Is the iPhone 3GS the longest running iDevice still supported by Apple?

As you see here, Apple still supports the iPhone 3GS after 3 years. It was put on the market in 2009, and it can still run iOS 6 if updated. Now, I know Apple's updating routine, when they update the firmware at least for 2 major updates such as iOS 4 and 5 before cutting it off. This looks to be a long running device because you also see in the picture, the original iPad that came out in 2010, and the iPod Touch 3G which also came out in 2009, is discontinued. What do you guys think?

iOS 6 info link: http://www.apple.com/ios/ios6/

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ipad major iphone3gs running iphone ipodtouch device ios6 updates longest

asked Jul 03 '12 at 12:35

DJ Scooby Doo
9.5k●232●279●379

edited Jul 03 '12 at 23:10

4 Answers:

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I don't understand why the 1st generation iPad is not supported when the 3GS is iOS 6 compatible...

Seems stupid to me...

answered Jul 05 '12 at 14:11

Lee Wood
2.4k●28●39●69

I don't know if you have used an iPad 1 with iOS 5, but just with that version that iPad seems to struggle to make it through just with multitasking, those 256mb of ram really can't handle that much even thought the iPhone 3GS has the same amount of RAM, users haven't showed any problems with it.

(Jul 05 '12 at 14:31) Juancastim135

I HAVE an iPad 1 and mine works fine with iOS5... :o)

(Jul 05 '12 at 17:04) Lee Wood

I have an iPad (for developer purposes) and the new 2 with the newer processor is great! However, my aunt has an iPad 1, and it does lag from time to time but you don't notice it often.

(Jul 05 '12 at 17:55) DJ Scooby Doo

Well, I've got a mid 2009 MacBook Pro that came out just before the 3Gs, and it's still supported by Apple. And it will be fully supported by Mountain Lion, unlike the 3Gs and the recent versions of iOS.

answered Jul 03 '12 at 13:39

sfrancis928
2.6k●33●44●79

edited Jul 03 '12 at 13:40

I have a 2010 Macbook Pro and it is also supported by Apple, I meant to put iDevice, but yeah, your point is valid.

(Jul 03 '12 at 16:37) DJ Scooby Doo

Your macs software is totally different to the one on the iPhone, just because it was announced the same year doesn't mean they won't support it. As long the hardware is fast, Apple will keep it up to date. As DJ says, two mayor updates and the 3GS is history.

(Jul 05 '12 at 14:40) Juancastim135

Right, I haven't seen mine slow down at all when moving up to Lion.

(Jul 06 '12 at 01:55) DJ Scooby Doo

it is going to be like the iPhone 3G, it made it to the 4.0 OS but then Apple started to unsupport it. It is going to happen the same with the 3GS, soon Apple shloud reveal the "New iPhone" and the iPhone 4 will now be the Entry level iPhone, being at very low cost :)

answered Jul 03 '12 at 23:42

Juancastim135
400●29●37●43

Yeah, that's what I said, they usually support 2 major updates before they're discontinued.

(Jul 05 '12 at 00:01) DJ Scooby Doo

I see no reason to not support an older device if it can handle a newer OS without losing performance compared to the older OS, though in this cse it doesn't really benefit apple since they are known for dropping support quickly.

What makes other companies gain many customers especially microsoft when it comes to windows, is the support long support cycles which makes investing in a product, a more secure investment as you can be sure that your product will be compatible with many new things as time goes on and in most cases until your hardware is no longer fast enough.

With apple they drop support for older hardware, long before that hardware is obsolete which makes it more difficult to invest in their products because you never know when they will decide that your extremely expensive device will no longer be supported even though the hardware it's self is more than fast enough to handle the new OS.

A company that can consistently provide long support cycles will get more customers, and will have customers choose their product even when another company offers something that tht may be better for that person.

for example, I generally stick with logitech products because they support them for a long time and they have a good RMA process where they will cover shipping both ways and even cross ship in some cases. and if a product is really old and still has a large user base and a problem is discovered, they will still release bug fixes.

For apple, it may be that phone companies are still offering the 3Gs for free with a contract that they are updating it.

answered Jul 05 '12 at 16:37

Razor512
15.6k●34●80●242

Apple don't need to support their products for too long, most people upgrade every year or two!

However I don't see why iPad 1 needs to be dropped so quickly. It might be due to performance (iPhone 4 uses the same HW so that should perform the same), but my guess is that its due to the iPad 1 userbase falling quickly due to it being a 1st gen product?

(Jul 05 '12 at 17:07) Lee Wood

even if a large number of people upgrade frequently, a long support cycle will increase peoples piece of mind in owning the product.

suppose you upgraded your iphone every 2 years and they started releasing iphones that had a expiration date of 2.1 years after purchasing, at which time the phone will brick it's self, will you still purchase a iphone since you replace it every 2 years?

even if people upgrade frequently, they still want piece of mind in knowing that if for any reason they cant upgrade as often as they like, their device suddenly wont be able to do anything with new software for artificial reasons not related to the limitations of the hardware.

(Jul 05 '12 at 17:30) Razor512

I think that Apple makes things difficult once you hit the obsolete status. My 3G ran perfectly on iOS 3.1.3 but after I got the iOS 4 update, it slowed down too much. If they slimmed down the OS, I'd think some of the phones might run it. I know a 3G CANNOT and WILL NOT run iOS 5 because you need a lot of RAM like Vista, lol.

(Jul 05 '12 at 17:54) DJ Scooby Doo

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