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iOS 4.1 rumored to fix troubled iPhone 3G

Summary: Could iOS 4.1 finally make iOS 4 on the iPhone 3G usable?

Joel Evans

By for The Mobile Gadgeteer |

Earlier this month we mentioned ways that you could get Apple to swap out your iPhone 3G, if you had upgraded it to iOS 4 and rendered it practically unusable. Now we're hearing that not only is there a fix coming soon, but that it actually has somewhat of a release date.

According to many tweets that were discovered and reported on by CultOfMac, many beta testers of iOS 4.1 are reporting that running 4.1 on an iPhone 3G seems to actually make iOS 4 usable on the iPhone 3G. Apparently you can download apps faster, and input text faster, among other things.

Given that iOS 4.1 is still in beta, and technically only available to developers, most people have no way of confirming yet. That said, with Apple having an event next week, you can bet that Steve Jobs will address the issue somehow, probably along with an iPad iOS 4 update, some new iPod Touches with cameras and retina display ... and maybe even an iTV.

I'm a registered developer and have an iPhone 3G lying around. It has not yet been upgraded to iOS 4 so I might take the plunge and give iOS 4.1 a shot and report back. If you want me to give it a go, say so in the comments.

Topics: Mobility, Hardware, iPhone, Smartphones, Wi-Fi

About

With more than 15 years of mobile, Internet and wireless experience, Joel specializes in taking existing brands and technologies into the mobile and wireless space. Joel is currently the VP of Strategy Integration for Mobiquity, an enterprise-class mobile solutions provider.

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21 comments
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  • RE: iOS 4.1 rumored to fix troubled iPhone 3G

    Great news!! Can you please test your 3G with this new FW, that would be great to hear from you what your experience is. I have a 3G but no developer account, so I cannot test it (perhaps you can add me?)

    Regards,
    Ronald
    (netherlands)
    rcdvermeulen
    Reply Vote

  • RE: iOS 4.1 rumored to fix troubled iPhone 3G

    Think it would be a great thing.
    I have 3 iphone 3 phones and both suffer from this affliction.

    Thx!!! (in advance)
    rhonin
    Reply Vote

    • RE: iOS 4.1 rumored to fix troubled iPhone 3G

      @zenwalker Out of curiosity .... if you have 3 (THREE) phones, how can BOTH (which would be 2 aka TWO) suffer from anything??
      mrnaturl1@...
      Reply Vote

  • RE: iOS 4.1 rumored to fix troubled iPhone 3G

    I'm iPhone 3G user and I have the same problem like many other 3G users. It would be very nice if you can test the iOS 4.1 on your 3G device and report about your experience!

    Thank You!
    Greet from Vienna/Austria
    ypiano
    Reply Vote

  • My iPhone 3G,

    which I inherited from the technophile wife, works just fine.
    Anecdotal evidence to be sure.
    davebarnes
    Reply Vote

  • RE: iOS 4.1 rumored to fix troubled iPhone 3G

    I too would be quite interested in the results - perhaps prior to upgrading to 4.1 upgrade to 4.0x first to get a feel for how that one runs on your 3G then upgrade to 4.1...
    athynz
    Reply Vote

  • RE: iOS 4.1 rumored to fix troubled iPhone 3G

    Joel - Go for it! I upgraded to 4.0 when it came out and my 3G has slowed down to a crawl. That, coupled with "dropped-call-itis" from AT&T is giving me a real reason to want to switch to android...... Thanks!
    pk4502@...
    Reply Vote

  • RE: iOS 4.1 rumored to fix troubled iPhone 3G

    Yes, please test it. I have a 3G that is painfully slow right now and would love a fix.
    BNara
    Reply Vote

  • RE: iOS 4.1 rumored to fix troubled iPhone 3G

    Yes, I would be interested in your opinion on this upgrade(?)
    Based on your results, I would probably take the leap!!
    hapepoppop
    Reply Vote

  • RE: iOS 4.1 rumored to fix troubled iPhone 3G

    They should just charge us more and not fix anything (or fix one thing, break many others). Kinda like most vendors do now.
    mrnaturl1@...
    Reply Vote

  • RE: iOS 4.1 rumored to fix troubled iPhone 3G

    Isn't the iPhone 3 a legacy product? Shouldn't apple be doing something about the iPhone 4?

    Just glad I have a BlackBerry. It works, and I can make phone calls with it. It is a phone afterall.....
    keitha73-23430377852780425463534611145075
    Reply Vote

    • RE: iOS 4.1 rumored to fix troubled iPhone 3G

      @keitha73 I have a Blackberry Curve 5830 (VZW) and an iPhone (AT&T)... Guess which one drops more calls? Surprisingly it's the BB... And my iPhone gets much better reception in the buildings I work in than my BB... And that is with the iOS 4.0 on my iPhone.

      So yeah my iPhone works and I can make calls with it. It IS a phone after all...
      athynz
      Reply Vote

  • Got an email from Steve Jobs about iOS4 on 3g

    "you're upgrading it wrong"
    hawks5999
    Reply Vote

  • RE: iOS 4.1 rumored to fix troubled iPhone 3G

    Yes, give it a try!
    jamccor71
    Reply Vote

  • RE: iOS 4.1 rumored to fix troubled iPhone 3G

    Please do it !! Many applications are crashing, the phone freezes, very slow, battery is drained in no time. All I wish is to go back to the 3.2 version but I don't think we can do that.
    leilalex
    Reply Vote

  • I'm hopeful but still reasonably satisfied. And how is this spam?

    <p style="text-align: justify;">I've noticed the battery drains much faster... which could be iOS 4 or it could be just an older device that's been in daily use for a couple of years; a cat on its eighth life. There are several dead-finger features in iOS 4. One obvious one for me is that I now have all my "usual" apps in folders on the home screen, with a second screen containing apps I'm evaluating. This beats the stuffing out of the <em>nine</em> pages I had previously.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">On the other hand, if a 4.1 release does make power usage more efficient and generally improves the iOS 4 experience, bring it on!</p>
    Jeff Dickey
    Reply Vote

  • RE: iOS 4.1 rumored to fix troubled iPhone 3G

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