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iPhone 3G owners have been suffering since the iOS 4.0 update, which made the phone brain-meltingly slow. The pain continued with iOS 4.1, but now iOS 4.2 is finally here, and there’s a wee chink of light at the end of the tunnel.
The iOS 4.2 update does bump up the speed of the iPhone 3G, according to our tests. You won’t get the blinding speeds we’ve come to expect on the iPhone 4, though. Instead, 4.2 will update you from clawing your eyes out to minor self-harm.
But don’t take our word for it — here’s the video to prove it. This is the same iPhone 3G, on the same Wi-Fi network, before and after the update to 4.2.
The CNET UK website loads about four seconds faster with the new version of the OS. Selecting the Google search box and typing in text is also noticeably faster.
Opening apps is faster, too. Spotify used to be so slow on the iPhone 3G that getting our tunage on required taking the afternoon off. In fact, it took so long that it exhausted our camera battery. With iOS 4.2, opening Spotify still takes donkey’s years, but at least the donkey won’t die of old age.
You can blame the Spotify developers for the sluggish load times, but that doesn’t change the fact that in a real-world test, iOS 4.2 does make the iPhone 3G faster.
Just to compare, check out Spotify launching on the iPhone 4 running iOS 4.2. Whee!
If you’re an iPhone 3G owner who’s shying away from updating your phone because you’ve been burned by Apple before, don’t be so flighty. Dig out that white USB cable and grab the iOS 4.2 update — it will make your phone a smidgen better. If you’re in California, why not sue Apple for turning your phone into an iBrick to start with?
