have a retina display, causing them to need to create two versions of all their UI elements. Other than that, I don't see any factors such as the subsidized cost being an issue, since you're really paying $350 for the phone over the term of your contract.

This makes the most sense to me - Technically, it'll have trouble supporting it. Interesting thing to think about though, as there are still plenty of people grabbing 3GS's. :apple:
 
I thought somewhere in Apple's corporate documents that they have to declare to FTC, SEC, FCC or some other government entity (I cannot remember which) that Apple stated they intend to provide system support each model typically for 2 years. It sounds to me like this means the 3GS won't get iOS 6.


They can support the 3GS for many many years WITHOUT giving it IOS6. Nothing says they have to UPGRADE old phones, only support it.

Note - not even going to guess at this point which phones will work with 6 or not.
 
Yes, I meant with 5.0 they dropped support for the iPhone 3G.
Meaning they didn't support it on 5.0 or higher firmware versions.
Probably a little confusing:)

It had long been unsupported by iOS 5.
iOS 4.3 dropped support for the iPhone 3G/iPod Touch 2G. So the last available update for the iPhone 3G was almost a year old by the time 5.0 was released to the public. You can't forgot about the good 'ol 4.3.X days now. ;)
 
It had long been unsupported by iOS 5.
iOS 4.3 dropped support for the iPhone 3G/iPod Touch 2G. So the last available update for the iPhone 3G was almost a year old by the time 5.0 was released to the public. You can't forgot about the good 'ol 4.3.X days now. ;)

True.
But never know, they might surprise us and put out a watered down version of 6.0 for the 3GS.
 
They also said during the keynote last year the 3GS wouldn't get the photo editing. Guess what it had...
 

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Good news for you. For everyone else it will mean that iOS6 doesn't have enough new stuff in it to warrant the more powerful phones. :(

If you ask me then I think some of the features of iOs 6 will not work on 3GS. Yes another reason for people to buy the new iPhone.

Ps I don't own a 3Gs. I have an iPhone 4s

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And as good a reason to jailbreak as any - if iOS6 runs terribly on the 3Gs, we jailbreakers can downgrade back to 5.1.1 (or 4.x or whatever).

Yeah but I seriously want that it should run fine. That will be a big big slap on androids face.
 
iPhone 3GS: 600MHz Cortex A8, 256MB RAM
iPhone 4: 800MHz Cortex A8, 512MB RAM
iPhone 4S: Dual 800MHz Cortex A9, 512MB RAM
iPod touch 3rd: 600MHz Cortex A8, 256MB RAM
iPod touch 4th: 800MHz Cortex A8, 256MB RAM
iPad: 1GHz Cortex A8, 256MB RAM
iPad 2: Dual Cortex A9, 512MB RAM
iPad 3rd: Dual Cortex A9, 1GB RAM

As you can see all the 256MB devices have more or less the same specs. So if Apple is going to support one of them then it is just logical that Apple also has to support the others. And I am pretty sure that the iPod touch 4th will get iOS 6. Anything else makes no sense.
 
As you can see all the 256MB devices have more or less the same specs. So if Apple is going to support one of them then it is just logical that Apple also has to support the others.

I don't agree.

Based on prior experience, Apple should drop the 3GS. The pattern goes that each major iOS release drops support for one iPhone. But, they can't do that because they still sell the 3GS.

However, they don't still sell the iPad 1 or the iPod touch 3rd gen. So they can drop those devices.

Sure, it might not be much extra work to support the iPod touch 3rd gen, given that they're supporting the iPhone 3GS, but it's still a bit of work, so Apple might well choose to not do it, given that the benefit to them is minimal.
 
EDIT: Looks like the 3GS is getting iOS 6.0. This means that Apple is probably extending iOS support on iPhones to 4 versions instead of 3! That means my 4S is going to last me a full year longer!


If this is the case, and I'll admit that I'm still skeptical, this is huge reason to go with iOS over other platforms. You're lucky to get 18 months support from Android. If you can get three years from iOS that is huge.

If it is released for the 3GS, I suspect that it will be scaled back due to hardware limitations. But still, that's simply incredible.

With Verizon possibly going the "buy a phone at the subsidized price and you'll lose unlimited data" route, this helps in the decision to buy a used iPhone that's one year plus old without worries that it will lose support.
 
Apple could also bump the 3GS' processor to its native speed of 667 MHz. Anything is possible.
 
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