Common sense trumps any rumour on this - it was obvious. Frankly, I'd prefer if they dropped the 4 too. And let the entry level iPhone be an 8 GB iPhone 4S. Would simplify the lineup.
I think that would harm the upsell potential. The 4 is still a good device, and upselling is an important part of the business model.
and what would a 'cheap off contract phone' be compared to a 3GS? I doubt it would be much different.
I agree with the long tail stuff, and I do think the 3GS should be retired, as it's non-retina, and non facetime. The 4, without Siri makes for a 'transition' phone, but I don't think you'll see that phone be $100 off contract. $200 maybe.
I don't see the 'long tail' that you see... I see fragmentation of the OS functions. New features are not being held back due to the 3GS, but due to Market Demand/maturity (NFC is a great example), and ability to implement in both a cost effective and design pleasing way
As to what's supported on each country... welcome to carriers (and in some cases, countries) who have their own agendas.
This $100 phone would probably be similar in design to what they offer with the previous two years models, but my point was there would be only two phones, whatever the latest one is, plus the $100 off contract one. Period. They would change year by year but there would always be just the two phones. Probably iPhone, and "iPhone nano."
As to what's supported in each country, I meant Apple not the carriers. Siri for example. Not supported and basically entirely useless outside of the USA. Maps will probably be the same. Sometimes (ah lets face it, with reasonable frequency), the support for what Apple announces at the 'big reveal' doesn't trickle down to other countries until the big reveal next year. Siri is the perfect example of this too.
And I'm not talking east Ubekistan, I'm talking really exotic countries like "England" and "Canada."
Apple has gone from their original strategy of "one phone" to a strategy that involves selling four separate models (in two colours and three sizes), all of which are almost identical to each other but not quite. It's confusing.
Didn't they make it a point to say the 3GS would support iOS 6, though?
Parts of it but not all.
Frankly I think they are killing the 3GS will no plans for any $250 unlocked etc stuff. My roommate's girl got a 3GS last year cause it was cheap. She dropped it at a party, into a pool and took it over the weekend to a store to replace. They didn't have any in and told her it could be weeks before they would so they were told by corporate to use the 8gb iPhone 4 instead.
Didn't they make it a point to say the 3GS would support iOS 6, though?
Yep. And? They can discontinue it. You want to buy a three year old phone right now, be their guest. The iPhone 3G was sold up until the day before iPhone OS 3 was released, and while it was never sold WITH it, it still got it. And iOS 4. Big deal. I still think they shouldn't have given iOS 6 to the 3GS, but that's me.
Originally Posted by drblank
Yeah, but they should have at one model phone for $0 w/two contract offering. Some people just need or want all of the whiz bang options. They just want a basic smartphone.
I figure they'll be doing this:
iPhone 4: 8GB, black/white, $0, all carriers
iPhone 4S: 8GB, black/white, $99, all carriers
6th iPhone: 16/32/64GB*, black/white, $199, all carriers
Now they can offer all three phones on all carriers at all prices. Spectacular.
*128, anyone?
Originally Posted by asdasd
This is just guesswork. If they are to have a cheaper iPhone next year it might as well be the 3GS in form factor if nothing else.
Why? Same as the rumors where they'd "keep the 3GS and drop the 4" last year or "keep the 3GS, but give it the iPhone 4's internals". I mean what in the world was that?
Originally Posted by marcusj0015
Thank fucking God, we can FINALLY get rid of non Retina resources. and iOS will be more modern for it.
The iPad 2 and iPhone 3GS support iOS 6, so that's wrong.
I'd prefer that each device ONLY get the size elements specific to it rather than loading up all images on all devices; you're right, but there's still non-retina stuff to jam in.
I think there are two major things facing the 3GS: appearance and economics
The 3GS doesn't look like any other current iPhone. The 4, 4S and (assuming the leaked images are correct) 5 all share the same look when viewed from the front. They send a unified message that "this is an iPhone". The 3GS screams "I'm an old phone". In their current markets I'm sure that Apple wants to standardize on a single iPhone look and will discontinue the 3GS. Outside those markets Apple would probably prefer a unified look too, but economics will play a bigger role.
Whether the 3GS continues to be available in economically challenging markets depends on the cost of making it. The 3GS is old technology. The chips it uses come from old fabs that yield relatively few chips per wafer. Many of the components come from third party suppliers who may want to discontinue production of their old items in favour of more profitable new ones. It's possible that it costs more to make the internals for a 3GS than it does to make the guts of a 4. Taking the old chips and building them on a new fab, like they did with the CPU in the re-released iPad 2, may or may not be worth the initial setup costs and effort in redesigning the internal layout to use smaller chips. The most economical option for Apple might be to put the guts of the iPhone 4 into a less expensive case.
Finally I'd really like Apple to drop the 3GS because it uses a now archaic 320x480 display. Moving the entire lineup to retina displays would allow Apple and the thousands of 3rd party developers to finally move to modern resolutions in all their apps.
Yep. And? They can discontinue it. You want to buy a three year old phone right now, be their guest. The iPhone 3G was sold up until the day before iPhone OS 3 was released, and while it was never sold WITH it, it still got it. And iOS 4. Big deal. I still think they shouldn't have given iOS 6 to the 3GS, but that's me.
I figure they'll be doing this:
iPhone 4: 8GB, black/white, $0, all carriers
iPhone 4S: 8GB, black/white, $99, all carriers
6th iPhone: 16/32/64GB*, black/white, $199, all carriers
Now they can offer all three phones on all carriers at all prices. Spectacular.
*128, anyone?
Why? Same as the rumors where they'd "keep the 3GS and drop the 4" last year or "keep the 3GS, but give it the iPhone 4's internals". I mean what in the world was that?
The iPad 2 and iPhone 3GS support iOS 6, so that's wrong.
I'd prefer that each device ONLY get the size elements specific to it rather than loading up all images on all devices; you're right, but there's still non-retina stuff to jam in.
I agree, but I'm hoping they bump all NAND, like the low end would go from 16GB to 32GB, 32 becomes 64, 64 becomes 128, then they can kill the iPod Classic too.
Yep. And? They can discontinue it. You want to buy a three year old phone right now, be their guest. The iPhone 3G was sold up until the day before iPhone OS 3 was released, and while it was never sold WITH it, it still got it. And iOS 4. Big deal. I still think they shouldn't have given iOS 6 to the 3GS, but that's me.
I figure they'll be doing this:
iPhone 4: 8GB, black/white, $0, all carriers
iPhone 4S: 8GB, black/white, $99, all carriers
6th iPhone: 16/32/64GB*, black/white, $199, all carriers
Now they can offer all three phones on all carriers at all prices. Spectacular.
*128, anyone?
Why? Same as the rumors where they'd "keep the 3GS and drop the 4" last year or "keep the 3GS, but give it the iPhone 4's internals". I mean what in the world was that?
The iPad 2 and iPhone 3GS support iOS 6, so that's wrong.
I'd prefer that each device ONLY get the size elements specific to it rather than loading up all images on all devices; you're right, but there's still non-retina stuff to jam in.
Wait, the 3GS is supported by iOS6?! **** that shit ugh.
SO true, they RELEASE individual builds of iOS already! why pack it with images and resources it won't even use?! hopefully they'd trim the ARMv6 from modern devices as well.
Siri for example. Not supported and basically entirely useless outside of the USA. Maps will probably be the same. Sometimes (ah lets face it, with reasonable frequency), the support for what Apple announces at the 'big reveal' doesn't trickle down to other countries until the big reveal next year. Siri is the perfect example of this too.
And I'm not talking east Ubekistan, I'm talking really exotic countries like "England" and "Canada."
Siri has language support for French, German Japanese as well as English within Australia and the United Kingdom (which contains England).
Apple has a reasonable record of implementing regional features and languages, even if they do take their time about it: I've noticed they've recently added Slovak to Lion and presumably Mountain Lion, a language spoken by at most six million people.
They seem to be taking their time implementing a Chinese language into Siri though, presume they need both Mandarin and Cantonese.
Apple is all about "delighting their customers" so yes, the 3GS will be dropped everywhere.
I don't disagree, but it's also about increasing market share. Apple needs a $0 phone to lure in new customers who would either opt out of a smartphone, or for a cheap android -- also a poor choice. I would argue a 3GS any day over a free android. They also need a viable pre-paid smartphone that will actually sell. An entry level phone that is cheap to repair/replace and more forgiving to give to the kids to expand the family plan -- and one that is not going to cause confusion in the product line.
Having an iPhone 4 & 4S as the free and $100 respectively is only going to cause head scratching because they look the same. It's a lot easier to say "the 3GS has no retina display, no Siri, no widescreen, a bit slower, no 4G, etc." then point to be 4S and say, "this has retina display, Siri, faster, 4G-like speeds (but not true LTE), but no widescreen, etc., then point to the 5 and describe all the things it does. All three still support the major features people use iDevices for (like facetime) with iOS 6. It makes spending their hard earned money easier to visually see the differences.
I don't see this any different than Apple continuing to offer the polycarbonate MacBooks after the unibody MBPs were introduced to bridge the gap until the Airs became an affordable alternative as a NetBook competitor.
The 3GS is still a viable competitive phone, especially globally, and makes a much more practical device for entry level purchases than an all glass iPhone 4. Plus, the older styling might be a way to guarantee customers will opt for the more expensive phone, recall the black MacBook surcharge? And if it doesn't sell well in the US, they discontinue it early, and move the inventory to the global market which is much less concerned with being "delighted" by Apple products. As long as their App store purchases all upgrade to the next iPhone, the user has incentive to stay in the iPhone ecosystem rather than jump ship once they wish they had gotten the 4/S, or 5.
That said, I conceede that if the 3GS actually costs more to manufacture than the 4, then this makes no sense. However, I could see them offering the 4 in a modified case to save money ... Perhaps with a plastic back instead of glass? I'm sure there are ways to eliminate "premium" features so as to both visually distinguish it from the 4S, but also significantly reduce the cost, and make it cheaper to replace/repair, if not more durable.
I'm surprised no one has complained that 8GB isn't enough for a phone. It's amazing that the 4GB iPhone was canceled just a few short months after it was sold because people wanted 8GB and 5+ years later 8GB is still more than sufficient for a large number of users.
That's a good point. It's all the more remarkable when you consider that the higher resolution photos, videos and retina display graphics use up more storage space than the camera and graphics in the original iPhone.
Could it be that those who are buying the 8GB models are:
Not interested in taking pictures and videos but merely using the device for internet or as a feature phone?
That's a good point. It's all the more remarkable when you consider that the higher resolution photos, videos and retina display graphics use up more storage space than the camera and graphics in the original iPhone.
Could it be that those who are buying the 8GB models are:
Not interested in taking pictures and videos but merely using the device for internet or as a feature phone?
frequently transferring stuff to their computers?
making good use of the wi-fi and cloud storage?
I think the OS has doubled in size, too. At this point I think 16GB is the minimum I'd get for a phone but I certainly don't need the 32GB I have with my iPhone 4. Despite that, I'll likely buy the largest capacity model they offer.
I'd actually prefer if the 3GS continued to be sold, cheaper, because it's too expensive at its current price, but if it was a $100 phone I would definitely buy one to use in situations where getting mugged is a real concern.
I think the OS has doubled in size, too. At this point I think 16GB is the minimum I'd get for a phone but I certainly don't need the 32GB I have with my iPhone 4. Despite that, I'll likely buy the largest capacity model they offer.
I am only using 7GB on my 64GB iPad (3).
You're lucky, I have ~110GB's of lossless music, and my iPod is only 64GB's...
My money is on keeping the 3GS 1 more year as the free phone, and perhaps sold globally as long as Apple will support it. Verizon gets an entry level 4S, but has to wait until 2013 for a free one, perhaps offering the remaining 4 for free to clear inventory and drawn in a lot of new customers. The iPhone 4 will be discontinued to simplify the lineup. This may not be Apple's style with respect to the relatively new iPhone line, but they did exactly this with the White MacBook, after the MacBook Pro line was announced, and I recall Steve jobs specifically saying that they would be around "for a long time".
The free phone? Not sure what you mean, the iPhone 4S is currently available as a 'free' phone from different providers
too bad, was my favorite design for the iPhone (aesthetically and tactility-wise).
I agree it's probably time to drop it since you'll have 3 phones and the new iPhone soon on the market. Seems a bit much.
Personally, I don't see the point of having the iPhone 4 and 4s both on the market right now. Really the only major differences were A5 chip, SIRI, World phone chip and better camera...that's it.
So I really don't see why they'd keep the iPhone 4 around. Why not just sell the new iPhone and the 4s? Maybe just keep the 3GS another 9 months and retire it just before WWDC 2013.
Comments
#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
No kidding.
I think that would harm the upsell potential. The 4 is still a good device, and upselling is an important part of the business model.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheOtherGeoff
and what would a 'cheap off contract phone' be compared to a 3GS? I doubt it would be much different.
I agree with the long tail stuff, and I do think the 3GS should be retired, as it's non-retina, and non facetime. The 4, without Siri makes for a 'transition' phone, but I don't think you'll see that phone be $100 off contract. $200 maybe.
I don't see the 'long tail' that you see... I see fragmentation of the OS functions. New features are not being held back due to the 3GS, but due to Market Demand/maturity (NFC is a great example), and ability to implement in both a cost effective and design pleasing way
As to what's supported on each country... welcome to carriers (and in some cases, countries) who have their own agendas.
This $100 phone would probably be similar in design to what they offer with the previous two years models, but my point was there would be only two phones, whatever the latest one is, plus the $100 off contract one. Period. They would change year by year but there would always be just the two phones. Probably iPhone, and "iPhone nano."
As to what's supported in each country, I meant Apple not the carriers. Siri for example. Not supported and basically entirely useless outside of the USA. Maps will probably be the same. Sometimes (ah lets face it, with reasonable frequency), the support for what Apple announces at the 'big reveal' doesn't trickle down to other countries until the big reveal next year. Siri is the perfect example of this too.
And I'm not talking east Ubekistan, I'm talking really exotic countries like "England" and "Canada."
Apple has gone from their original strategy of "one phone" to a strategy that involves selling four separate models (in two colours and three sizes), all of which are almost identical to each other but not quite. It's confusing.
I just think they are losing their focus lately.
Thank fucking God, we can FINALLY get rid of non Retina resources. and iOS will be more modern for it.
Parts of it but not all.
Frankly I think they are killing the 3GS will no plans for any $250 unlocked etc stuff. My roommate's girl got a 3GS last year cause it was cheap. She dropped it at a party, into a pool and took it over the weekend to a store to replace. They didn't have any in and told her it could be weeks before they would so they were told by corporate to use the 8gb iPhone 4 instead.
Originally Posted by allenbf
Didn't they make it a point to say the 3GS would support iOS 6, though?
Yep. And? They can discontinue it. You want to buy a three year old phone right now, be their guest. The iPhone 3G was sold up until the day before iPhone OS 3 was released, and while it was never sold WITH it, it still got it. And iOS 4. Big deal. I still think they shouldn't have given iOS 6 to the 3GS, but that's me.
Originally Posted by drblank
Yeah, but they should have at one model phone for $0 w/two contract offering. Some people just need or want all of the whiz bang options. They just want a basic smartphone.
I figure they'll be doing this:
iPhone 4: 8GB, black/white, $0, all carriers
iPhone 4S: 8GB, black/white, $99, all carriers
6th iPhone: 16/32/64GB*, black/white, $199, all carriers
Now they can offer all three phones on all carriers at all prices. Spectacular.
*128, anyone?
Originally Posted by asdasd
This is just guesswork. If they are to have a cheaper iPhone next year it might as well be the 3GS in form factor if nothing else.
Why? Same as the rumors where they'd "keep the 3GS and drop the 4" last year or "keep the 3GS, but give it the iPhone 4's internals". I mean what in the world was that?
Originally Posted by marcusj0015
Thank fucking God, we can FINALLY get rid of non Retina resources. and iOS will be more modern for it.
The iPad 2 and iPhone 3GS support iOS 6, so that's wrong.
I'd prefer that each device ONLY get the size elements specific to it rather than loading up all images on all devices; you're right, but there's still non-retina stuff to jam in.
I think there are two major things facing the 3GS: appearance and economics
The 3GS doesn't look like any other current iPhone. The 4, 4S and (assuming the leaked images are correct) 5 all share the same look when viewed from the front. They send a unified message that "this is an iPhone". The 3GS screams "I'm an old phone". In their current markets I'm sure that Apple wants to standardize on a single iPhone look and will discontinue the 3GS. Outside those markets Apple would probably prefer a unified look too, but economics will play a bigger role.
Whether the 3GS continues to be available in economically challenging markets depends on the cost of making it. The 3GS is old technology. The chips it uses come from old fabs that yield relatively few chips per wafer. Many of the components come from third party suppliers who may want to discontinue production of their old items in favour of more profitable new ones. It's possible that it costs more to make the internals for a 3GS than it does to make the guts of a 4. Taking the old chips and building them on a new fab, like they did with the CPU in the re-released iPad 2, may or may not be worth the initial setup costs and effort in redesigning the internal layout to use smaller chips. The most economical option for Apple might be to put the guts of the iPhone 4 into a less expensive case.
Finally I'd really like Apple to drop the 3GS because it uses a now archaic 320x480 display. Moving the entire lineup to retina displays would allow Apple and the thousands of 3rd party developers to finally move to modern resolutions in all their apps.
We all talk of these '$0' iPhones, but minus the contract, it is still rather expensive.
An iPhone 3GS costs £319.
Over 300 quid for a phone that's 3 years old? Come on, Apple. the iPad 2 costs £329.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Yep. And? They can discontinue it. You want to buy a three year old phone right now, be their guest. The iPhone 3G was sold up until the day before iPhone OS 3 was released, and while it was never sold WITH it, it still got it. And iOS 4. Big deal. I still think they shouldn't have given iOS 6 to the 3GS, but that's me.
I figure they'll be doing this:
iPhone 4: 8GB, black/white, $0, all carriers
iPhone 4S: 8GB, black/white, $99, all carriers
6th iPhone: 16/32/64GB*, black/white, $199, all carriers
Now they can offer all three phones on all carriers at all prices. Spectacular.
*128, anyone?
Why? Same as the rumors where they'd "keep the 3GS and drop the 4" last year or "keep the 3GS, but give it the iPhone 4's internals". I mean what in the world was that?
The iPad 2 and iPhone 3GS support iOS 6, so that's wrong.
I'd prefer that each device ONLY get the size elements specific to it rather than loading up all images on all devices; you're right, but there's still non-retina stuff to jam in.
I agree, but I'm hoping they bump all NAND, like the low end would go from 16GB to 32GB, 32 becomes 64, 64 becomes 128, then they can kill the iPod Classic too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Yep. And? They can discontinue it. You want to buy a three year old phone right now, be their guest. The iPhone 3G was sold up until the day before iPhone OS 3 was released, and while it was never sold WITH it, it still got it. And iOS 4. Big deal. I still think they shouldn't have given iOS 6 to the 3GS, but that's me.
I figure they'll be doing this:
iPhone 4: 8GB, black/white, $0, all carriers
iPhone 4S: 8GB, black/white, $99, all carriers
6th iPhone: 16/32/64GB*, black/white, $199, all carriers
Now they can offer all three phones on all carriers at all prices. Spectacular.
*128, anyone?
Why? Same as the rumors where they'd "keep the 3GS and drop the 4" last year or "keep the 3GS, but give it the iPhone 4's internals". I mean what in the world was that?
The iPad 2 and iPhone 3GS support iOS 6, so that's wrong.
I'd prefer that each device ONLY get the size elements specific to it rather than loading up all images on all devices; you're right, but there's still non-retina stuff to jam in.
Wait, the 3GS is supported by iOS6?! **** that shit ugh.
SO true, they RELEASE individual builds of iOS already! why pack it with images and resources it won't even use?! hopefully they'd trim the ARMv6 from modern devices as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
Siri for example. Not supported and basically entirely useless outside of the USA. Maps will probably be the same. Sometimes (ah lets face it, with reasonable frequency), the support for what Apple announces at the 'big reveal' doesn't trickle down to other countries until the big reveal next year. Siri is the perfect example of this too.
And I'm not talking east Ubekistan, I'm talking really exotic countries like "England" and "Canada."
#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
Eh?
Siri has language support for French, German Japanese as well as English within Australia and the United Kingdom (which contains England).
Apple has a reasonable record of implementing regional features and languages, even if they do take their time about it: I've noticed they've recently added Slovak to Lion and presumably Mountain Lion, a language spoken by at most six million people.
They seem to be taking their time implementing a Chinese language into Siri though, presume they need both Mandarin and Cantonese.
#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
Having an iPhone 4 & 4S as the free and $100 respectively is only going to cause head scratching because they look the same. It's a lot easier to say "the 3GS has no retina display, no Siri, no widescreen, a bit slower, no 4G, etc." then point to be 4S and say, "this has retina display, Siri, faster, 4G-like speeds (but not true LTE), but no widescreen, etc., then point to the 5 and describe all the things it does. All three still support the major features people use iDevices for (like facetime) with iOS 6. It makes spending their hard earned money easier to visually see the differences.
I don't see this any different than Apple continuing to offer the polycarbonate MacBooks after the unibody MBPs were introduced to bridge the gap until the Airs became an affordable alternative as a NetBook competitor.
The 3GS is still a viable competitive phone, especially globally, and makes a much more practical device for entry level purchases than an all glass iPhone 4. Plus, the older styling might be a way to guarantee customers will opt for the more expensive phone, recall the black MacBook surcharge? And if it doesn't sell well in the US, they discontinue it early, and move the inventory to the global market which is much less concerned with being "delighted" by Apple products. As long as their App store purchases all upgrade to the next iPhone, the user has incentive to stay in the iPhone ecosystem rather than jump ship once they wish they had gotten the 4/S, or 5.
That said, I conceede that if the 3GS actually costs more to manufacture than the 4, then this makes no sense. However, I could see them offering the 4 in a modified case to save money ... Perhaps with a plastic back instead of glass? I'm sure there are ways to eliminate "premium" features so as to both visually distinguish it from the 4S, but also significantly reduce the cost, and make it cheaper to replace/repair, if not more durable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
I'm surprised no one has complained that 8GB isn't enough for a phone. It's amazing that the 4GB iPhone was canceled just a few short months after it was sold because people wanted 8GB and 5+ years later 8GB is still more than sufficient for a large number of users.
That's a good point. It's all the more remarkable when you consider that the higher resolution photos, videos and retina display graphics use up more storage space than the camera and graphics in the original iPhone.
Could it be that those who are buying the 8GB models are:
#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }Not interested in taking pictures and videos but merely using the device for internet or as a feature phone?
frequently transferring stuff to their computers?
making good use of the wi-fi and cloud storage?
I think the OS has doubled in size, too. At this point I think 16GB is the minimum I'd get for a phone but I certainly don't need the 32GB I have with my iPhone 4. Despite that, I'll likely buy the largest capacity model they offer.
I am only using 7GB on my 64GB iPad (3).
Good point, but as a customer I want simplicity, not upsell.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
I think the OS has doubled in size, too. At this point I think 16GB is the minimum I'd get for a phone but I certainly don't need the 32GB I have with my iPhone 4. Despite that, I'll likely buy the largest capacity model they offer.
I am only using 7GB on my 64GB iPad (3).
You're lucky, I have ~110GB's of lossless music, and my iPod is only 64GB's...
The free phone? Not sure what you mean, the iPhone 4S is currently available as a 'free' phone from different providers
too bad, was my favorite design for the iPhone (aesthetically and tactility-wise).
I agree it's probably time to drop it since you'll have 3 phones and the new iPhone soon on the market. Seems a bit much.
Personally, I don't see the point of having the iPhone 4 and 4s both on the market right now. Really the only major differences were A5 chip, SIRI, World phone chip and better camera...that's it.
So I really don't see why they'd keep the iPhone 4 around. Why not just sell the new iPhone and the 4s? Maybe just keep the 3GS another 9 months and retire it just before WWDC 2013.