iPhone 3GS on iOS 5 is like iPhone 3G on iOS 4?

She can update to IOS 4.2.1, it's free and if she's not happy then she can get 3GS.

Yes, the 3G does show its age but usable. Did she tried the Reset.

Reset (Hold Sleep/Wake and Home buttons about 10 secs or more till Apple logo appears, ignore the Slide to Power Off that appears)

Note: You will not lose any data.

If you do want to get a new iPhone, I suggest at least the 4 if 4S is not possible.

(iPhone 4 and 4S have Apple custom chips).

3GS is twice as fast as 3G, 4 is twice as fast as 3GS, 4S is twice as fast as 4.

Message was edited by: ckuan

Dear Sir,

To answer your question directly, no, the 3GS is not at all sluggish on iOS 5. Infact, not only does it work well on iOS 5, it will support iOS 6 when it is released in the fall. The beta versions of the software show minimal slowness on the 3GS.

Contrary to what ckuan says, the 3G is NOT usable on iOS 4. The original poster said that his girlfriend was originally on OS 3.1.3, which was way better than to upgrade to iOS 4.2.1. Now upgrading to that firmware has permanently slowed down her phone. Ckuan has clearly not used an iPhone 3G running iOS 4.

The 3G was doomed from the start in my opinion. It has upgraded networking, and came with more features out of the box than the first generation iPhone, but it has the exact same processor and ram. Out of the box, since day 1, I noticed it was slower than my first generation iPhone by 1 or 2 seconds loading normal apps. After iOS 4, it pretty much became a "dumb" phone instead of a smart phone, as the only thing it could do with bearable speed was make phone calls.

The iPhone 3GS is probably the best step forward in speed compared to any other iPhone launch (even the 4S). It's processor is actually the same exact processor used in the iPhone 4. Yes, as ckuan says, the iPhone 4 has a custom apple chip, but this chip is simply the overclocked version of the 3GS chip, repackaged with the graphics card (which is the exact same), in one package.

Contrary to what ckuan says though, the iPhone 4 is NOT twice as fast as the 3GS. It is nearly the same speed as the 3GS. In fact, benchmarks have shown the iPhone 4 to be slower at playing graphically intense games than the 3GS, due to it's high pixel density with the same graphics card as the 3GS, which only has a 4th of the pixels to push.

Due to this speed similarity, the 3GS runs nearly all the apps as the iPhone 4 does. Most app store apps support the 3GS and above. Apple still sells the 3GS. The 3GS has been selling for 3 years, and still hasn't been obsolete. iOS 6 for the 3GS is just yet another reason to buy the 3GS.

When iOS 6 releases, the 3GS will have nearly the same features as the iPhone 4 (actually, as of beta 4, the only feature that iPhone 4 has over the 3GS in iOS 6 is offline reading lists, which can be easily solved by downloading any similar app in the app store. ) Since the 3GS is cheaper in your area than the iPhone 4, if the question is whether you should get a 3GS, the answer is a resounding yes.

Older doesn't mean it's horrible. I actually believe the 3GS is probably the best iPhone ever made. Just look...its got the most iOS support of any other iPhone (iOS 3, 4, 5, and now 6) , and possibly any smartphone ever made. It's got comparable speed to the iPhone 4, which is still considered to be new, and used by millions of users. It supports nearly all the apps in the app store. It's cheaper, but it's got nearly all the features of the iPhone 4 on iOS 6.

Buy the 3GS, don't be dissuaded to pay extra for a newer iPhone, or buy some random android device just because the 3GS doesn't have "Apple custom chips" or is too old. It's probably the oldest new phone out there 🙂

Sorry for the long reply, but I hope this helps your decision.

Thanks,

Tpulak

tpulak wrote:

Dear Sir,

To answer your question directly, no, the 3GS is not at all sluggish on iOS 5. Infact, not only does it work well on iOS 5, it will support iOS 6 when it is released in the fall. The beta versions of the software show minimal slowness on the 3GS.

Discussing Beta is against ToU in this forum.

Contrary to what ckuan says, the 3G is NOT usable on iOS 4. The original poster said that his girlfriend was originally on OS 3.1.3, which was way better than to upgrade to iOS 4.2.1. Now upgrading to that firmware has permanently slowed down her phone. Ckuan has clearly not used an iPhone 3G running iOS 4.

Before you make any accusations, I have and still using 2 iPhone 3G with IOS 4.2.1 (wife & daughter).

Please stop being so smart. You clearly have no idea.

The 3G was doomed from the start in my opinion. It has upgraded networking, and came with more features out of the box than the first generation iPhone, but it has the exact same processor and ram. Out of the box, since day 1, I noticed it was slower than my first generation iPhone by 1 or 2 seconds loading normal apps. After iOS 4, it pretty much became a "dumb" phone instead of a smart phone, as the only thing it could do with bearable speed was make phone calls.

Same processor? Wrong again. Please do your research. Dumb phone? You maybe.

The iPhone 3GS is probably the best step forward in speed compared to any other iPhone launch (even the 4S). It's processor is actually the same exact processor used in the iPhone 4. Yes, as ckuan says, the iPhone 4 has a custom apple chip, but this chip is simply the overclocked version of the 3GS chip, repackaged with the graphics card (which is the exact same), in one package.

Same processor? Again wrong.

I can go on, but I am also wasting my time.

Not all features in IOS 6 are supported in iPhone 3GS.

Your experiences with 2 iPhones don't have any weight against all the thousands of 3G users who have complained over the lagginess of the 4.0+ software releases.

And yes, the iPhone 3G and 2G both run on the EXACT same processor. No difference. Please do your share of research before accusing me. I am actually quite amazed how you are a level 5 forum member with thousands of points.

And yes, the iPhone 3GS and 4 run on the exact same processor architecture. While it may not be the exact same chip, they are both Cortex A8 processors, clocked at different speeds, and packaged without and with GPU's for the 3GS and 4 respectively.

As a developer, I clearly know that the 3GS and 4 are pretty much the same performance target for me while developing apps.

You got the point 🙂 Older doesn't mean slower by any means. The iPad 2 is actually faster than the new iPad in graphic intensive games.

I am glad to be of help sir!

Take care, and I hope you enjoy the 3GS

tpulak wrote:

Your experiences with 2 iPhones don't have any weight against all the thousands of 3G users who have complained over the lagginess of the 4.0+ software releases.

And you are the representative for them, yeah right.

And yes, the iPhone 3G and 2G both run on the EXACT same processor. No difference. Please do your share of research before accusing me. I am actually quite amazed how you are a level 5 forum member with thousands of points.

You as a developer never heard of optimizing. All the software I wrote, I was able to at least double the speed in the new release. The processors are still the same.

According to your remark, Android phones have higher specs so logically should be faster than the iPhone.

It is software dude, from capable developer.

And yes, the iPhone 3GS and 4 run on the exact same processor architecture. While it may not be the exact same chip, they are both Cortex A8 processors, clocked at different speeds, and packaged without and with GPU's for the 3GS and 4 respectively.

So decide now, are they the same or not? For my money they are different, Apple would not spend all that money just to put the apple logo on a chip that is the same.

Now, finally for the exact arguments you have been saying. Here a speed test comparison video for iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4. Enjoy.

http://www.gadgetvenue.com/iphone-models-compared-speed-07272946/

I can confirm what tpulak says. I am actually using iOS 5.1.1 on iPhone 3GS and it runs fine. Note that in comparison to 4S the front camera is missing, LED diode is missing and it is a bit slower. BUT VERY MUCH USABLE. I also plan to upgrade to iOS 6 so if u like I can keep u apprised. To conclude: my advice is the same as tpulak's if you can't buy 4S or upcoming 5 (well I can't either 😟 😉) buy new 3GS. I don't know how at your country but here in Czech republic 3GS is considerably cheaper. Or you can get old and used, or damaged 3GS and ask Apple to change it for the new one. I actually underwent this exchange and it works. Through a provider I sent my 3GS with damaged motherboard to Apple and in one month they sent me a new one (they still have some in stock). It have cost me something around 170 USD which for me would be less than half of buying completely new 3GS. Once more I have to stress that you ought to have an old malfuncioning 3GS. Or any other iPhone for which you always get an equivalent device.

Hope anything helps

ckuan,

I did not say I am the representative for them. I am merely stating the inherent situation that thousands of iPhone 3G users have faced drastic slowdown in OS speeds since OS 4+ releases (till 4.2.1) . You can't change that fact, despite what may have/may not have been your experiences as you claim.

Ok...you are just stating the obvious. Even if OS 4 has brought forth many options for developers to optimize their apps, this does not change the fact that the iPhone 3G is miserably slow, due to it's really aged processor, and more importantly, its low ram.

And bringing up Androids and their specs against the situation with the iPhone is just plain stupid. Sure the iPhone has immense software optimizations that allow for their phones to run smoothly, and I don't disagree with that. The iPhone 4S, 4, and even 3GS are somewhat faster (or at least smoother from the user experience) than comparable Android devices. These newer iPhones run all on the same processor architecture (ARM 7), which is considered to be modern. At this point, specs are just enough (as on the 3GS's 600 mhz processor) to be adequate if there is good software optimization.

The iPhone 3G is simply too old, with 128 mb of RAM, to run well even with software optimizations. The system requirements of iOS 4 leave the 3G with merely 35-40 mb's of free RAM at any given time. This leaves it unable to play mostly any games on the app store nowadays. Even basic apps like social networking apps use more than 35 mb's of ram. This is why many developers have now made iOS 4.3 as the minimum OS requirement to download apps, meaning the 3G is excluded, since it stopped receiving updates since iOS 4.2.1 .

The iPhone 3GS, on the other hand, has 256 mb of RAM, and a 600 mhz processor. These specs are enough to work fine with software enhancements, which is what Apple has done. Because of this, graphically intense games, like NOVA 3, and Infinity Blade 2 work fine on the 3GS. But you can never expect an iPhone 3G to run any of these games. For starters, it doesn't even support the basic software elements of many intensive games, which is Open GL ES 2.0 . It is too old and simply too weak. Even angry birds, a basic game, crashes many times on an iPhone 3G if it isn't rebooted before playing.

Now, moving on to the debate between the 3GS and iPhone 4...you are simply showing me a video comparing app loading times. If you look closely at my statements from my response to the OP, I specifically commented on graphics performance on graphically intense games between the 3GS and iPhone 4.

Running games at native resolution on the iPhone 4 with exact same particle quality as the 3GS will reduce its performance in context of framerate.

http://1.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/iphone-4-graphics-perfo rmance1.png

The A4 chip once again, is the same Cortex A-8 processor with an SGX-535 graphics card , repackaged together, and slightly overclocked to help overcome the higher resolution of the Retina Display. While this has resulted in a positive outcome CPU-wise (hence the faster app loading times of the iPhone 4) , this wasn't enough to counteract the 4X increase in pixel density, thus games that are very graphically intense would need more horsepower. Thus the iPhone 4S is a much needed update in this regard. Despite people dismissing the 4S as a minor upgrade, because of its body, it is actually a very big leap forward, with a dual core processor, and a drastically improved dual core graphics card.

ckuan, you may be a developer as you claim, and I believe it, but I don't believe you have any experience with developing apps/games that take the iPhone to it's limits. I am a game app developer, and most of my games, since 2011, have excluded the 3G. I have managed to support the iPhone 3G for 3 years, until the iPhone 4 released. The day when I took of support for the 3G was the day when my games drastically increased in graphical complexity and intensity. Since the price of the 3GS went down, the iPhone 3G userbase was already lowered, so I didn't lose any revenue, but instead, I gained more revenue.

ondrashek,

Running iOS 5.1.1 smoothly is what many other 3GS users have noted, alongside many reviewers. Your 3GS has lots of life left in it. As always, it's not the outside that counts, but what's inside. Although the 3GS looks like the iPhone 3G, a phone that was released 4 years ago, it's internal processor architecture is nearly the same as the 2010 released iPhone 4.

You still keep on saying the same, ops, now nearly the same.

If that the case, why the same app run differently time wise across the iPhone models?

According to your "the same" logic, it cannot be true.

Anyway, I leave you at that, over and out. I don't want to hijack the thread and this is not the right place for this debate. You have a nice day and optimise your apps. Use a better game engine.

I must apologize up front for my long response to this debate. I too feel like this is an excellent topic. I have some input regarding usage of the iPhone 3GS that's just as pertinent to consider.

The main question, " Does the 3GS on IOS 5 feel as sluggish as the 3G on IOS 4?" actually boils down to whether or not to upgrade from an iPhone 3G to an iPhone 3GS vs iPhone 4 or 4S. Even though, the questions were well answered by tpulak, the very same day it was asked, there were overwhelming bits of responses (some concise and informative, to say the least) that go on and on. As I read each reply, I felt that everyone had excellent points to make, however, later I became lost in the details from a back and forth debate, which became entertaining as well as amusing, yet relevant to convey...

While ckuan and tpulak, both clearly made many solid points regarding iPhone 3GS, 4, and 4S, there is a great deal of knowledge that can be informative, yet debateful like we've seen, when deciding which instrument best fits one's needs. Practically speaking, I have to give credit where credit is due and agree with tpulak's responses, the one marked with answering the original question. Tpulak original answer seems to fall in line with understanding the consumers question and needs. To further support his statements, I thought I would comment from my consumers perspective and personal experience regarding the iPhone 3GS. (Again, I apologize for the length inspired by the previous entries.)

I am just an average consumer. I don't have experience regarding app development or software engineering, but what I do have experience in is the everyday use of the iPhone 3GS with IOS 5. It is by far the best iPhone I have utilized. I do not have problems with it being sluggish; as a matter of fact it's quite faster than I had hoped. Faster then 3G and just as fast, sometimes faster than 4 or 4S... I'll admit, I really wanted to be able to upgrade to iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S. At the time it came out, the newly revised iPhone 4 was beautiful with smooth edges, and a new look and feel that was quite impressive. While I may not understand the technology behind smartphones, like ckuan, I really do not care as long as the iPhone works and makes complete sense to own. But, I couldn't afford to just go out and upgrade every year or two on these gadgets, even if I wanted to. I had to stop being an emotional buyer, feeling like I had to have the next best thing or buy something because the 'So and So's did, therefore I should. I have to think more practically. When I compared the iPhone 4 and 4S with iPhone 3GS, I found the only things I might possibly miss out on (beside a few other features) are Siri and Facetime. However, since I didn't have them in the first place, makes it difficult to miss them, anyway. It really wasn't a big deal for me missing some of the features available with IOS 5 on iPhone 3GS. All I knew is that my iPhone 3GS was faster and smarter than before, when I had iPhone 3G.

What's nice about upgrading and using the iPhone 3GS is the ability to use the multitask bar and multitask while other apps are open, Notification Center, Reminders, Compass, using MMS, e-mail, text messages and IM (Instant Messaging via Apple ID), access to digital magazine subscriptions, Twitter integration, iCloud and storage, better gaming with use of the Game Center, the ability to use airplay with Apple TV (nice one!), also being able to print to an airprint capable printer right from my iPhone 3GS, and my favorite thing is reading books in iBook and I can add, open and store my documents in PDF's in iBook as well.

(If only I had enough money to throw around, sure I would get the latest. That's honest and true.) So, sure the iPhone 4 or 4S are good buys before the iPhone 5 with various reasons to own or upgrade. Some would say they're the next biggest and best tech, faster, hundreds of features, software upgrades like IOS 5 and IOS 6. However, as a sales consultant, I'm obligated to give objectively many reasons one should buy the latest and greatest iPhone. However, as a stay at home mom and practical consumer, I might say differently and to each is own... However, I'm willing to bet overall that more people are impressed with the iPhone 3GS, comparatively speaking. I know I have and still am. I'm also willing to bet, more consumers are likely to use iPhone 3GS until it either become obsolete or their contracts are up, skipping iPhone 4 and 4S by diving right into purchasing or contracting the iPhone 5 once it's less expensive down the road. That's what I'm planning to do. In 6 months to a year, sometime after my contract is up, I plan to get the iPhone 5 and not iPhone 4 or 4S. I know I qualify at 18 months for a new phone, but why should I upgrade so soon and give up on the good thing I have already. Don't fix it, if it ain't broke! Right?

Finally, the iPhone 3GS has been a great product for me and my family, especially with all the enhancements from earlier software upgrades like IOS 5 with all the added features I mentioned earlier and more!

Just a quick note: I recently upgraded my iPad 2 and another iPhone 3GS on my account to IOS 6 and so far I like the subtle improvements the upgrade gives. You get more Parental Controls, Privacy and Location Services, New Maps features, Facebook Integration, plus backing up your iPhone (Since IOS 5) via iCloud instead of plugging into iTunes has never been easier, Using the Do Not Disturb button, Passbook for storing boarding passes, tickets, store cards, coupons etc, and many more.

Thanks for listening, I hope this helps someone at some point!