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What was the weakest update to the iPhone line up?

  • iPhone to iPhone 3G

    Votes: 52 27.1%
  • 3G to 3GS

    Votes: 53 27.6%
  • 3GS to 4

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 4 to 4S

    Votes: 43 22.4%
  • 4S to 5

    Votes: 12 6.3%
  • 5 to 5S

    Votes: 29 15.1%

  • Total voters
    192
So u upgraded from iPhone 5 to 5s?

3G 600 MHz (running at 400 MHz), 2mp camera, 128mb ram

Vs 3GS 800mhz(running at 600 MHz). 256mb ram 3mp camera.

If u upgraded to 5s from 5
A6 processor 1gb ram 8mp camera (better low light mp than 4s),

A7 64bit (that has no real use), 1gb ram 8mp camera (auto focus faster, more burst mode f 2.2 than iPhone 5 camera).

iPhone 3G Geekbench Score: 135
iPhone 3GS Geekbench Score: 150


iPhone 5 Geekbench Score: 1296
iPhone 5S Geekbench Score: 2557

The 5->5S is MUCH more substantial than the 3->3GS upgrade in terms of what you get in forms of an update.
 
Having personally stood in line in June 2007 for the original, and owning each iteration since the current jump from the 5 to the 5s is the least impressive based on my own use and needs. Thus the latest received my vote. Each iteration was an improvement in its time. The addition of 3G radio to get off the edge network was a lot more significant to the user than this thread seems to give credit.
 
3G. Too slow out of the gate. Much slower yet after OS updates.

The 3Gs was actually one of the better updates. It turned an unusable phone into a nice experience.
 
iPhone 3G Geekbench Score: 135
iPhone 3GS Geekbench Score: 150


iPhone 5 Geekbench Score: 1296
iPhone 5S Geekbench Score: 2557

The 5->5S is MUCH more substantial than the 3->3GS upgrade in terms of what you get in forms of an update.

It's all relative. We all know measuring mobile world performance is subjective to various different test.

Based on 2009 test results with 2009 testing methods they determined iPhone 3GS to be 128% faster than iPhone 3G. A significant performance boost that's comparable to similar tests run on 2013 testing methods for iPhone 5 to iPhone 5s.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2790
 
iPhone 3G Geekbench Score: 135
iPhone 3GS Geekbench Score: 150


iPhone 5 Geekbench Score: 1296
iPhone 5S Geekbench Score: 2557

The 5->5S is MUCH more substantial than the 3->3GS upgrade in terms of what you get in forms of an update.

No, maybe the raw numbers are higher but in real world performance the 3G was laggy compared to the 3GS. My 5S performs almost identically to my 5 - in daily usage. I'd say this upgrade was def the weakest.
 
iPhone 3G Geekbench Score: 135
iPhone 3GS Geekbench Score: 150


iPhone 5 Geekbench Score: 1296
iPhone 5S Geekbench Score: 2557

The 5->5S is MUCH more substantial than the 3->3GS upgrade in terms of what you get in forms of an update.

On paper, yes, but in terms of real world usage the 3GS felt significantly faster. Anybody who has actually gone from original iPhone or 3G to 3GS and from 5 to 5s would agree.
 
Having personally stood in line in June 2007 for the original, and owning each iteration since the current jump from the 5 to the 5s is the least impressive based on my own use and needs. Thus the latest received my vote. Each iteration was an improvement in its time. The addition of 3G radio to get off the edge network was a lot more significant to the user than this thread seems to give credit.

3G tech was out, and already being adopted by many companies at the point in 2007 when the iPhone came to market. There was quite a bit of debate on here (MacRumors) at the time, regarding why it was excluded.

Anand posted a great article, and if I recall, they believed the reasons Apple chose to hold off was more due to the size of 3G chips at the time, as well as reduced battery life.

I agree that the speed increases offered by 3G were definitely significant, however I still feel the overall upgrade was one of the most minor in the iPhone's history. That said, As someone pointed out earlier, they really didn't have any competition at the time (2008), so there really wasn't much need to take chances.
 
3G tech was out, and already being adopted by many companies at the point in 2007 when the iPhone came to market. There was quite a bit of debate on here (MacRumors) at the time, regarding why it was excluded.

Anand posted a great article, and if I recall, they believed the reasons Apple chose to hold off was more due to the size of 3G chips at the time, as well as reduced battery life.

I agree that the speed increases offered by 3G were definitely significant, however I still feel the overall upgrade was one of the most minor in the iPhone's history. That said, As someone pointed out earlier, they really didn't have any competition at the time (2008), so there really wasn't much need to take chances.
Maybe the phone was minor but because of the subsidized pricing it was a huge update.
 
the 3G was the weakest upgrade... And I got it.. like all the rest. Why? Because when I get a new iPhone, everyone get's a new iPhone.
 
iPhone 2G to 3G was the worst update.

However getting 3G was a big deal.

iPhone 5 to 5s has probably been the biggest update to me.

The camera tech, the speed, the power, better battery and Touch ID will be a real game changer.
 
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The iPhone 3G in 2008. Same internals, added 3G radio only. It couldn't even support iOS 4 which was released just 2 years later. Compare it with the 3GS which supported up to iOS 6 - it ran the newest iOS until this September - more than 4 years after its release in June 2009.
 
3G to 3GS was the weakest.

Going from EDGE to 3G made the jump from iPhone to iPhone 3G more significant.
 
The 3GS is really getting a bum rap here; in many ways it was the first feature complete iPhone in hardware terms, particularly with the camera - I mean we're not just talking an extra megapixel here, this was the first iPhone with autofocus! The first with video! Basically the first iPhone with a camera worth using at all. Considering the iPhone is now famously the most used camera in the world, that makes the 3GS a pretty significant milestone along the way.

The "spec bump" was a big one at the time and enabled lots of other things iPhone users take for granted now. The 3G may have taken the iPhone off Edge, but it was the 3GS that actually first achieved the same kind of data speeds that other phones had for years. That processor wasn't just clocked higher, it had GPU support for a new breed of games, hardware support for on-device encryption, there's a reason they carried on selling it three years and supported it through three major IOS revisions, while the 3G before it basically failed to survive two.

Don't get me wrong, the 3G was my first iPhone and I loved it, but it had little over the original and the 3GS was the phone it really should have been.
 
Not really quite sure why people even voted for iPhone 3GS to iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S to iPhone 5 lol.

----------

Are you guys actually using the 5s?

I seriously can't tell 1 bit of difference between it and my old 5 besides the 50% that TouchID works.

I went from an iPhone 5 to an iPhone 5S. Here's what I can honestly tell.

  • The camera is awesome and seems much better than my iPhone 5
  • The Slo-Mo Camera is awesome
  • I changed from Black to Silver, so I got a free paint job
  • The device, especially Safari, seems quicker, however slightly
  • Touch ID works aboiut 90% of the time. Only when my fingers are wet/dirty does it occasionally struggle.
  • 64-bit architecture is something that is futureproof but only has an advantage if you are a developer or if you are someone who wants your e-p***s to enlarge when you talk specs.

I "upgraded" because I had an upgrade when I got my iPhone 4S. I bought my iPhone 5 outright last year so it was available for upgrade. I flipped my iPhone 5 for almost $400 so "upgrading" to an iPhone 5S was a no-brainer. Better device, made $100 ($99 for AC+).
 
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Looks like a slight lead by the Original to the 3G. That happens to be the one I voted for too.
 
Ha ha. U guys are all wrong.

The worst update for iPhones was iPhone 2007 (original iPhone) to iPhone 3G (2008).

1. Same processor
2. Same ram
3. Same camera.

Only thing difference was GPS and 3G chip. Oh yeah they changed aluminum back cause of antenna problems to cheaper plastic back.

Apple made bank ($$$$) with the 3G. Absolutely zero research and development money. No manufactuer can get away with that type of upgrade except....Apple.

----------



Agreed. Original to 3G was weakest upgrade.

The "S" updates are probably the most stable.
Also the battery capacity was about 60% the capacity of the original iPhone.

----------

Original to 3G.

Comparatively, little was changed, except the radio which many felt should have been in the original iPhone. They also dropped the recessed headphone jack and adopted a plastic back case. Internally it also received a very tiny speed bump. Sadly the iPod touch 2nd generation received a faster processor than the more expensive iPhone 3G.



Audio out of the 5s is improved according to people who have tested likely due to the new cirrus logic chips on the 5c and 5s.
3G didn't receive a spec bump. CPU and RAM are identical to the iPhone 2G.
 
So u upgraded from iPhone 5 to 5s?

3G 600 MHz (running at 400 MHz), 2mp camera, 128mb ram

Vs 3GS 800mhz(running at 600 MHz). 256mb ram 3mp camera.

If u upgraded to 5s from 5
A6 processor 1gb ram 8mp camera (better low light mp than 4s),

A7 64bit (that has no real use), 1gb ram 8mp camera (auto focus faster, more burst mode f 2.2 than iPhone 5 camera).

The A7 is twice as fast as the already-super fast A6. The fact it's 64bit didn't factor into my decision to upgrade. The speed difference is very noticeable.

Battery life is vastly improved as well.

----

As for the OP, original iPhone to 3G was the weakest.

----------

Are you guys actually using the 5s?

I seriously can't tell 1 bit of difference between it and my old 5 besides the 50% that TouchID works.

Battery life is vastly improved for me. And I love touchid, which works almost every time.
 
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