The A4 Chip Might Be The Minimum To Run iOS 5

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The last time Apple made a jump in iOS versions, going into iOS 4, original iPhone and iPod Touch users were left out of the hop, and thus lost out on some of the big new features, such as multitasking. Those with an iPhone 3GS at the time, though, breathed a sigh of relief as iOS 4 worked for them. But with the hotly-anticipated WWDC only weeks away, will the iOS 5 release end up edging out the iPhone 3GS?

The word recently emerged saying that iPhone 3G models would be out in the cold when the iOS 5 update came around, but that iPhone 4 would be just fine, which makes some sense given that iPhone 4 is still the newest phone, and acing it out of the market would leave Apple without much of a product line until iPhone 5 shows up, somewhere between “soon” and “eventually”. But what’s got everybody confused is that iPhone 3GS models may also be left out due to some ambiguity in the reporting. The report cited “Apple iPhone 3Gs”, which would seem to be a plural form of iPhone 3G. But further on in the report, the “s” is often capitalized, leading some to wonder if it’s all the 3G models that won’t be included, and the 3GS is safe, or if the 3GS is part of the 3Gs reported. Confusing, I know, and makes me wonder why Apple didn’t call the 3GS the 3GX or something so people could add the plural without confusing it for a different brand.

Some believe that this will just be a repeat of what happened with iOS 4, where the 3G is out of luck completely, the 3GS will get some of the features, and the 4 will get everything. Others are wondering if Apple’s looking to get out of the 3 entirely, with or without extra letters. I personally figure that it’ll be like the first–considering the advertising being done around the 3G and 3GS of late (I seem to remember a couple commercials cropping up), they’re not going to be too interested in throwing over a product line they’re actively hawking.

And what about you guys? Do you think it’s going to take an A4 to open iOS 5? Or do you think there will be some love for older versions? Hit the comments section and tell us what you think!