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technano

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 27, 2012
54
11
I just bought a iPhone 3GS 16GB. When it first launched, I was still a secondary school kid, and today I bought it for a piece of $20! I got it for the reason to keep a spare mobile number

Just sharing, Telegram, Spotify, Youtube is still supported and works!
Anyone here still using it?
 

noobinator

macrumors 604
Jun 19, 2009
7,228
6,794
Los Angeles, CA
It's nice to have as a something to look at and fire up from time to time but I'd never really use it at this point. And pretty soon you won't even be able to use it other than some apps on wifi.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,864
26,995
I just bought a iPhone 3GS 16GB. When it first launched, I was still a secondary school kid, and today I bought it for a piece of $20! I got it for the reason to keep a spare mobile number

Just sharing, Telegram, Spotify, Youtube is still supported and works!
Anyone here still using it?
For Christmas 2011, my sister gave me her old iPhone 3GS 32GB. I wasn't on AT&T (never have been) and I had a primary phone at the time (not an iPhone) but I was planning on going to iPhone in 2012 (which I did).

I used that 3GS to familiarize myself with iOS. I gave it up in 2014 or so to a friend who needed a phone.

Learned a lot about jailbreaking on that phone. One of these days I will get another one.

In the meantime I've got a 4, a 4s, a 5 and my primary phone a 6s+.
 
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jeyf

macrumors 68020
Jan 20, 2009
2,173
1,044
For Christmas 2011, my sister gave me her old iPhone 3GS 32GB. I wasn't on AT&T ... Learned a lot about jailbreaking on that phone...
nice post in that:
-see first hand how another cell provider performs in your area.
-I never thought of using a older iPhone to practice jailbreaking. Might do it myself.

main concern is the battery may be at end of life
 
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eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,864
26,995
nice post in that:
-see first hand how another cell provider performs in your area.
-I never thought of using a older iPhone to practice jailbreaking. Might do it myself.

main concern is the battery may be at end of life
Well, at the time I was on Sprint and we didn't leave until 2015. So, it was a WiFi only phone. But I had Talkatone on it, which leveraged Google Voice and allowed you to make calls and text messages over WiFi. iMessage worked too.

More than once I screwed things up bad while trying jailbreak tweaks out. But this was okay because I wasn't using the phone as a primary phone. It is however where I developed my own set of personal rules about what was important and what I do and do not install and when.

That experience has kept me on my current jailbreak (on my 6s+) for the last 3.5 years with few problems.

As an introduction to iPhone and iOS the 3GS was really good.
 

rosyapple

macrumors regular
Mar 25, 2018
133
81
I'm currently still using an iPhone 4. It was an upgrade, I was still using 3GS about 2 years ago. I use it to receive calls, SMS, iMessage, Whatsapp, email (with an iCloud account) and record lectures daily. This is my main phone. I don't use Maps and never take selfies (or pretty much any photos), so this phone is sufficient for me.

My iPhone 3GS still works as well, I use it as a second phone. I also still have an iPad 1 for reading in the bathroom, an iMac 2009 with an external SSD for boot up as my desktop, and a MacBook Air 2010 (with internal SSD) which I use daily for school. I also have an iPad 2018 which I bought because I went back to school (need Apple Pencil to study) and I also needed the extra disk space.

Old Macs are quite long lasting. I wanted to upgrade to MacBook Pro 2018 (or 2019) but was very reluctant due to the horror stories about the keyboard :( I regretted not buying MB/MBP/MBA 2015... in 2015.

All my gadgets have never been repaired. I have never bought any Apple Care. If I buy an MBP now though, I'll most likely get one.
 
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eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,864
26,995
Old Macs are quite long lasting. I wanted to upgrade to MacBook Pro 2018 (or 2019) but was very reluctant due to the horror stories about the keyboard :( I regretted not buying MB/MBP/MBA 2015... in 2015.
I am typing this reply on a 2003 17" PowerBook G4 1.0Ghz (A1013) with a 128GB mSATA SSD (PATA adapter) and 2GB RAM. ;) :D
 
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rosyapple

macrumors regular
Mar 25, 2018
133
81
I am typing this reply on a 2003 17" PowerBook G4 1.0Ghz (A1013) with a 128GB mSATA SSD (PATA adapter) and 2GB RAM. ;) :D
Nice! I had quite a few MacBooks/MacBook Pros before this. My favorite was the 17 inch! It was heavy but the screen was great. My old MacBooks failed because I played World of Warcraft on it (graphics card burnt out!). The only reason this MBA survives because I don't play WoW on it. Instead, I played WoW (up until 2 years ago before I returned back to school) on my iMac 2009.

I really miss the excellent quality control that MBP had. I always had an MBP because it was very portable and just as powerful as normal desktops.
 
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maerz001

macrumors 68020
Nov 2, 2010
2,439
2,325
Respect for all the self mortification in this thread ;)

My 5s already drives me crazy with waiting loops after pressing a button. Can’t imagine a 3gs
 

MacDawg

Moderator emeritus
Mar 20, 2004
19,823
4,504
"Between the Hedges"
I still have my 3GS on my desk, but the screen is separating from the body
I wonder if it is possible to have Apple or some 3rd party repair it?
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,864
26,995
Nice! I had quite a few MacBooks/MacBook Pros before this. My favorite was the 17 inch! It was heavy but the screen was great. My old MacBooks failed because I played World of Warcraft on it (graphics card burnt out!). The only reason this MBA survives because I don't play WoW on it. Instead, I played WoW (up until 2 years ago before I returned back to school) on my iMac 2009.

I really miss the excellent quality control that MBP had. I always had an MBP because it was very portable and just as powerful as normal desktops.
I have two MBPs. A 2006 17" which is Snow Leopard max and a 2008 MBP 15". But that is the sum total of my Intel Macs.

I have far more PowerPC Macs in use than anything else. My home server is a B&W G3 running 10.4.11 Server with a 2TB SATA RAID and a 1TB eSATA drive.

But getting back on topic, the nice thing about these older Macs is that they can still sync with the older phones I have. My iPhone 4s is on iOS 6.1.3 for example.
 

rosyapple

macrumors regular
Mar 25, 2018
133
81
But getting back on topic, the nice thing about these older Macs is that they can still sync with the older phones I have. My iPhone 4s is on iOS 6.1.3 for example.

That's right! My MBA is currently on High Sierra (the latest it can support), and the iPhone 4 still syncs my Reminders, Calendar and iBooks. The only native app it no longer syncs with is Notes.

Old iPhones are still compatible with a decently recent iTunes. I don't have Mojave at the moment so I can't check whether iPhone 3GS or 4 can still sync. If they can, then bravo!
 
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maerz001

macrumors 68020
Nov 2, 2010
2,439
2,325
I still have my 3GS on my desk, but the screen is separating from the body
I wonder if it is possible to have Apple or some 3rd party repair it?
That might be cos of an expanding battery.
Apple won’t do it anymore as they list it vintage.
3rd party do everything for money:) but for sure it’s not worth it...

But with the ifixit repair guides u can do it yourself
 

calliex

macrumors 6502
Aug 16, 2018
466
219
Pittsburgh, Pa
I just bought a iPhone 3GS 16GB. When it first launched, I was still a secondary school kid, and today I bought it for a piece of $20! I got it for the reason to keep a spare mobile number

Just sharing, Telegram, Spotify, Youtube is still supported and works!
Anyone here still using it?
A friend of mine stills uses her 3GS everyday. I couldn't believe it.
 
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technano

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 27, 2012
54
11
Time check, its been 1 day since I got the phone. and I'm genuinely impressed and happy with the battery life of the 3GS that I have. this phone would serve me as a cheap phone to add to my collection and also a phone to maintain to keep my mobile number line active.

The only bummer was that it wasn't a local in the country that I'm from.

Does anyone knows MC131NF/B, belongs to which country?
 

bransoj

macrumors 68000
Jul 31, 2013
1,547
726
I still have my old 3GS in a drawer at home next to my old iPhone 5. When i first swapped i used it just as an iPod to store music and have it permanently connected in the car. New car has CarPlay so i use my main phone for everything now so the 3GS has been out of action for ages now.
 

Zxxv

macrumors 68040
Nov 13, 2011
3,558
1,104
UK
I saw someone in a shop with an iPhone 3G
At the time I had a 6 and thought how much cooler the 3G looked; anything retro has its own category of coolness.
 

AppleHaterLover

macrumors 68020
Jun 15, 2018
2,048
2,051
Respect for all the self mortification in this thread ;)

My 5s already drives me crazy with waiting loops after pressing a button. Can’t imagine a 3gs

Apple pulled support for the 3GS on iOS 6, which is notorious for being the most stable iOS release ever. I think the 3GS should have still been quite usable back in 2012.
 

retta283

Suspended
Jun 8, 2018
3,180
3,480
I have 2 3GS units. One of them is a 32gb on iPhone OS 3, and an 8gb on iOS 4. Nice little phones, the first 3 iPhones are still my favorite.
 

dandill

macrumors newbie
Dec 21, 2020
3
1
A friend of mine gave me her old iPhone 3GS back in 2013 when she upgraded to something new. I still use it to this day.

Battery still holds up, and no problems with calling or the messaging functions. Apps however, no longer work. Also unable to access my Google accounts as their new security protocols are too advanced for the old 3GS. Runs iOS 6.1.6 and I still have an original size SIM card.

I will likely be switching to a new device soon, but this one has held up for over a decade. Not bad! My main disappointment has been the difficulty in trying to back it up before I head into to store for a new one.
 
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