Rumor: iOS 5 will not be available for iPhone 3GS

Such is the way of technology. Just two years after its release, the iPhone 3GS may be deemed "too old" for Apple's next iteration of its mobile operating system, iOS 5.

Mobile phone blogger Eldar Murtazin, from the Russian site Mobile-Review, stated frankly in a tweet recently (via MacStories): "Just one comment. Apple iPhone 3GS wont be upgradable to iOS 5.x. iPhone 4 will."

The comment did not come with a follow-up on sources of the information and could very well just be an educated guess on Murtazin's part. Whether fact or fiction, the true issue is on the table: will your iPhone 3GS remain relevant once iOS 5 comes to market?

My guess is no. You can see the performance difference in normal usage between a 3GS and an iPhone 4 already. Once you fire up a graphically intense application or game, the difference is stark.

It is likely that iOS 5 will include many advanced features that require heavy lifting from the graphics department, and the iPhone 3GS simply won't cut it. Rather than going through a performance-based customer service debacle like Apple did when it released iOS 3 for the original iPhone or iOS 4 for the iPhone 3G, I think Apple will just leave the 3GS off the list of compatible iPhones for iOS 5.

What do you think? Should Apple keep the iPhone 3GS relevant with iOS 5, or move on and leave it in the dust? Let me know in the comments!