Filed under: iPhone
Found Footage: Four generations of iPhone compared
Here's a fun video of four generations of the iPhone -- original, 3G, 3GS, and 4 -- performing the same tasks simultaneously. From launching intensive apps like Plants vs. Zombies and Google Earth to shutting down and booting up, the differences in task durations are often significant.As you'd expect, the iPhone 4 out-performed its peers on most tasks. For example, it had Plants vs. Zombies ready to play in 8.5 seconds, while the original iPhone took 26 seconds to reach the same point. Likewise, the iPhone 4 had Google Earth ready to go in 21.4 seconds while the original took just over 37 seconds.
Now, don't think the iPhone 4 won every contest, because it didn't. The original iPhone was the first to complete the shutdown process at 8.2 seconds, while the 3GS was the first to successfully boot up at 26.4 seconds.
You can watch the video after the break.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Rdnymllnsktr said 12:44PM on 7-27-2010
The first iPhone was incredible, and ahead of its time. It's crazy to see how far technology is coming...
Reply
mburfeind said 1:28PM on 7-27-2010
totally agree. when the iPhone first hit the market, it was groundbreaking. just shows you how much has changed.
punkassjim said 1:27PM on 7-27-2010
I've wanted to restore my original iPhone to OS 1.0 for some time now. I remember how great it was when they first went on sale, but with every subsequent release it's gotten slower and slower. Sad, really, but I guess it's similar to running a Power Mac 8100 on Mac OS 9.1
evan said 12:53PM on 7-27-2010
The music makes me want to barf.
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Mike Hellers said 1:46PM on 7-27-2010
Evan, Feel free to have a look at my version, maybe you prefer the music on that one. Chris and myself did the filming together and both of us did a version of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2F4O0QIzC4
evan said 1:52PM on 7-27-2010
Much better!
Risto T said 6:26PM on 7-27-2010
why would you use the same apps? I have already seen the Google Earth comparison etc.
Mike said 12:55PM on 7-27-2010
Very telling. I had no idea the 3GS was that much faster than 3G. Can't wait to be done away with this Friday for the 4 :D
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R94N said 1:10PM on 7-27-2010
You can really tell the difference between the new display and the older stuff, though.
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mattfouty said 1:21PM on 7-27-2010
LMAO, yeah, leave it to a low-res video. Trust me, in person, the display is much, much better on the iPhone 4.
punkassjim said 1:31PM on 7-27-2010
I've got an original iPhone, a 3GS and an iPhone 4 here, and I took a few photos to document the varying contrast and clarity when viewing them at an angle. It's astonishing how bad LCD screens have been before the iPhone 4.
http://flic.kr/p/8dS4xw
R94N said 3:21AM on 7-28-2010
Wow, you can really tell the difference with those photos. The difference is amazing :O
cbarth09 said 12:58PM on 7-27-2010
Does anyone know if they were running ios4 on that 3G when they tested it?
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Mike Hellers said 1:48PM on 7-27-2010
The 2 and the 3G were running 3.1.x, while the 3GS and the 4 were running 4.0. Performance of the 3G would probably have been even worse when running iOS4.
mad matt said 1:00PM on 7-27-2010
I think there's something wrong with his iPhone 4. Mine boots in 18s, just checked...
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Rdnymllnsktr said 1:04PM on 7-27-2010
I just rewatched the video, and noticed that on the startup portion, once they slide to unlock, there are more apps and folders on the iP4 than the other ones.
Also, on the shutdown, how many apps do they have in the multitasking bar? Some apps will reopen themselves, upon phone startup, like iHound, Skype, etc. Thus, this may entail the slower startup time. Everything was fantastic, until the startup and shutdown.
Joseph B said 1:08PM on 7-27-2010
I just tested mine, although not 18s, still 10 seconds faster than his. 36 seconds? Really?
mad102190 said 1:10PM on 7-27-2010
Yeah, It was pretty good up until then. They didnt really think of all the different factors. Also, the guy on the left was always like one second slower than the guy on the right.
What I noticed that was cool, was the difference in screen quality. You can really see it when theyre all booting. The older iPhones have blueish screens but the new one is almost completely black.
Man, I LOVE the screen on this baby. Best phone I've ever owned. I cant even imagine what its gonna be like in 1, 5, 10 (!!) years...
Rdnymllnsktr said 1:25PM on 7-27-2010
@mad102190
I think the guy on the left should have always led first, due to the fact that his devices were slower.
p said 2:19PM on 7-27-2010
mine boots at 36sec almost every time.