Apple checking complaints by iPhone 3G users after update

Apple Inc. said Monday that it was investigating complaints by some iPhone 3G users of bogged down speed, drained battery life and excessive heat after their device was updated to the new iOS 4 software.

The operating system, which debuted in June, boasts more than 100 new features for the new iPhone 4 and the prior model iPhone 3GS, but some of the features are not compatible with the iPhone 3G.

Since the software’s rollout, iPhone 3G users have complained about various problems on blogs and on Apple’s support forum. Most of the complaints, however, have been overshadowed by the “death grip” antenna issues that have plagued the iPhone 4 since it was launched June 24.

“Launching something as basic as text messaging takes about four times as long — up to nearly 20 seconds for something that should be instantaneous,” Don Weiner, an iPhone 3G user, wrote in an e-mail to the Los Angeles Times. “Also, simply typing there is often a delay in characters appearing on the screen.”

Tina Teng, an analyst at Isuppli Corp., said the difference between an iPhone 3G and the most recent iPhone 4 is a big one.

“It’s like you’re running a 5- or 10-year-old computer and you want to run a really fancy program on it and that’s just going to exhaust your system,” Teng said.

There are some new features on the iOS 4, such as multitasking, which enables multiple applications to run at one time, that aren’t compatible with the 3G.

As Apple looks for a solution, some blogs and various websites have come up with their own ideas and instructions to solve speed issues.

“Wouldn’t it have made sense for Apple to notify customers about the problem and how to fix it rather than have them think they were stuck with a useless outdated iPhone that was no longer being supported?” Weiner said.

kristena.hansen@latimes.com