Should I upgrade from 3G to 3GS?

[millerj123]

I'd wait.

I actually just returned a 3GS because it didn't feel like much of an upgrade compared to my 2G. I wouldn't recommend it for a 3G owner at all.

Wow. I'd think there must be something wrong with the 3GS you used.

I've got my original 2G and refurb 3GS side by side. The difference is surprising. 2 bars with AT&T on the 2G. 4 on the 3GS. Apps open quicker on the 3GS (2-4 seconds for some), data is pulled faster. The screen looks better on the 3GS. I'll keep mine...

 

[ineedamac]

I'd wait

I'd wait. Yes, there are a few subtle differences between the 3G and the 3GS. For me the big two are being able to record video and it is a little faster. I'm going to wait. I'm up for a new phone in June 2010. I'm excited to see what Apple comes out with next summer.

If I were you I'd think about it this way...what if I upgrade now and then in June Apple releases an even better iPhone? Then I'd have to pay full retail for the new iPhone. Maybe I'm cheap but I also think the 3G is just as good as the 3GS if I have to pay full retail.

 

[blizeH]

Quick question regarding this - my dad's due an upgrade in a couple of weeks and I'm not sure whether waiting until June for the updated model is really an option, so with that in mind would you guys recommend going for:

1. Dad gets a 3GS, I swap it for my 3G to give to my mum, and get a 2G for my dad (he wouldn't use the newer features, and the 2G seems slightly more robust?)

2. Dad gets a 3GS, sells it and uses the money to buy a couple of small 2Gs and pockets the change.

I guess I'm basically wondering if 3GS is really worth me paying the extra, and then the extra hassle of having to jailbreak the new 3GS etc etc too, or whether just to keep my current phone and then he can get a couple of old 2Gs with small storage and a bit of money left over?

Thanks

 

[JamesM]

Upgraded from a 2G to a 3GS yesterday and very glad I did, apps open much faster and Safari renders pages instantly.

Well worth the upgrade imo

 

[blizeH]

Cheers James - will try and sort out some kind of deal with my dad then I guess!

He's quite a generous fellow (and perhaps more importantly, doesn't have much idea about technology) so he'd probably be happy to do a straight swap, but I think maybe a swap for mine, and then me giving him enough for a second hand 2G as well would be fair.

Just hope the next iPhone doesn't completely own the 3GS, heh.

 

[Sinnerman49]

Here's a question:

I sold my 3G, and then purchased a used 3GS. Will I still be eligible for my upgrade this spring even though I have a different phone? It goes by contract time right?



Thanks.

 

[thelatinist]

]I sold my 3G, and then purchased a used 3GS. Will I still be eligible for my upgrade this spring even though I have a different phone? It goes by contract time right?

Yes, it goes by contract time.

 

[WeegieMac]

It's not milliseconds. Try 3-5 seconds difference on average on any task and over 30 seconds slower bootup time.
Put them side by side or use the 3GS for a day and you'll see it.

3 to 5 seconds your arse. See here (clicky).

If you're talking about LOADING intense apps like games, then yes the 3GS shows a difference in terms of seconds.

Opening Safari, Mail, iCal, iPod, Settings, Stocks, Weather, or any other app on the phone and the apps open mere milliseconds quicker on the 3GS. It's literally blink and you'd miss it.

 

[WeegieMac]

Cheers James - will try and sort out some kind of deal with my dad then I guess!

He's quite a generous fellow (and perhaps more importantly, doesn't have much idea about technology) so he'd probably be happy to do a straight swap, but I think maybe a swap for mine, and then me giving him enough for a second hand 2G as well would be fair.

Just hope the next iPhone doesn't completely own the 3GS, heh.

Given that the 3GS hardly "owns" the 3G, I'm not holding my breath.

 

[thelatinist]

If I had a working 3G, at this point I probably would hold out for June. If I had no iPhone, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a 3GS now.

 

[TheSpaz]

3 to 5 seconds your arse. See here (clicky).

If you're talking about LOADING intense apps like games, then yes the 3GS shows a difference in terms of seconds.

Opening Safari, Mail, iCal, iPod, Settings, Stocks, Weather, or any other app on the phone and the apps open mere milliseconds quicker on the 3GS. It's literally blink and you'd miss it.

Safari, Mail, and iPod run in the background of both iPhones, so there shouldn't be a startup time at all with those. Stocks, Weather, Calendar and Settings are pretty simple apps that shouldn't make much of a difference.

However, the 3GS has twice the RAM so while the 3G runs out of RAM and starts to take longer and longer to open your apps, the 3GS will still be flying along with no "page-outs".

Seems to me like you don't really know the difference between the 3GS and 3G.

 

[navguy]

3 to 5 seconds your arse. See here (clicky).

If you're talking about LOADING intense apps like games, then yes the 3GS shows a difference in terms of seconds.

Opening Safari, Mail, iCal, iPod, Settings, Stocks, Weather, or any other app on the phone and the apps open mere milliseconds quicker on the 3GS. It's literally blink and you'd miss it.

Opening Safari, Mail, iCal, iPod, Settings, Stocks, Weather, ETC ... is like my grandpa using the iPhone ...

the 3GS OWNS the 3G on apps that are worth their weight ... and it eliminates the pauses and slight lag that most experience on 3G.

Cheers!

 

[WeegieMac]

Opening Safari, Mail, iCal, iPod, Settings, Stocks, Weather, ETC ... is like my grandpa using the iPhone ...

the 3GS OWNS the 3G on apps that are worth their weight ... and it eliminates the pauses and slight lag that most experience on 3G.

Cheers!

I already said this, or do people not read on here any more?

On intense apps like games, especially the later ones by EA (see NFS Shift and Sims 3), the 3GS loads a lot quicker and in Shift there are additional graphics effects not seen on the 3G.

However, opening apps like Safari, Mail, iCal, iPod is NOT a difference of 3 to 5 seconds as claimed previously. The both open near instantaneous, with the 3G merely a split second behind in terms of launching. The 3GS gets to the "end result" quicker, but again not in 3 to 5 seconds.

It's going to be such fun to see those stuck in a 3GS contract being subjected to the same arrogance when the new iPhone launches in July next year.

Apple fans are great and all, but the oneupmanship and belittling of products deemed "old" is somewhat pathetic. I used the 3G and 3GS at my local Apple store before buying, since I was taking it on PAYG and not being in debt to some carrier (I prefer to own ALL my devices). The 3GS was not worth the extra £100 to me, even with 16GB of memory. I don't fill the 8GB I have on my 3G.

If it makes someone feel better because they have a 3GS and can "slag off" the 3G, then so be it.

 

[WeegieMac]

Safari, Mail, and iPod run in the background of both iPhones, so there shouldn't be a startup time at all with those. Stocks, Weather, Calendar and Settings are pretty simple apps that shouldn't make much of a difference.

However, the 3GS has twice the RAM so while the 3G runs out of RAM and starts to take longer and longer to open your apps, the 3GS will still be flying along with no "page-outs".

Seems to me like you don't really know the difference between the 3GS and 3G.

I know the difference, so quit being condescending.

I look forward to the day when owners of the new iPhone come along and berate the 3GS in the way 3GS owners berate the 3G today.

The 3G did not become a bad phone, it's still a perfectly capable device.

 

[TheSpaz]

I know the difference, so quit being condescending.

I look forward to the day when owners of the new iPhone come along and berate the 3GS in the way 3GS owners berate the 3G today.

The 3G did not become a bad phone, it's still a perfectly capable device.

It became slower when you loaded 3.0 onto it. Mine is still humming right along with no stutters on 2.2.1.

It's all about which device the software was optimized on.

By the way... I was being condescending because you somehow thought that Safari, Mail and iPod are supposed to open quicker on the 3GS when they RUN IN THE BACKGROUND. Therefore, they're ALREADY RUNNING therefore there should be NO DELAY on ANY iPhone.

 

[WeegieMac]

It became slower when you loaded 3.0 onto it. Mine is still humming right along with no stutters on 2.2.1.

It's all about which device the software was optimized on.

By the way... I was being condescending because you somehow thought that Safari, Mail and iPod are supposed to open quicker on the 3GS when they RUN IN THE BACKGROUND. Therefore, they're ALREADY RUNNING therefore there should be NO DELAY on ANY iPhone.

I agree 100% about 3.0.

When I bought my 3G, and you may or may not remember me posting this back then, the phone given to me had 2.2.1 on it, and I was delighted.

Unfortunately, there was a major cosmetic issue with the handset (the seal between the glass and the bezel was missing at one point), and the replacement had 3.0 on it. The difference was noticeable straight away.

I would like to go back to 2.2.1, but refuse to Jailbreak my iPhone ... so it looks like I'm stuck on 3.1. My only fear for the 3G is that the inevitable 4.0 update will bring further performance issues for the 3G.

95% of the time, my 3G runs along nicely but there is the odd occassion where the animation of returning to the home screen (where the apps all "swish" in from the edges of the screen) simply doesn't happen when I press the home button to exit an app.

 

[TheSpaz]

I agree 100% about 3.0.

When I bought my 3G, and you may or may not remember me posting this back then, the phone given to me had 2.2.1 on it, and I was delighted.

Unfortunately, there was a major cosmetic issue with the handset (the seal between the glass and the bezel was missing at one point), and the replacement had 3.0 on it. The difference was noticeable straight away.

I would like to go back to 2.2.1, but refuse to Jailbreak my iPhone ... so it looks like I'm stuck on 3.1. My only fear for the 3G is that the inevitable 4.0 update will bring further performance issues for the 3G.

95% of the time, my 3G runs along nicely but there is the odd occassion where the animation of returning to the home screen (where the apps all "swish" in from the edges of the screen) simply doesn't happen when I press the home button to exit an app.

You can jailbreak your iPhone 3G just to downgrade to 2.2.1, then restore it without jailbreaking to 2.2.1 and it won't be jailbroken, but it will still be on 2.2.1. I wrote up a guide on how to do just that. I'll see if I can find it for you.

 

[navguy]

I already said this, or do people not read on here any more?

i'll confess, didn't read much of the thread ... should have

It's going to be such fun to see those stuck in a 3GS contract being subjected to the same arrogance when the new iPhone launches in July next year.

i'm not convinced, we may see some evolution/enhancements, but Apple doesn't dramatically change a clear market leading product - they're in the business to profit ... and they're probably spending some of their time focusing on expanding to other networks which would be smart business ...

Apple fans are great and all, but the oneupmanship and belittling of products deemed "old" is somewhat pathetic.

If it makes someone feel better because they have a 3GS and can "slag off" the 3G, then so be it.

i don't think i said 'old' ... and i don't like to do that, pls accept my apology

in my personal experience and after upgrading to 3GS four weeks ago ... i am very, very, very happy w/ my 3GS ... not taking anything away from 3G owners, but for the apps I use, i am enjoying my 3GS very much - a good decision for me.

also, i think it receives a cellular signal better ... less dropped calls and picks up signal in places i didn't w/ my 3G (inside buildings, etc)

 

[redman042]

To the OP: for some (like me) the 3GS was a major upgrade to the 3G. For others, it wasn't. To decide, ask yourself:

- Is lag on your 3G getting to the point where it's frustrating?
- Do your apps crash a little too often?
- Does Safari take painfully long to render some websites you like to visit?
- Do you play a lot of intense 3D games and would you like better framerates and in some limited cases better graphic effects?
- Would you benefit from having a pretty darn good quality video camera in your pocket with you at all times?

If your answer to most of these questions is yes, then you would definitely benefit from the upgrade. As for timing, that's another question. There will be a new iPhone in 6 months, and it might be a pretty major upgrade.

I think the reason some people don't see a big difference with the 3GS is they are not pushing the limits on their 3G. I sync mail and calendar with my work Exchange account, and there's a lot of data. I browse complex websites. I really do notice a huge difference with the 3GS. There are websites I wouldn't even bother to pull up on the 3G that render acceptably fast on the 3GS.

And if you want to get into jailbreaking, the 3GS has the memory and horsepower to handle it without lag. The 3G will bog down if you start doing backgrounding, themes, etc.

 

[Wicked1]

Goto an Apple store and compare them for yourself. I was under the original feeling that I could survive just with a 3G because it was a better phoen then anything else out there, however I was in BestBuy yesterday and it's funny thing about this thread?



I had my White 32GB 3GS side by side with the best buy 3g 8gb and mine was much faster, really faster, that was a hot point for me, I can care less about Voice Dialing or Voice Commands, or even the Compass, the speed was enough for me back when I bought mine at the WWDC release of the 3GS on June 19th.

I would have considered the 3G if I had not played with a 3GS, ask an Apple rep to let you play with both side by side, or you can wait until June for the new one, but I am not upgrading early and paying the fee, I love my 3GS it fits me perfectly.


You really need to decide this one yourself, everyone can give you advice but compare the two and decide if you would even want to wait or should you wait...


Good Luck

 

[nickpro]

I posted this in another thread but it's more relevant here:

yesterday i bought a 16GB 3GS at full non-contract cost ($600) in order to preserve my upgrade in June when the 4th Gen comes out. my 3G is in great shape and I figure I can get over $300 for it easily on ebay. i look at the $300 difference as a X-Mas present to myself and overall worth it as the sluggishness of my 3G is starting to get to me when I think about it in comparison to the 3GS (which i handle from time to time when i see my family/friends with it). just some food for thought, good luck.

 

[blizeH]

Some good replies in this thread, thanks - and some of the YouTube videos are interesting/useful too.

I'm so tempted to get a 3GS, but it's going to cost me almost £200 for the upgrade, and that's almost what I paid for my mint condition 16GB 3G - so is it worth it for improved speed and a slightly better camera (that I rarely use)? I think for me personally, no, even though a lot of the 3GS stuff looks awesome (particularly the way it renders large pages in safari)

Will see what the next iPhone brings in June methinks

 

[blizeH]

Can you jailbreak and unlock the new 3GS properly to 3.1.2 yet? Without having to keep turning it on constantly etc?

Thanks