Apple to Investigate Slow iPhone 3G iOS 4 Problems

by Matthew Newill on July 29, 2010

Apple to Investigate Slow iPhone 3G iOS 4 Problems

When Apple [AAPL] released iOS 4 for the iPhone 3G and 3GS a problem with the iPhone 3G was spotted in that the new OS made the user experience worse in that it ran slow and hesitated a lot.

Apple is aware of the reports and is looking into the matter, a spokeswoman told Digits.

The problems have been listed on the Apple forums since iOS 4 was launched, but have been generally overshadowed by the iPhone 4 antenna problems and generally took a back seat. As quoted above though, Digits managed to get a response from Apple that indicates the company is working on it.

As well as being slow at running and causing a bad user experience, the iPhone 3G is also said to have bad battery life.

'This phone has gone from being a dream to constantly annoying me. Not a way to make friends. I would upgrade to an iPhone4, but I'm feeling pretty angry that Apple has forced my hand by making my 3G unusable, wrote a user on an Apple support forums thread titled 'iPhone 3G slow after update to iOS4.

A few problems that we have found here are that Apple kind of force you to upgrade. Yes, you can always not do the upgrade but if you need to completely restore your phone after a reset you cannot install an older iOS such as 3.1.3 for example. It is possible to downgrade "if" you jailbreak, but I am sure that isn't really a real solution here to fixing the problems.

On the other side of the coin though we have heard from some users of the 3G that there experience has been good with iOS 4 running, so perhaps there's another factor here that is causing some iPhones to "break" a little when installed.

Yesterday, iOS 4.1 beta 2 was launched and we had also heard that it had fixed speed issues on both the 3G and 3GS, so it will be interesting to see if an update in a few weeks time will actually resolve the problems.

Via: WSJ

 


  • http://twitter.com/thebtman thebtman

    Yeah right. After months of making prototypes and test models – one of which was seen on ITN news on day black iPhone 4 was first sold – suddenly they have an issue. Anyone with a brain knows its the antenna issue and they dont want a repeat of the media shstorm that happened with the black iPhone 4.

    Fact remains that in my mind, any mobile phone manufacturer who puts a bare metal antenna on the outside of the phone isnt a real mobile phone manufacturer, they are just pretending.

  • Greg

    I posted this on an Apple discussion board but it was removed!

    My Apple, My Apple, why have you forsaken me?

    Three weeks of trying to resolve this issue with my service provider (Optus), Apple and my insurance company – no result, very little help. My iPhone 3G is

    still frustratingly slow and in some cases, unusable. Yes, UNUSABLE.

    *Optus (service provider):* pretty useless, but cannot blame them, it’s really not their issue. But the fact that I did buy the handset from them and on a

    contract and they can offer no help (bar suggesting I pay $700 for an upgrade!) is pretty dismal. They also didn’t offer any chance to talk with a supervisor or

    customer service supervisor.

    *Apple:* At least their representatives made me “feel” like they felt my pain too. It’s pretty obvious their service team was stuck between a rock and a hard

    place. They know of the problem, they definitely do, but they can only offer apologies (which I did get) and shared experiences (one supervisor said she’s also

    suffering from the problem… then ended up saying she was happy in a way because it would mean she’d switch to the iPhone 4 quicker… to that I can only say

    yes, I would do that too if I had a bucket load of money). Anyways, end of the story with Apple was that they are sorry for my problems, but they cannot offer

    me any help at the moment. They said two things, 1) downgrade it, even though it’s unsupported (which surprised me a bit) and confirmed if it bricked the phone,

    it’s my loss and 2) wait for an update from Apple that will fix the problem, which they said has been “rumoured” and really didn’t have any concrete knowledge

    that a fix would even be provided… so essentially, ‘wait until a fix will come, but we can’t guarantee it will come’… sigh!

    *GIO (my insurance company):* I have my iPhones covered under GIO and called them up. The conversation went something like…
    Me – “Does my policy cover bad software updates by Apple?”
    GIO – “Mmmm, no. Only physical damage, theft or loss.”
    Me – “Dammit! Ok, thank you for your help.”
    GIO – “Not a problem, have a nice day.”
    Me – “Ok, I will try… I hate Apple.”
    GIO – “I feel your pain.”
    Me – “Thank you… it’s just so frustrating!”
    GIO – “Yes sir, I can imagine.”
    Me – “…it’s just that, it’s just that the phone, it… it makes me angry!”
    GIO – “Indeed sir.”
    Me – “So angry! And my wife… she has the same phone, and the same problems. She’s angry too!”
    GIO – “Sir, please be aware we are not a counselling service.”
    Me – “…I’m sorry.”
    GIO – “No, that’s fine sir.”
    Me – “It’s just that… no one understands my pain. No one can help me… I feel like crying.”
    GIO – “Sir… sir… don’t cry. Sir, again, we are not a counselling service.”
    Me – “…yes, yes I know. I’m sorry.”
    GIO – “You don’t have to apologise sir. We understand.”
    Me – “Thank you… thank you for your help.”
    GIO – “Not a problem, I’m sorry we couldn’t help you in this situation.”
    Me – “…I bet Steve Jobs doesn’t care about me!”
    GIO – “Sir… again, I’m sorry but we cannot help you in this situation.”
    Me – “Ok, that’s fine… I’ll leave to do your work… I’m sorry.”
    GIO – “That’s fine sir, thank you for your call.”
    Me – “Ok… bye, thanks again. Thanks for listening.”
    GIO – “Goodbye.”

    …so yeah… I guess my point is, I’m stuck with a crappy slow phone dammit! Not. Happy. Jan!

  • MarkM

    Somebody should hold Apple accountable for their actions!! I have a 3G and I unfortunately upgraded to ios4 and ios4.01 and my phone is basically unusable. I’ve opened two tickets with Apple and tried every suggestion I’ve seen and my iPhone still locks up and is a MAJOR source of frustration!! It has been OVER a months since ios4 came out, Apple needs to either fix the issues plaguing the 3G or come up with a way that we can safely downgrade to 3.x!!!!!!!!! I’ve been a loyal Apple follower for 10 years and I’ve about had it… Apple has burned me with two faulty Macbook batteries they refused to replace, a poorly designed TimeCapsule that crapped out in about a year and now they’ve ruined my iPhone…

  • John

    One word – DROID – Personally I think this is a Marketing ploy to get people to get the 4 but I think it may backfire. Here is the truth I have used WinMo Android and Iphone – Currently WinMo is a mess – Android is really really good as of 2.2 but still needs more and better apps to be on a par with iphone but its closing in on IPhone quickly and I expect many forthcoming apps will mean serious trouble for Apple. Apple needs Yesterday the following to stay ahead. – 1. more open everything – 2 – multiple carriers 3. NAVIGATION for FREE – 4. voice controlled and dictated everything. aka Droid – Less dependence on Itunes – 5. Let people copy their music etc to the phone as a drive. I can come up with more. Oh yea a real home screen….

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