No iOS 5 for iPhone 3GS?

[kre62]

People keep making the comparison to the 3G not being able to run iOS4, but there’s a big problem with that.

The problem is the 3G used a chip with a different architecture then the 3GS and 4. The code was not optimized properly for that older architecture, and that’s why it performed horribly, with glitches, freezes etc. It wasn't just that the chip was slower, and the new software more demanding. It was that the code wasn’t written for that architecture.

The 3GS, 4 and iPad 1 all share identical chip architecture. Clock for clock the chips perform identically, with full compatibility. The 3GS has fewer pixels to push, so it performs evenly with the 4 in most situations.

Knowing all this, it’s definitely a planned decision Apple is making. I thought they were above those kinds of money grubbing shady big-business techniques, but I guess not.

 

[mosx]

People keep making the comparison to the 3G not being able to run iOS4, but there’s a big problem with that.

The problem is the 3G used a chip with a different architecture then the 3GS and 4. The code was not optimized properly for that older architecture, and that’s why it performed horribly, with glitches, freezes etc. It wasn't just that the chip was slower, and the new software more demanding. It was that the coed wasn’t written for that architecture.

The 3GS, 4 and iPad 1 all share identical chip architecture. Clock for clock the chips perform identically, with full compatibility. The 3GS has fewer pixels to push, so it performs evenly with the 4 in most situations.

Knowing all this, it’s definitely a planned decision Apple is making. I thought they were above those kinds of money grubbing shady big-business techniques, but I guess not.

Must not have been an Apple user very long, eh? Apple definitely does a lot more "evil" things than Microsoft, yet somehow people still view Apple as the "good guys". Apple does far more to lock people into proprietary software, hardware, accessories, etc. They sue 3rd party accessory makers, they'll trample all over others patents but when it comes to someone making something even remotely resembling what they have, they'll try to sue them into oblivion. The only "lock in" Microsoft does is with the Xbox 360, but thats standard in the console world, has been for since the 70s.

But anyway, while the iPhone 3G and 3GS did have different CPU architecture and GPUs, with less memory, jailbreaks re-enabled the features and it worked fine.

The only people who had problems with iOS 4 on the iPhone 3G/iPod touch 2G were those that had been doing "updates" instead of fresh restores over the years. Every single person I know that had an iPhone 3G or iPod touch 2G that did a fresh install of the OS and a "set up as new device" in iTunes had a perfectly functioning and fast device, even with multi-tasking and wallpapers re-enabled.

Oh and let's not forget, again, the original iPhone. Perfectly capable of sending and receiving MMS. Yet Apple didn't enable that feature in iOS 3.x. Why? "The radio can't handle it". Even though those of us with original iPhones and AT&T service were well aware of the fact that the iPhone supported GPRS, and MMS was introduced with GPRS, and the fact that EDGE suppported MMS just fine (seeing as how EDGE and GPRS are part of the same standard, along with "3G" too)..... Again, jailbreakers to the rescue. Re-enabled the built-in functionality with no problem. Worked flawlessly, minus the fact that the original iPhone couldn't shoot video without a jailbreak that didn't enable it very well.

 

[Cougarcat]

yes you haven't heard the news. It's a 99.9% certainty that Apple is going to release Lion via MAS (doing the same with the developers was a test run) with no physical disk option so the only way to get it is to have Snow Leopard on your computer or at least one you have access to.

OT, but there's no way the MAS will be the sole way to get Lion.

 

[Jimmy James]

Not really. Support for the original iPhone lasted until 3.0, support for the 3G basically stopped with 4.0, so why would we expect the 3GS to get special treatment?

We all knew this was going to happen.

Thank you for illustrating the problem so well.

 

[wordoflife]

The same guy who reported this would be the same who said the iPad 2 was getting a USB port ... okay.

 

[sladey]

Infallible proof

Apple definitely does a lot more "evil" things than Microsoft

Ah... that would explain why my computing, music, telephone and customer support experiences have been the best they've ever been since I switched over to Apple, and also why I'm able to make money with so little effort on my part, by selling apps around the world...

Oooh, you big evil Apple...

 

[TallManNY]

All anyone who has a 3GS cares about is when they upgrade their phone they don't want it to run any slower. If iOS5 will slow down their phone, then they don't want it because added features will not be good enough to make up for the phone being sluggish.

And you do not have an option not to upgrade as some apps will eventually force you to either not upgrade the app or do the upgrade to the new iOS. So don't tell me you can just choose not to do an upgrade for any significant period of time.

 

[ant69]

I would be more surprised if IOS5 was availible to 3GS users, the reality is that the 3GS still performs and has all the same functionality as when it first came out - they dont really have any obligation to keep updating it, its more of a bonus feature!

Ant

 

[lilo777]

I would be more surprised if IOS5 was availible to 3GS users, the reality is that the 3GS still performs and has all the same functionality as when it first came out - they dont really have any obligation to keep updating it, its more of a bonus feature!

Ant

Then, of course, they don't have any obligation to keep updating OS for iPhone 4 either. Is not it a slippery slope?

 

[-AG-]

I love how people are making it seem like if the 3GS no longer runs the new iOS5 then the phone will instantly brick itself and no longer work anymore.

Lets get back to reality people. YES the 3GS will run a probably cut down version of iOS5 but thats because it does not run a retina display or have a camera flash etc. NOT because it is no longer technically capable of running the latest software.

This whole article is just another scare campaign to stop people from buying the cheaper iphone 3GS's.

If they put a rumour out there that it will no longer be updatable and you were a moron, wouldn't you believe it? These people that buy these base model phones are the same people that the Android market love. Low spend cheap phone customers, but they will buy 3 maybe even 4 handsets in the space of a year because they loose or break them easily. These people don't want to buy an expensive new flashy top of the line phone. At the same time they don't want to buy something that they hear is already dead as soon as the next update gets released. The irony being they then buy Android phones.

 

[kuebby]

The same guy who reported this would be the same who said the iPad 2 was getting a USB port ... okay.

Correct you are. Just reading the first sentence of this article made me say BS but you confirmed it.

Here's an article with his tweet about the iPad 2 and a USB port.

 

[kxbcvoi]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Why some of the commenters keep saying that iPhone 3GS has basically the same hardware as iPhone 4. And they feel bad if it will not get iOS5.
Correct me if I am wrong. The original iPhone also has EXACTLY the same hardware as iPhone 3G. (3GS and 4 has a lot different things). But it didn't get iOS4. This move is not involving hardware requirement. It is the way to kill old model. iPhone 3GS will get the same treatment.

 

[KnightWRX]

Again, for the people missing the obvious :

iPhone - iOS 1.x, 2.x, 3.x
iPhone 3G - iOS 2.x, 3.x, 4.x
iPhone 3GS - iOS 3.x, 4.x, 5.x

How hard is it to understand this Russian rumor is BS ?

 

[chrmjenkins]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Why some of the commenters keep saying that iPhone 3GS has basically the same hardware as iPhone 4. And they feel bad if it will not get iOS5.
Correct me if I am wrong. The original iPhone also has EXACTLY the same hardware as iPhone 3G. (3GS and 4 has a lot different things). But it didn't get iOS4. This move is not involving hardware requirement. It is the way to kill old model. iPhone 3GS will get the same treatment.

But that would have been 3 software updates (and 4 total revisions for iphone 1). It got 3 revisions, as did the 3G with the upgrade to 4.x. If the 3GS were to not get 5.x, it would have only got 1 update and it's very possible people just starting their contracts with a 3GS will never get a software update.

 

[kxbcvoi]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Again, for the people missing the obvious :

iPhone - iOS 1.x, 2.x, 3.x
iPhone 3G - iOS 2.x, 3.x, 4.x
iPhone 3GS - iOS 3.x, 4.x, 5.x

How hard is it to understand this Russian rumor is BS ?

To be precise
iPhone 3G iOS 2.x, 3.x ,4.0-4.2.1

 

[kxbcvoi]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Why some of the commenters keep saying that iPhone 3GS has basically the same hardware as iPhone 4. And they feel bad if it will not get iOS5.
Correct me if I am wrong. The original iPhone also has EXACTLY the same hardware as iPhone 3G. (3GS and 4 has a lot different things). But it didn't get iOS4. This move is not involving hardware requirement. It is the way to kill old model. iPhone 3GS will get the same treatment.

But that would have been 3 software updates (and 4 total revisions for iphone 1). It got 3 revisions, as did the 3G with the upgrade to 4.x. If the 3GS were to not get 5.x, it would have only got 1 update and it's very possible people just starting their contracts with a 3GS will never get a software update.

I understand your point. But my point is even though cortex A8 might be the same on 3GS and 4, it will not help if Apple is to stop supporting 3GS for real.

 

[Chocolatemilty]

I may be silly, but in just don't believe this report. I feel that the 3GS will be capable of running iOS 5 based on its basic components being similar to the iPad 1 and ipod touch 3rd gen minus the A4 processor. I believe Apple will optimized it well for the 3GS and 5.x will be the last major version update for that, the iPad 1 and the iPod touch 3rd gen as well.

 

[kxbcvoi]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

I may be silly, but in just don't believe this report. I feel that the 3GS will be capable of running iOS 5 based on its basic components being similar to the iPad 1 and ipod touch 3rd gen minus the A4 processor. I believe Apple will optimized it well for the 3GS and 5.x will be the last major version update for that, the iPad 1 and the iPod touch 3rd gen as well.

iPod touch 3rd gen has no A4. It equals to iPhone 3GS.

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

LOL - People are acting like your phone will suddenly stop working if you don't get iOS 5.

Its not like not getting iOS 5 for your 3GS will make it ********.

 

[vnowarita]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8C148)

Most people I know don't even update software(business colleagues). They will probably get rid of 3 GS once new iPhone comes out anyway. What should you expect for $50 anyway. Stop buggin 3 GSers. Upgrade already.

 

[jebbe]

I think this boils down to this, people who own a 3GS are just butthurt that they're too poor to afford an iPhone 4.

 

[Slix]

Wasn't the iPhone 3G sold just up until the 4 came out as well? Based on that trend, the 3GS won't get much more upgraded, but who knows? Apple will put iOS 5 on it if they seem like it'll be best (and better than iOS 4 on a 3G).

 

[smalltimewine]

Arn should change the name of the site to MacFacts because that's how most posters are reacting to this RUMOR. Seriously, you've got to love it when people vilify Apple for something they haven't even done, yet. Sure, debate the challenges of forced obscolecense when it truly materializes, but nearly twenty pages of 'Chicken Little' and finger-pointing over a rumor? Advertisers love you.

 

[Jagardn]

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!

Happens with Android all the time, there are plenty on the market today that will not run Gingerbread efficiently. Mobile phone demand is in hyper-drive, so OS features are going to be increasing proportionally. Who knows what resources iOS 5 will need, but I'm sure the 3GS would be clunky running it. I have a 3GS, but if the new iPhone/iOS 5 offer me enough to justify a new one, then great. If they don't then I'll more likely have and Android as my next phone.

 

[314631]

Predictable news, and predictable reactions (ie. hysterical, irrational, illogical, hyperbolic- par for the course)

Actually there have been a lot of rational commentary from 3GS owners pointing out that iPhone 3GS basically meets the CPU and RAM requirements of other devices getting iOS 5. I'll concede a lot of it has been lost in the mess created by the Apple cheerleading squad, and those on the opposite side of the table threatening to switch to Android.

By the time iOS5 comes out, the iPhone 3GS will be nearly 2.5 years old. Can someone name me a SINGLE handset that has had updates for even near that long? Apple keeps updating their devices longer than anyone else in the industry, but for you people that isn't enough. You have this ridiculous sense of entitlement that is based on absolutely nothing. When you buy something, ou buy it for it's CURRENT features- nobody gives you any guarantee that it will receive a single further update. Yet you people want INFINITE updates, on hardware that is years old. If the 3GS supported a few, some, or most of the features of iOS5, you think people here wouldn't be still bitching? Of course they would. It's completely reasonable to limit iOS5 to the iPhone 4 and 5. These are mobile phones we're talking about, not laptops, and the tech is changing much quicker. If iOS5 is going to be a significant revamp as the rumors state, I for one am glad for limiting the release, as it will need to be demanding on the hardware if it will be impressive.

I think most people accept the point actually that we shouldn't necessarily expect to get the updates. What Apple used to do though is charge a fee for older device owners to get the latest and greatest software. They should probably do the same here, but of course that would piss off plenty of people too who expect to get it for nothing.

Some people are just pointing out its BS for anyone to claim Apple is doing this because the hardware is no longer capable of running iOS 5. It's an easy excuse to make.

iPad 1 has the memory of the 3GS.
iPhone 4 CPU is very close to the performance of the 3GS.

You can't mix and match requirements and claim the iPad 1 has a better processor so requires less RAM. Software doesn't work like that. iOS 5 will either run with 256 MB RAM or it will not. So if iPad 1 gets iOS 5 we know the OS is capable of running on 256 MB RAM. Pure and simple. Same with the processor. if the iPhone 4 has the processing power to run iOS 5, then so does the 3GS albeit a little more slowly as it is a few GHz slower.

Again, it's nothing but irrationality in this thread. Noone updates their phones for as long as Apple does. Stop whining that you're somehow entitled to every bleeding edge new software feature that comes out of Cupertino because you own one of their products.

I have no problem with Apple killing hardware for business reasons. But for apologists to make BS claims that they do it in the interests of moving their technology forward is quite frankly embarrassing when the facts prove otherwise. Apple is incredibly good at moving the money in your bank account to theirs. And as a shareholder, I celebrate that fact. I probably shouldn't trying convince people blind to the facts either since it results in more devices sold, more profits and a higher share price.