iOS 4.1 on iPhone 3G shows marked improvement in speed test

Posted:
in iPhone edited April 2015
As expected, iPhone 3G performance improves considerably when running iOS 4.1 in an informal speed test.



Lifehacker has posted a video comparing an iPhone 3G running iOS 4.0 with one running iOS 4.1. In the "tests," which are shown side-by-side, iOS 4.1 bests iOS 4.0, sometimes by as much as 10 seconds.



iOS 4.1 won all four tests, which involved sending a text message, locating a store in Google Maps, displaying a photo, and loading a website. The tests were conducted on a single iPhone and then stitched together. The version of iOS 4.1 used was a "final release" version.



In testing, the most noticeable difference was "UI responsiveness." The UI for iOS 4.1 "didn't get stuck nearly as much" on interface elements or when entering text.



Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs announced Wednesday that the iOS 4.1 update will ship on Sept. 8. Jobs specifically mentioned iPhone 3G performance as a "bug" that would be fixed with the update. Long-awaited proximity sensor and bluetooth fixes will also be included in iOS 4.1.







Users who upgraded to iOS 4 on their iPhone 3G have reported serious slowdown of their phones, with some units becoming "unusable." In July, Apple told the Wall Street Journal that it was aware of the reports and looking into the matter.



Several key features of iOS 4, such as multitasking and data protection, are disabled on the iPhone 3G.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 71
    Like people are saying on Lifehacker and Gizmodo, there needs to be a test between 4.1 and 3.1.3. 4.0 is so bad that anything is going to look better while 3.1.3 is the benchmark for the phone.
  • Reply 2 of 71
    I wonder if it's a bug-fix or an overall improvement to the code or the stack. The latter would mean improved performance on all devices running iOS 4.1, where the former would probably mean no improvements for iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 users.
  • Reply 3 of 71
    nofeernofeer Posts: 2,427member
    great point i downgraded my iphone, did some tweeks with my wifes iphone (turned off searchlight)

    that did improve it, but it still isn't quite as responsive as my 3.x



    soooooo, when someone does this comparison i will wait till it makes sense, i don't want to go through another downgrade
  • Reply 4 of 71
    The video has two iphone 3GS's being demonstrated, not 3G's...
  • Reply 5 of 71
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KingKuei View Post


    I wonder if it's a bug-fix or an overall improvement to the code or the stack. The latter would mean improved performance on all devices running iOS 4.1, where the former would probably mean no improvements for iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 users.



    4.1 appears to be marginally faster across the board, but the 3G iPhones that were affected (not all were having this problem) are seeing huge gains. So it appears there is some code refining and a big fix for whatever was ailing some 3G iPhones.
  • Reply 6 of 71
    roos24roos24 Posts: 170member
    I hope that Apple also corrected the fact that the clock on my iPhone 4 does not synchronize automatically. My old 3G was always within 1/10 of a second of my "atomic clocks", but the iPhone 4 drifts off as much as 40 seconds and will not set itself automatically. Yes, the "Set Automatically" is ON
  • Reply 7 of 71
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dblackwood72 View Post


    The video has two iphone 3GS's being demonstrated, not 3G's...



    hmm...how can you tell? I know it says "3GS" on the video title, but in their post they say it's a 3G...
  • Reply 8 of 71
    tofinotofino Posts: 697member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism;


    4.1 appears to be marginally faster across the board, but the 3G iPhones that were affected (not all were having this problem) are seeing huge gains. So it appears there is some code refining and a big fix for whatever was ailing some 3G iPhones.



    I wonder what it is that makes some 3G iPhones different from others. Mine was affected and after suffering from an almost unusable phone for a few weeks, I downgraded it. The added features in iOS4 were just not enough to put up with the constant lag.
  • Reply 9 of 71
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by joshong View Post


    hmm...how can you tell? I know it says "3GS" on the video title, but in their post they say it's a 3G...



    Both of those phones have the compass app which was not included on the 3G
  • Reply 10 of 71
    sheffsheff Posts: 1,407member
    When I installed 4.0 on my touch 2g Safari seemed a lot faster, while the rest of the system was just as fast or a little slower. I ran wallpaper and multitasking though (not approved), so maybe 128mb of RAM was the reason for the slowdown. However since this test was on iPhone I would not have expected RAM to be a problem.



    But I don't have to worry about this anymore. I sold my 2g iPod touch yesterday and am in process of upgrading to 4th gen (totally skipped over v3 due to its suckieness) Hopefully it will blow me away speed wise, both because of this update and because of A4.
  • Reply 11 of 71
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dblackwood72 View Post


    Both of those phones have the compass app which was not included on the 3G



    thanks! i'll look into it.
  • Reply 12 of 71
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dblackwood72 View Post


    Both of those phones have the compass app which was not included on the 3G



    I don't see the compass app. Am I missing something?
  • Reply 13 of 71
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by joshong View Post


    I don't see the compass app. Am I missing something?



    Scratch that... I was looking at the clock app thinking it was the compass. Sorry for any confusion.
  • Reply 14 of 71
    My 3G after "upgrading" to 4.0.



    Touch screen.

    One thousand one

    One thousand two

    One thousand three

    One thousand four



    I hope this fixes it.
  • Reply 15 of 71
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Still not snappy but an amazing improvement. I can't wait to install this on my 3G.
  • Reply 16 of 71
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tofino View Post


    I wonder what it is that makes some 3G iPhones different from others. Mine was affected and after suffering from an almost unusable phone for a few weeks, I downgraded it. The added features in iOS4 were just not enough to put up with the constant lag.



    There will be variances in the component makers and/or the model number of that component and/or batches of a component, but that surely isn?t the only possibility and I dobt we?ll ever know for sure. I warned my nephew not to update his 3G, but he did anyway and he says it was a little faster with 4.0 than it was with 3.x, yet I know several who had issues with the update. it?s an odd one, that is for sure.
  • Reply 17 of 71
    I'm waiting with baited breath for AVRCP, since I just got a great bluetooth stereo headset.
  • Reply 18 of 71
    mactelmactel Posts: 1,275member
    That was a long time to wait for a performance bug fix. Must have been optimizations for A4 that didn't translate to the previous chipsets.
  • Reply 19 of 71
    Wow, amazing C64 music!!! Is that available on iTunes )
  • Reply 20 of 71
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alphajack7 View Post


    My 3G after "upgrading" to 4.0.



    Touch screen.

    One thousand one

    One thousand two

    One thousand three

    One thousand four



    I hope this fixes it.



    fixed
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