Will your iPhone still work with iOS 5?
iOS 5 has its fair share of new features but will your existing Apple device work with it? We take a look at which ones might stumble.
Our excitement for iOS 5 has been ramping up for weeks. Now it's been announced, we have a slight sinking feeling that owners of older iPhones and other Apple devices are going to miss out on the updated operating system's fancy new features.
There's not yet enough information to say with absolute certainty which devices will support 100 per cent of iOS 5, but here's what we know so far.
Unsupported devices
Let's start with the easy stuff. If you're running a pre-third generation iPod touch or an iPhone older than the 3GS (original iPhone or iPhone 3G), you won't be getting iOS 5 at all.
That's not a big shock, as owners of these devices, now at least three years old, have been unable to benefit from the newest iOS 4 updates for some time. This doesn't mean those devices will stop working in any way; they're just probably not being updated.
Fully supported devices
We expect Apple's latest devices -- the iPad and iPad 2, iPhone 4 and iPod touch 4G -- to fully support every new feature of iOS 5.
This is because it's now looking very likely that the new OS' release will coincide with that of the iPhone 5. If Apple does release a new iPhone -- or the iPad 3 -- before the end of the year, there would be an outcry if users of the previous generation of mobile hardware, still relatively new, missed out on key software features.
Partially supported devices
Though it hasn't been confirmed, we have a sneaking suspicion the third-generation iPod touch and iPhone 3GS won't be able to handle all the features of iOS 5.
Some developers are reporting early success with some features, such as the new notification system, on an iPhone 3GS. Apple has already stated that not all devices will be fully compatible with iOS 5, however, and it's likely the 3GS will be discontinued with the launch of the iPhone 5.
That said, the new features shouldn't be particularly processor-intensive -- at least, no more than anything already working in iOS 4. Twitter, iMessage, the Notification Centre, Newsstand and Reminders should be fairly simple implementations. Most newer handsets should have enough poke to handle the updates to the camera app and Safari's Reading List.
No doubt we'll hear more about what features work on which devices over the coming weeks as developers get to play, although the pesky NDA might stop us getting some of the juicier details.
If Apple decides to stop supporting older hardware there's always the possibility of jailbreaking instead -- iOS 5 has apparently already been busted open.