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When will the iPhone 3GS be considered "old"?

C

cadetandrew

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 23, 2012
16
0
I currently have an iPhone 3GS and have had it since around mid-August. Of course around then the iPhone 4 was being released. I payed attention to all of Apple's products after getting my phone. Then the iPhone 4S came out and I started asking my parents about getting me a new phone and they said it may not happen any time soon. I'm afraid of having an outdated phone soon. How soon could that be?

Also, this iPhone was my upgrade. I got it for $8. :p
 
It's already old, but until it doesn't receive any more ios upgrades, you're good! Enjoy it!
 
That's exactly what I was thinking! I am enjoying it very much, although I wouldn't complain if I had a front facing camera and faster processor. :)
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone 4s)

This fall it's gonna go but given its still selling like hot cakes it may stick round longer
 
While it's technically already considered 'old,' it can still run the majority of the latest software/ iOS... something it should be able to continue to do through Fall '13 or possibly even Fall '14.

The fact that the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4 share the same internals suggest that it should be able to hold on as long as the 4 does... and, with so many of them out there and still being sold, I'd be surprised if they kill the iPhone 4 anytime soon.
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone 4s)

cyks said:
While it's technically already considered 'old,' it can still run the majority of the latest software/ iOS... something it should be able to continue to do through Fall '13 or possibly even Fall '14.

The fact that the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4 share the same internals suggest that it should be able to hold on as long as the 4 does... and, with so many of them out there and still being sold, I'd be surprised if they kill the iPhone 4 anytime soon.
Click to expand...

The 3GS and 4 are very different inside!
 
cyks said:
While it's technically already considered 'old,' it can still run the majority of the latest software/ iOS... something it should be able to continue to do through Fall '13 or possibly even Fall '14.
Click to expand...

you're kidding yourself. The 33GS will not get iOS 6. After that less and less sofware is going to support it. It will probably still run 80% of the apps by Fall of 2013. Probably 0 new apps by 2014.

The fact that the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4 share the same internals suggest that it should be able to hold on as long as the 4 does... and, with so many of them out there and still being sold, I'd be surprised if they kill the iPhone 4 anytime soon.
Click to expand...

The first iPhone and the 3G had thy exact same CPU. Didn't get the 2G any extension in life. And when you're growing, large numbers suddenly look pretty tiny.
 
Gav2k said:
Wirelessly posted (iPhone 4s)
The 3GS and 4 are very different inside!
Click to expand...

They're both powered by an ARM Cortex-A8 CPU core and integrated with a PowerVR SGX 535 GPU.

The 3GS running at 600 MHz and the 4 running at 800 MHz (to compensate for the higher resolution display).

The externals are vastly different, but inside they're basically the same.


foobarbaz said:
you're kidding yourself. The 33GS will not get iOS 6. After that less and less sofware is going to support it. It will probably still run 80% of the apps by Fall of 2013. Probably 0 new apps by 2014.


The first iPhone and the 3G had thy exact same CPU. Didn't get the 2G any extension in life. And when you're growing, large numbers suddenly look pretty tiny.
Click to expand...


The 2G was also lacking 3G and GPS... two prominent features. All the 3GS is lacking is a Retina display- which many apps STILL don't fully support.
 
I'd say it'll be too old for comfort when it stops getting software updates. So, when the next iPhone/iOS version is released.
 
If mommy and daddy need to buy a phone for you then you're doing just fine with whatever phone you have.
 
It's pretty old, and I can only guess that after the next generation iphone is released, Apple will stop selling the iPhone 3GS, and the iPhone 4 will be free and the 4S will go for 99 bucks.

By the time the next generation iphone comes out, 3GS is history.
 
Shadowbech said:
It's pretty old, and I can only guess that after the next generation iphone is released, Apple will stop selling the iPhone 3GS, and the iPhone 4 will be free and the 4S will go for 99 bucks.

By the time the next generation iphone comes out, 3GS is history.
Click to expand...

completely agree, that along with the next iOS most likely not supporting the 3GS.
 
cyks said:
They're both powered by an ARM Cortex-A8 CPU core and integrated with a PowerVR SGX 535 GPU.

The 3GS running at 600 MHz and the 4 running at 800 MHz (to compensate for the higher resolution display).

The externals are vastly different, but inside they're basically the same.
Click to expand...

The iPhone 4 features the "Apple A4" SoC chipset (based on a stripped down 1 GHz Cortex-A8), while it sounds similar to what's in the 3GS, it is considerably different... and every teardown and benchmark site will tell you the same.

There's also double the RAM (256MB 3GS vs. 512GB i4).
 
Soon.

By the time the iPhone 5 (or whatever you would prefer to call it) comes out I think that is the end. You never know, if that doesn't do it, then I would have to say when the iOS updates stop. You'll probably be eligible for a new phone by then anyways so it's fine. Don't sweat it.
 
I think the main difference in speed between 3gs and iphone 4 is the ram, but wasn't the latest ipod touch has the same 256m ram. Apple typically support 3 generation of OS for each phone, so iphone 3gs probably won't be getting iOS 6 even it is probably capable of running it.
 
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