Report: iOS 5 Will Be Incompatible with iPhone 3GS

[Michael Essany]

The editorial chief at a credible and popular Russian mobile phone blog is getting a lot of attention today for a telling revelation he made via Twitter. The announcement has since taken the tech blogosphere by storm, despite the lack of confirmation from Apple that the information presented is correct.

Mobile-Review's editor-in-chief Eldar Murtazin turned to Twitter to share that which he learned from his sources in the know: "Just one comment. Apple iPhone 3Gs wont be upgradable to iOS 5.x. iPhone 4 will."

If correct, the forthcoming iOS 5 - which may be unveiled as soon as June 6th when WWDC gets underway - will not be compatible with the second-to last iPhone model, the iPhone 3GS. Given that millions of these particular models are still in use around the world, this information - if accurate - could come as a devastating bit of news.

To be sure, Murtazin is far from an Apple-related gossip king. But he generally gets his information from reliable sources familiar with the broader mobile phone industry. And while all reports must be taken with a grain of salt until confirmed by Apple, it's easy to see how Murtazin's report may be correct. Given the supposedly elaborate nature of the next major iOS upgrade, the iPhone 3GS and all earlier models will likely be incapable of powering such a powerful new operating system.

Source: Mobile-Review, Twitter

[battlecrushr]

uhh.. im pretty thatll piss off a lot of people

[RICO_]

So predictable!

[Simon]

Not sure what the justification would be. iPhone 4 is not that much faster then a iPhone 3GS. Nowhere near the jump in speed seen from a 3G to a 3GS.

[spider_romeo]

So what it's mean, 3GS will be garbage ???

[RICO_]

Not sure what the justification would be. iPhone 4 is not that much faster then a iPhone 3GS. Nowhere near the jump in speed seen from a 3G to a 3GS.

The "justification" would be to get people to buy the iPhone 4 or the 4S/5/whatever the hell they're calling it.....so that Apple can make more money.

[Simon]

The "justification" would be to get people to buy the iPhone 4 or the 4S/5/whatever the hell they're calling it.....so that Apple can make more money.

Glad you put that in quotations. Not much a justification in my book.

[jmaderosk8r]

It makes no sense because ATT is still marketing the 3gs. Lately ive seen the 3gs commercial more that the iphone 4. But like mentioned above apple likes the green and really wouldnt care of 3gs owners getting mad. But i would rather have a jaibroken 3gs with 4.2.1 than a 3gs 5.x.x that will make my phone laggier like the ios4 did to the 3g.

[kingbijan]

1.
how do u "Thanks" a post in this new forum?
2.
i wouldn't "Thanks" this post, just like all of your recent posts, Michael. Your posts have been from desperation not a good story. You jump on whatever you can even if it's as HORRIBLE and PROBABLY UNTRUE as this.
If ANYTHING the 3G will be incompatible.
Please, I'm not one to hate just PLEASE stop posting useless ish.

[Cowboy]

This doesnt surprise me of course apple is going to make it were you have to buy the new latest and greatest its a business.

[ODB25]

Where's the mobile app to this site I miss it.

[exNavy]

Makes perfect business sense to me. You don't make money when you continue to provide new firmware to old iphones.

[Antman217]

Not sure what the justification would be. iPhone 4 is not that much faster then a iPhone 3GS. Nowhere near the jump in speed seen from a 3G to a 3GS.

I think it depends more on hardware than speed. It would be like running 4.X with all its features on a 3G it would just suck. The 3G's limited amount of ram prevented it from running several apps in the background or display wallpapers on the home screen so Apple just removed those features to provide the best experience. I think Apple will allow iOS 5 to run on the 3GS but not all the features will be available, like 4.X on the 3G. If the 3GS doesn't get iOS 5, then it should be because all of the new features aren't supported by the 3GS hardware, if not, then Apple is just being an ******* lol.

[Simon]

I think it depends more on hardware than speed. It would be like running 4.X with all its features on a 3G it would just suck. The 3G's limited amount of ram prevented it from running several apps in the background or display wallpapers on the home screen so Apple just removed those features to provide the best experience. I think Apple will allow iOS 5 to run on the 3GS but not all the features will be available, like 4.X on the 3G. If the 3GS doesn't get iOS 5, then it should be because all of the new features aren't supported by the 3GS hardware, if not, then Apple is just being an ******* lol.

You make a good point with regards to RAM. That is the only hardware I see that could potentially cause an issue with a newer more memory hungry firmware.

[dboone21]

So what it's mean, 3GS will be garbage ???

Not garbage... You can still use the phone exactly as you do today. You just can't get Apple's fancy new stuff... unless.... you're jailbroken - then you probably either already have the 'new' features made by someone else, or there'll be a hack to allow ios5

[14u2nv]

I can see a couple reasons to do this, one as stated would be to continue to make money. Another would be that maybe the 3gs can't do the things needed for the new OS. How about front cam/8mp cam necessities? how about retina display necessities? How about processing speed? How about all the other new things it will come with? Saying it is ignorant to abandon an old model is naive. That's like saying, " I'm gonna buy one computer and it will last forever". Not so! At some point, it just can't keep up and it's time to let it go. Nobody said the 3gs won't still be usable, just stay on the newest version that it supports, no bid deal. Other than what you read, you won't know what you are missing anyway. :?

[trevorrawson]

I like how pissed off everyone gets. There does come a time when Apple will need to get rid of the old to continue on to make a better operating system. I don't think that this will happen as stated in the article. While I'm no Apple prophet I bet we would see a release of iOS 5 in it's full glory for the iPhone 4 and newer, and a dumbed down version for the 3Gs which is what we saw with iOS 4. Some of you guys give Apple so much grief when in general they are great to their customers! Best customer service I have ever received and that includes customer service for anything I've had to deal with. Not just computers.

[Bluemoldycheeze88]

Time to sell the iPhone 3Gs.

[Stryker1]

A good example of Apple screwing over its people AGAIN!!

Stryker1

[Colby21]

Are you people retarded? You must be if you weren't expecting this... they did it to the 2g, and the 3G... so, OMG they're doing it with the 3GS as well???? DUH!...yeah.