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Will 3GS get iOS 6?

Cod3rror

Cod3rror

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 18, 2010
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Apple is still selling it, so do you guys think it'll get iOS 6?

It's already amazing that Apple supports their devices this long, basically you get an iOS version the phone releases with +2 major updates.

But since Apple for the first time has 3 phones on sale at the same time, could they extend the updates to +3 major updates?

I'd also imagine it'll be sending a big FU to Android with their update mess and partially to Microsoft too, when a 2009 phone receives the latest update and is still relevant.

3GS could definitely handle the update.
 
I wasn't too impressed with my results when 3Gs got the IOS 5 update. It really messed up it's performance in my case, making it agonizingly slow.
 
Based on iOS5 performance on the 3GS, I doubt it. Angry Birds Was near unplayable for me, and it's not even a demanding game. I think Apple needs to drop support for it or trim iOS down a bit.
 
If they DO support iOS 6, it'll be like iOS 4 on the iPhone 3G or iOS 3 on the OG iPhone:

Certain "demanding" features will be taken out of the OS, and phone support will be dropped midway through the OS's life cycle.
 
I am going to say no as my 3GS is basically dead running iOS5 lol. Even if iOS6 was available I wouldn't put it on unless it was a stripped down version of iOS5 :p
 
I'd say it's impossible. I expect iOS 6 with the next iPhone, which would of course carry newer and more powerful hardware.
You won't see a complete version of iOS 6 on a 3GS, that's almost for sure.
 
from my experiences with iOS devices. every device can get 1 major OS update for it to be usable.
 
No. It would mean continuing to develop for the original resolution, which they will not want to do.
 
iThinkergoiMac said:
And you know this how? Please tell us where you got the system requirements and/or feature list of iOS 6 already, as that's the only way to know this.
Click to expand...

I don't know of course but if iOS does not dramatically change, 3GS should definitely be able to handle it.

boss.king said:
Based on iOS5 performance on the 3GS, I doubt it. Angry Birds Was near unplayable for me, and it's not even a demanding game. I think Apple needs to drop support for it or trim iOS down a bit.
Click to expand...

Angry Birds plays just fine for me.

LostSoul80 said:
I'd say it's impossible. I expect iOS 6 with the next iPhone, which would of course carry newer and more powerful hardware.
You won't see a complete version of iOS 6 on a 3GS, that's almost for sure.
Click to expand...

Why is it impossible? If it changes so much then iPhone 4 won't be able to run it either, since it's the same architecture as 3GS.

Tea-Aholic said:
The 3GS does have the same GPU as the 4 right? It's just the processor is ~200MHz slower. Not to mention the 3GS has 4X less pixels than the 4.
Click to expand...

Exactly!



Those of you having slow down problems with 3GS do a clean restore.

As I already said, if Apple does not dramatically change iOS 6, 3GS will handle it, it might not handle some new graphically intense games, but it'll handle the OS. It's got the same CPU and GPU as iPhone 4. iOS 4 did not run well on 3G because iPhone 3G has a different, old and slow architecture, ARM 11.

It's all up to Apple whether they just want to allow iOS 6 on 3GS, I hope they will do it.
 
Vitruviux said:
I don't know of course but if iOS does not dramatically change, 3GS should definitely be able to handle it.
Click to expand...

Well, if you don't know, then don't say you do.

Why is it impossible? If it changes so much then iPhone 4 won't be able to run it either, since it's the same architecture as 3GS.
Click to expand...

You need to check your facts. The iPhone 4 is SIGNIFICANTLY faster than the 3GS. Technically they are the same architecture, but so are the original iPhone and the iPhone 4S. By your logic, we should expect iOS 5 to run on the original iPhone.

There are large speed differences between the iPhone 4 and 3GS. I think by "same architecture" you meant "essentially the same hardware" and nothing could be further from the truth. Why do you think that Infinity Blade II enables certain graphic features on the iPhone 4 and not the 3GS? Because they're prejudiced?
 
This is an interesting situation because this is the first time Apple has still been selling hardware that old.

Think about it though. You will probably be able to purchase a 3GS up until the day the next phone comes out and likely up until the day the next iOS version comes out. This makes me think they will at least attempt to offer 3GS users some sort of update.
 
Apple intentionally drops support for older devices. It's a message to the consumer to update his phone already.

If the iPhone EDGE could run iOS5 (entirely possible with optimization from Apple), why would I update my phone to and iPhone 4/4S/5?
 
Sikaffy said:
If the iPhone EDGE could run iOS5 (entirely possible with optimization from Apple), why would I update my phone to and iPhone 4/4S/5?
Click to expand...

No, it really isn't entirely possible. It doesn't even run 3.x all that smoothly. Optimization is a lot, but it isn't everything.
 
While it may run on the 3Gs, its performance would be sub-par and not up to Apple's standards. Then again it does have the same amount of ram and GPU as the iPod Touch 4 and iPad 1. The iPod Touch 4, which is likely to get iOS 6, will probably run it very slowly. The iPad 1, if it does get iOS 6, will suffer the most. Having to drive a big screen and having only 256Mb, it will not run it well.

If it doesn't run on the 3Gs, someone will probably sue based on that one line on the EULA that states devices will get major firmware updates for one year after sold. Since both AT&T and Apple are still selling it, someone will likely sue Apple for dropping support for the 3Gs.

iThinkergoiMac said:
You need to check your facts. The iPhone 4 is SIGNIFICANTLY faster than the 3GS. Technically they are the same architecture, but so are the original iPhone and the iPhone 4S. By your logic, we should expect iOS 5 to run on the original iPhone.

There are large speed differences between the iPhone 4 and 3GS. I think by "same architecture" you meant "essentially the same hardware" and nothing could be further from the truth. Why do you think that Infinity Blade II enables certain graphic features on the iPhone 4 and not the 3GS? Because they're prejudiced?
Click to expand...

The 3Gs and 4 are the same architecture, but the iPhone 2G through the iPhone 3G are of a different kind. The iPod Touch 2G and newer are ARM7 devices while the iPhone 3G and older are ARM6 devices. You cannot run an ARM7 only binary on a ARM6 CPU. Check your facts before spouting incorrect information next time. While the iPhone 4 is faster at most things, graphic intensive games are still faster on the 3Gs. Why? The same GPU has to drive 1/4 as many pixels.
 
I hope Apple wouldn't be limiting iOS 6 for dated devices.

If they want to continually support iOS 5 for bug fixing and optimization even new little features for 3gs owners that's great. But I wouldn't want things cut out of new OS's to support it.

There are easily searched benchmarks online that will show the 3gs struggle with certain things in iOS 5.

As much as everyone knocks it, Android does this well if the manufacture cares to do this. The OG Droid got an update in November. Will it get ICS? Lets hope not the hardware isn't there. But its nice its still supported in its current form.

The way I look at it is like a PC OS. Windows XP machine will run great and its still getting updates. But if windows 7 was forced onto the machine it could bring it too its knees. Sure apples and oranges but you get what saying...
 
iThinkergoiMac said:
Well, if you don't know, then don't say you do.



You need to check your facts. The iPhone 4 is SIGNIFICANTLY faster than the 3GS. Technically they are the same architecture, but so are the original iPhone and the iPhone 4S. By your logic, we should expect iOS 5 to run on the original iPhone.

There are large speed differences between the iPhone 4 and 3GS. I think by "same architecture" you meant "essentially the same hardware" and nothing could be further from the truth. Why do you think that Infinity Blade II enables certain graphic features on the iPhone 4 and not the 3GS? Because they're prejudiced?
Click to expand...

iPhone 4 is a tiny bit faster than the 3GS. It uses the same chips. If I put my Pentium 2 processor in a nice shiny new package, it doesnt run any faster. The 4 has the exact same chip and GPU as the 3GS, just clocked a little higher. Most of that clock increase gets gobbled up driving the Retina display.

Heres the comparison you should be referencing. Yeah the 4 is like 1 second faster in load times but its not SIGNIFICANT:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2F4O0QIzC4
 
Sometimes I unlock my 3GS and it takes 15 seconds before anything happens. Once that happens, it takes maybe another 8 seconds to open the music app.

It's pretty slow on 5.0.1. I think this is the end of the line for updates.
 
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