iPhone 3GS owners: Don’t look for sympathy from users of the original iPhone or even the iPhone 3G when Apple finally unleashes iOS 5 later this year -- according to a new rumor floating around, the 3GS will be disinherited from running the next iOS.
MacRumors is reporting that technology may be marching on for owners of the iPhone 3GS, who may not get an invitation to enjoy the forthcoming iOS 5 party Apple will be throwing. According to a mere tweet from the editor-in-chief of a Russian mobile phone blog, the iPhone 3GS won’t be able to handle iOS 5 and will be orphaned like the two generations of handsets before it.
“Just one comment. Apple iPhone 3Gs wont be upgradable to iOS 5.x. iPhone 4 will,” proclaimed Mobile-Review editor-in-chief Eldar Murtazin via Twitter, in a story soon picked up by MacStories and others.
If true, the move shouldn’t be too surprising -- Apple famously removed a few of the cooler features of iOS 4 for iPhone 3G owners and left those with the original iPhone completely in the dust on iOS 3.1.3. Cupertino finally gave up on supporting the iPhone 3G any further with iOS 4.3, the first version to unify the iPad with its smaller compatriots, leaving the 3G device forevermore at iOS 4.2.1.
It’s been widely rumored that Apple will come packing some beefier hardware in the next iPhone, including the A5 processor introduced with the iPad 2. That could explain why the iPhone 3GS won’t get iOS 5, since the current iPhone 4 will then be the cheaper, previous-generation model.
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metalhaze
May 25, 2011 at 9:52am
This makes perfect sense.
Just like how you aren't able to run the newest OS's on Android phones on their older handset models.
But unlike Android, Apple supports older phones for a longer period of time.
People that have an iPhone 3GS (like myself) should be smart enough to realize that it's time for a new phone or just be happy with what you have.
You can't make progress by supporting the past.
