FaceTime over 3G with iOS 6 limited to iPhone 4S, iPad 3
Another new feature coming in iOS 6 will be limited to devices running Apple's custom A5 chip or later, as FaceTime over 3G will only be capable on the iPhone 4S or third-generation iPad.
That means owners of the iPhone 4, Apple's first device to offer FaceTime, or the iPad 2 will still need to be connected to Wi-Fi in order to conduct a FaceTime video chat call when iOS 6 launches this fall. The restriction was revealed in the fine print of Apple's official product page for iOS 6.
FaceTime over 3G joins turn-by-turn directions and the new "Flyover" feature in Maps as functions in iOS 6 that will require an A5 processor or newer. The iPhone 4, first released in 2010, runs the previous-generation A4 chip.
While iPhone 4 owners won't get FaceTime over 3G, turn-by-turn directions or Flyover, they will have access to shared Photo streams when iOS 6 launches this year. iPhone 3GS owners won't be so lucky, however, as Shared Photo Streams requires iOS 6 on an iPhone 4 or later or iPad 2 or later, and a Mac computer with OS X Mountain Lion.
The iPhone 3GS will also miss out on VIP list in the iOS 6 Mail application, along with VIP and Flagged smart mailboxes. Those features will be available on the iPhone 4 or later and iPad 2 or later.
And the new "Offline Reading List" in Safari also requires an iPhone 4 or later and iPad 2 or later, meaning the iPhone 3GS, which was first released in 2009, didn't make the cut.
Finally, "Made for iPhone" hearing aids, a new accessibility feature of iOS 6, will require an iPhone 4S to work, when compatible hearing aids hit the market.
Apple's fine print for iOS 6 features makes no mention of the fourth-generation iPod touch, which will run iOS 6 when it launches this fall. The fourth-generation iPod touch features an A4 processor similar to the one found in the iPhone 4, so it's likely that the same feature restrictions will apply.
That means owners of the iPhone 4, Apple's first device to offer FaceTime, or the iPad 2 will still need to be connected to Wi-Fi in order to conduct a FaceTime video chat call when iOS 6 launches this fall. The restriction was revealed in the fine print of Apple's official product page for iOS 6.
FaceTime over 3G joins turn-by-turn directions and the new "Flyover" feature in Maps as functions in iOS 6 that will require an A5 processor or newer. The iPhone 4, first released in 2010, runs the previous-generation A4 chip.
While iPhone 4 owners won't get FaceTime over 3G, turn-by-turn directions or Flyover, they will have access to shared Photo streams when iOS 6 launches this year. iPhone 3GS owners won't be so lucky, however, as Shared Photo Streams requires iOS 6 on an iPhone 4 or later or iPad 2 or later, and a Mac computer with OS X Mountain Lion.
The iPhone 3GS will also miss out on VIP list in the iOS 6 Mail application, along with VIP and Flagged smart mailboxes. Those features will be available on the iPhone 4 or later and iPad 2 or later.
And the new "Offline Reading List" in Safari also requires an iPhone 4 or later and iPad 2 or later, meaning the iPhone 3GS, which was first released in 2009, didn't make the cut.
Finally, "Made for iPhone" hearing aids, a new accessibility feature of iOS 6, will require an iPhone 4S to work, when compatible hearing aids hit the market.
Apple's fine print for iOS 6 features makes no mention of the fourth-generation iPod touch, which will run iOS 6 when it launches this fall. The fourth-generation iPod touch features an A4 processor similar to the one found in the iPhone 4, so it's likely that the same feature restrictions will apply.
Comments
Wow - us iphone 4 owners are really getting the shaft. Pretty shitty move Apple - considering my phone is only a little over a year old.
Oh, why! I don't want to use the F word here but Android's been having that trouble for a while. It's clear that they *can* allow older phones to have Siri, turn-by-turn, dictation, etc, but it's clear they're making some choices here. The line seems kind of arbitrary about which iOS devices will get which features. The latest will always have all, of course, but we're going to need a matrix to determine while features will be on which devices when iOS 6 is released.
If the iPhone 4 can do FaceTime over Wi-Fi, it can do FaceTime over 3G...
Some may call it a thinly veiled exercise in getting people with iphone4's to buy new phones
.....Other's will call it business. Its all about the bottom line. And forcing people to upgrade ensures you have a pretty healthy bottom line.
As for the F word, yeah, its real. As a developer you have some with turn by turn, some with 3d maps, some with facetime over cellular, some with 4" screens (supposedly), multiple processor and GPU differences, some with siri. But it is still not as bad as Android overall though.
At the end of the day, as technology advances there is BOUND to be fragmentation of those on the cutting edge and those that still have devices from two or three years ago. Can't escape it. Just the way it is.
No, that's not how you determine it.
Would you say that since the original iPhone could do FaceTime over Wi-Fi it could do FaceTime over cellular? Not all 3G is created equal, either.
Having the beta, I noticed this last night in that it didn't work.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dpriceslc
If the iPhone 4 can do FaceTime over Wi-Fi, it can do FaceTime over 3G...
Of course, as does other services and jailbreaks. This is Apple writing it's own arbitrary rules.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ddawson100
Oh, why! I don't want to use the F word here but Android's been having that trouble for a while. It's clear that they *can* allow older phones to have Siri, turn-by-turn, dictation, etc, but it's clear they're making some choices here. The line seems kind of arbitrary about which iOS devices will get which features. The latest will always have all, of course, but we're going to need a matrix to determine while features will be on which devices when iOS 6 is released.
I don't understand some of the limitations (like the VIP feature in Mail being excluded from the 3GS) but I have a feeling I might know why Siri and FaceTime over 3G are limited. Both tax networks (Siri taxing Apple's resources, FaceTime taxing the carriers' resources) so limiting them in a way such as this also serves to limit the amount of resources consumed supporting the features, and naturally the newest devices should be supported if only a limited range of devices can be.
I could be wrong here, but it makes sense in my noggin.
(FaceTime over 3G could also be enabled optionally by carriers, but extending it to too many devices might have led to carriers flat-out denying it in general, at least in the United States where they are concerned with data usage on their networks).
Quote:
Originally Posted by ddawson100
Oh, why! I don't want to use the F word here but Android's been having that trouble for a while. It's clear that they *can* allow older phones to have Siri, turn-by-turn, dictation, etc, but it's clear they're making some choices here. The line seems kind of arbitrary about which iOS devices will get which features. The latest will always have all, of course, but we're going to need a matrix to determine while features will be on which devices when iOS 6 is released.
From Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/12/psa-which-ios-6-features-can-my-device-run/
LOL... Xian Zhu Xuande beat me.
I am really upset that I won't get the 4" display update on my iPhone 4S when the new iPhone is released. What a crock!
**** you Apple. My iPhone 4 is less than a year old, and you're trying to coerce me into buying new one already? Why, so you can put some random limit on that phone to drive sales of the next one in another couple of months?. It's my data plan, stop arbitrarily telling me what I can use it for. Enough with the 50mb app store dowload limits too.
And others will continue to say that Apple is looking at the carrying capacity of their data network as they load it up with real-time apps like Siri, Maps, iMessage and FaceTime.
Edit: Xian, jd, MacBook all take this approach above. Whiners are looking worse and worse these past two days.
What's this? A company that sells things is trying to sell you something? Your iPhone 4 could be a day old and this would still apply. Apple always does this, as does every other company. The trick (that until just now Apple had down pat better than any other company) is to support old models as well as you can until they can't reasonably be anymore.
That's not the reason for this.
And that's not Apple, I don't believe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xian Zhu Xuande
I don't understand some of the limitations (like the VIP feature in Mail being excluded from the 3GS) but I have a feeling I might know why Siri and FaceTime over 3G are limited. Both tax networks (Siri taxing Apple's resources, FaceTime taxing the carriers' resources) so limiting them in a way such as this also serves to limit the amount of resources consumed supporting the features, and naturally the newest devices should be supported if only a limited range of devices can be.
I could be wrong here, but it makes sense in my noggin.
(FaceTime over 3G could also be enabled optionally by carriers, but extending it to too many devices might have led to carriers flat-out denying it in general, at least in the United States where they are concerned with data usage on their networks).
Carriers may be a reasonable answer, except Skype is bigger than Facetime and works on 3G, as does every other Video calling service.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jd_in_sb
I dont believe the sinister motive that many will write about. My guess is that Apple determined that pre-4S models didn't offer the minimum quality of user experience they wanted the public to have.
This will be the cop-out answer like Soph's yesterday with the maps, which is illogical on multiple levels. If it works on Wifi, it's not taking any more phone resources, and if it's carriers, the other devices handle just fine and those are increasing in number with 4's decreasing over time, so load would still only rise. No such restrictions exist on competing platforms, and if reports are to be believed, they still outnumber iphones.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
No, that's not how you determine it.
Would you say that since the original iPhone could do FaceTime over Wi-Fi it could do FaceTime over cellular? Not all 3G is created equal, either.
Yes, that is how you determine it. The original iPhone could not do FaceTime. FaceTime wasn't introduced until the iPhone 4.
1. So you bought your iPhone 4 less than a year ago... The iPhone 4 is two years old, next month. (Tardy to the party?) lol
2. Let's not forget that the network capability of the iPhone 4 is not as great as the 4s. The 4 connects to HSPA networks, while the 4s connects to HSPA+ which directly relates to network speed.
My 4s out runs my wife's 4 every day of the week on the AT&T network while we are side by side. This is probably directly linked to the fact that Apple does not want to add Siri or FaceTime to the 4... Both utilize the network and the lag may be out of range for Apple. Not to mention that they are a business and they do need to make money to stay IN business. lol
pretty sure it has to do with 4G or 4G equivalent capability. only the iphone 4S/ipad 3rd gen have that.
article title is wrong, iPad 2 will NOT have FaceTime over 3G.
It may also be that these new advanced features that are very beificial, convienent, and more "flashy" to the public eye may and probable will get more use, and suck up more cellular data because of their ease of use and mainstream attraction.
So knowing this the mobile networks (like Verizon) who are trying to cap or move people away from their grandfathered unlimited data plans, struck a deal to allow it only on the newest devices.
Version won't let you upgrade your phone without switching to a metered cellular plan.
So when The new iPhone comes out, of course you want it . . .
Byebye unlimited plan.
So this makes since in that regard.
Some of these features can be done on older devices but I'm sure it scares the ish out of the networks with all the popularity and unlimited plans out there.
It's a calculated rule, and I'm sure that's what Steve Jobs meant when he announced FaceTime and said something like needing to "work a little" with the networks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrmj2u
1. So you bought your iPhone 4 less than a year ago... The iPhone 4 is two years old, next month. (Tardy to the party?) lol
2. Let's not forget that the network capability of the iPhone 4 is not as great as the 4s. The 4 connects to HSPA networks, while the 4s connects to HSPA+ which directly relates to network speed.
My 4s out runs my wife's 4 every day of the week on the AT&T network while we are side by side. This is probably directly linked to the fact that Apple does not want to add Siri or FaceTime to the 4... Both utilize the network and the lag may be out of range for Apple. Not to mention that they are a business and they do need to make money to stay IN business. lol
Quote:
Originally Posted by mengel
pretty sure it has to do with 4G or 4G equivalent capability. only the iphone 4S/ipad 3rd gen have that.
Except Verizon and Sprint's 4 and 4S run on the exact same network, but good try.