The Need for iPhone 3G S Speed. Or, What Did You Want, a Built-In Espresso Maker?!
Jeremy and Chad both gave excellent, compelling reasons for why they ARE SO or ARE NOT upgrading to the iPhone 3G S. For certain, intelligent people will have different yet equally valid reasons for choosing to upgrade, or not to upgrade. For myself?
Apple had me at speed.
As anyone who ever managed to snag NetShare before it was yanked off the App Store, or anyone who has ever spun up PDANet, for anyone who has tethered under the iPhone 3.0 beta knows -- 3G networks are a lot faster than the iPhone 3G lets on.
See, internet connection speed is only one factor. CPUs (and/or GPUs -- where's my OpenCL ES?) need to render HTML, CSS, and -- the killer -- JavaScript. Doing that takes a lot of crunch power, and that's the bottleneck on the current iPhone 3G.
The new iPhone 3G S, however, has 150% of the CPU power and 200% of the RAM.
Remember a few years back when you bought a new laptop or desktop and it had a better CPU and twice as much RAM, remember how that new experience just flew. And remember going back and trying to use your old computer again, and how it just felt so slow?
Yeah, that feeling, that's what I'm talking about.
Not only will web pages render faster at current 3G speeds, iPhone 3G S will use 3.5G/3.75G 7.2Mbps HSPA to really give them a turbo boost in areas where it's available (hurry up, AT&T!)
And all of that is in addition to the faster task/app switching, load speeds, OpenGL ES 2.0, and other, tangible, perceptive speed boosts that Apple averages out to being TWICE as fast on the iPhone 3G.
Imagine if your new car suddenly went twice as fast.
For some people it won't be worth it. For some the iPhone 3G wasn't worth upgrading from the 2G either. It depends on what you value. On a tiny screen, seconds matter to me. Waiting for a page to render or apps to switch is dead time, and I'm trying to fill the interstitial moments, not just fracture them into smaller bits.
I know expectations were impossibly high for the third generation iPhone's debut at WWDC 2009. Sites like TiPb and the rumors we all love so much didn't help. But complaining about the iPhone 3G S not being improved enough -- what did you want, a built-in espresso maker?
Apple puts new CPUs, GPUs, and RAM into their iMacs, MacBook Pros, Mac Pros, etc. all the time. Much more often than case changes (hello G5 = Mac Pro!). Fashion is nice when we get it, features perfect when they make sense (I expect that Mobile iChat one year!) but it's power that will still drive mobile adaption. Performance size matters.
So I'll be lining up on Friday for a new 32GB iPhone 3G S. (No pre-orders on my carrier). And when I start using it, when web pages just pop up, when apps launch in a heartbeat, when I hit HSPA 7.2, when I load up my first OpenGL ES 7.2 game...
Well, let's just say I won't be able to go back.
Editor-in-Chief of iMore, Executive Producer at Mobile Nations, co-host of Iterate and ZEN and TECH, cook, grappler, photon wrangler.
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Voice dialing is the ONLY thing that interests me. And I still don't understand why it has to be tied to hardware! Jailbreaking may be in the future for me.
Only reason voice control would be hardware bound is if it has a control chip in the hardware (I believe iPod shuffle with voice over does?) We'll see when someone tears one down...
Does anyone know if NetShare can be found anywhere (Torrent, etc.) or is it impossible now to load onto your iPhone if you didn't buy it thru iTunes when it was there?
Thanks.
@Rick I don't see how that's hardware only...that gets me too.
@Rene I await the real life test of the device. All this is purely theoretical right now. But just one week we'll see.
You guys will have an in-depth review right?
I liked the whole, it will be faster speech. To me, what I have now is fast enough. And so is my 3 year old laptop and 4 year old desktop.
I wish they didn't upgrade minor things and just make one huge leap. I think the saddest part for me is the fact that apps will now be somewhat divided for the users.
This article just nailed the reason I am getting a 3Gs
My iPhone is too new for me to want to upgrade for the new changed. Since I don't play games, and don't often look at heavy web pages speed just isn't an issue for 95% of what I do. The compass is the only new feature I really wish I had, but it's not enough to justify the upgrade cost.
Jailbreaking is why I am so tempted for this thing. I know it will take a while to jailbreak, but man double the ram for my mobile substrates....that's what has me drooling!
I am still unable to figure out if I am upgrading or not. While everything on the 3G S it tempting {except for digital compass} I think next year the NEXT GENERATION IPHONE will blow us away but I have about a week to figure out if I am going to upgrade or not.
Rene:
Will you revisit this post when you have device in hand for a week?
I agree the bigger ram and better GPU should make a speed difference on those things that need such.
But historically for desktops and notebooks, CPU speed increases of less Double tend not to be noticeable unless you start running benchmarks.
Our company's rule of thumb was never upgrade till processor speed was at least 2 times better. Saved a lot of money that way chasing after minimal speed boosts.
In any event, I'm seriously interested in some side by side comparisons once you get your mits on the 3Gs.
I'll think about upgrading when AT&T's 3G network is reliable enough to make me switch from EDGE on my current iPhone 3G.
@Rene. Nailed it. I'll be waiting a month or so so I can qualify for the standard upgrade, but I'm definitely upgrading.
Great now the iphone might be able to do half the things my touch diamond can do! Awesome apple! Yeah! Look Mom, the iphone learned to cut and paste. Yes son, it might even be able to run flash and send pics by sms soon. Golly...it sure did "change the world"....what a bunch of bullshit. To everyone that bought an iphone....quit going to apples ad campaign church. There are better, faster, smarter, more user friendly, flexible, upgradeable, programable, and less corporately tied phones out there for people to use. It sucks that everyone with 300 dollars jumped on a bandwagon of digital slavery. "there is an app for that" bullshit i say. Do you want 30 apps that all do a small piece of what one piece of winmo7 software does. No wonder apple needs to double the speed...8 pages of apps....you people are going to need an app to wipe your own asses.
Yes, we will be doing our usual, canonical, review of the iPhone 3G S as soon as we can, and I'll absolutely revisit this.
I have the 2G and am looking forward to the new phone. I am tired of the EDGE network and didn't get the 3G because I didn't want to pay for another phone after shelling out for the original. Now it's like getting an extra present with the 3GS. Can't wait!!!
I agree totally with Rene. It may not look different but the only reason I thought of getting a blackberry bold was because of screen quality and the amazing speeds that apps loaded at. With the 3G S there is a new graphics chip. And better RAM and CPU. I'm a speed freak and I can't wait to give the 3G S a run at home...
Well a year from next Friday I will e upgrading to the new iPhone.
Rene, i take you are with o2, you CAN pre-order with the Carphone Warehouse Link: http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/mobiles/pay-monthly/apple-iphone3gs
, thats what im going to to on monday
Very well put. All the reasons I'm upgrading. I want the snappiness of a Blackberry with all the features and apps of an iPhone. Much enhanced 3D gaming can't hurt either. Ohhh yesss!!!
@markwrc: I'm with Rogers in Canada
@jtz5
Just add the source http://cydia.hackulo.us and download the old PDAnet.
There are some other things to download from that source but I will not discuss what they do on here. You can find out on your own...
If I could break even, I would do it but I don't want to go through the hassle when my 3G suits me just fine for what I use it for.
For other carriers, maybe speed will matter. For AT&T users, AT&T won't even be done deploying equipment to handle 7.2 until late 2011. For people who currently can't even get AT&T towers to handle more than 3 mbps, why would you upgrade for more speed, that you'll never get??
@iMuggle - My area doesn't even have 3G service PERIOD. Supposed to be by the end of the year... which is what we were told last year. Let me tell you how much I love paying $10/month extra for a 3G data plan that I can't even use.
i dont knoe why every1 is so uptight to upgrade. MMS & Tethering isnt even rdy yet. Besides AT&Ts bandwidth needs a MAJOR upgrade to even take FULL advantage of the new features. My best advice is wait till all the hype is up , let's say maybe "LATE SUMMER".
@only1jonarius
very good point AT&T needs to get their sh!t together so we can take advantage of MMS and Tethering I still can't believe how babdly they screwed up.
badly*
Ok, so I pre-ordered a new 3G S. It will be my first iPhone, and I am super excited. About all the things that already made the iPhone great, but also (and this is what pushed me to finally take the plunge) the speed boost. What Apple just did was offer you Real Substance instead of a just prettier face, and people are disappointed. lol
I will take a more powerful iPhone 3G S that looks like the old 3G over a "sexier" design change that relies on older hardware. The important parts are on the INSIDE guys.
Would the built-in espresso come with a creamer as well? I'd totally go for it then.
My biggest reason for no update, is that I don't have the cash and I've only been on my plan for <4 Months.
Oh btw, I was on the fence between an iPhone 3G and a Palm Pre. I played with both, and I was leaning heavily toward the Pre completely because of the faster hardware. The 3G S basically fixed the only areas that were keeping me from buying an iPhone. So, Apple made the right upgrade decisions for at least one potential customer.
If I could get the phone at the upgrade price I would, but I can't so the 3G will have to do for me. But come next year at this time, we will have a better iPhone that is faster and probably do a whole lot more than the 3GS. So all of us that can't get one now, should just sit tight and know that we will get a better iPhone in the end. All the 3GS people will be in our position next year.
What MRidgeway said is probably true.
And it will be called, iPhone 3G SS. SS for Super Speed.
Voice commands may be hardware bound because of some command chip, as Rene suggests, or it may be that, such a bulky system service needs the 3Gs' extra RAM to stay resident and responsive all the time.
Or it may be voice command is entirely possible on the 3G, and Apple is witholding it to sell more hardware
In any case, looking forward to the tear-down articles
"But historically for desktops and notebooks, CPU speed increases of less Double tend not to be noticeable unless you start running benchmarks."
An ARM Cortex @ 600mhz is about twice as fast as a 412mhz ARM11. Better IPC = more performance than the megahertz numbers tell you.
I agree with MRidgeway. All of the "benefits" aren't enough to get me to upgrade. I'll be happy with the 3.0 upgrade and wait for the next Next Gen iPhone.
How much is buying the iphone3gs without contract supposted to be? and with contract?
I can upgrade for 399(16g) and 499(32g). Those doen't sound like the prices I had read, whats up with that?
My guess is that most iPhone 3G owners on a 24 (or 36) month will not upgrade to the 3GS. The speed increase will be awesome but otherwise it doesn't have enough new or compelling features that can be easily marketed to consumers.
When iPhone 3G owners get the OS 3 update and find that Safari already runs faster, most of them will think pffft.. why spend another $400-$500?
However I reckon the huge majority of original iPhone owners who did not upgrade to iPhone 3G will upgrade to the 3GS.
BTW, according to ARM, the Cortex-A8 core is twice as fast as the ARM11 core at the same clock speed. So in theory, the CPU is almost 3x faster!
I think once they realize that the AT&T upgrades to do hit their expectations the price will come down. It is not the issue to me is the speed or features worth it, to me it is without a upgrade price I will not pay what I paid for my original 2g price... I was happy to upgrade to the 3g at $299 but the 3gs is not worth $599... If the camera came with a flash I actually may have upgraded but not as of current... The upgrade price will go down once Apple sees AT&T sales start to peak... I love my Mac but I won't upgrade every model either and I do not see how this is different...
I was on the Apple site filling out the forms to pre-order the GS and @#$%! AT&T now says I'm not eligible for the discounted upgrade until August. Less than a month ago, I was eligible in May. WTH, AT&T? My current phone (not an iPhone) is failing and I was really looking forward to an iPhone, which I've wanted since they came out, next Friday. Sigh.
"On a tiny screen, seconds matter to me. Waiting for a page to render or apps to switch is dead time, and I’m trying to fill the interstitial moments, not just fracture them into smaller bits."
I agree. Time is money. Waiting for pages to load isn't fun when all your thinking is, "grrr all I want to check are my e-mails." Which is why I'm getting the iPhone 3G S.
So I was at my local apple store today, I live in Omaha Nebraska, it was around 6pm and there were about 50 people in the store! I usually never see that many people in the store so it got me thinking that people might have the summer apple buzz so now I'm gonna get in line at 5am June 19th to make sure I get my 3Gs!
@Rene
I can not argue with you about this; faster is better with anything mobile.
Would you recommend upgrading for those who live in areas sans 3G?
VoiceOver is really good thing I think. You can use it on a lot of things like iPod and calling. Very useful for me.
Rene...I would love to hear your opinion. Shoot me an answer, please?
@SpiceRak2:
It depends entirely on your usage. If you're the type who would upgrade your computer often based on performance, and use a ton of apps and games on your iPhone, it might be worth it to you.
AT&T doesn't have 3G in your area, let along 3.5G for the new iPhone, so you won't get all that new speed
@only1jonarius : don't forget, never: America is just a country. It's a big world. And you're quite behind the rest of it. Blame your congressmen.
Faster isn't even a draw for me, replaceable battery, task and note sync with Exchange, etc. I'd may have contemplated the upgrade if they had a LED to notify you of mail, calls, etc. I guess these are all things I miss from my Blackberry. Those things matter when you use this thing for business first and as a toy second.