Can I still use iphone 3gs for testing?

Question

As I said in title, is iPhone 3gs still sufficient as a test phone for iPhone development? I would not like to buy iPhone 4, if 3gs still suffice.

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

There's nothing wrong with testing on an iPhone 3GS. In fact, it's a good thing to test on a iPhone 3GS or iPod Touch 3G due to low the performance. If it runs fine on the 3GS, it'll run just fine on the iPhone 4/4S and iPod Touch 4G.

But you might want to have a retina device to optimize for them. For example, if you have custom images that aren't available in a retina version it'll look "pixelated" on a retina display which, depending on the image, people might notice immediately. But for that, an iPod Touch 4G does suffice and is cheaper.

Answer 2

Yes. I test on my iPod Touch 1G! If it runs at a decent speed on a 3GS, it will on a 4/4S. Just remember to check that your retina artwork is being loaded in the simulator. If you are developing any 4/4S-specific features, however, do test those on a 4/4S (maybe ask a friend?).

Answer 3

If you support iOS 5, then it's a good thing to test it in the oldest device that iOS 5 supports, and it is still being sold by Apple.

Some stats from Instapaper's author blog show that around 7% of the iOS devices (that use Instapaper, of course) are 3GS:

http://www.marco.org/2011/11/30/more-ios-device-and-os-version-stats-from-instapaper