iPhone 3.0 beta firmware FAQ
While most people would probably agree that 3.0 doesn’t represent a revolutionary upgrade for iPhone users, it’s still large (and interesting) enough to warrant tons of questions, which we’ve been collecting to answer in a FAQ about the beta. Feel free to submit some more below! Just remember that just about anything can change between now and the final launch of 3.0 — it is a beta, after all.
So, how do I get this thing?
Well, unfortunately you need to be part of the developer program (which costs $99).
Whatevs, I just got it off of BitTorrent!
Okay, but it may not work. Your iPhone’s unique ID must be authorized for the 3.0 upgrade, and Apple checks that. So until someone cracks the 3.0 beta firmware image, you have to be a registered developer, or know somebody who can hook you up, pretty much.
How did installation go? From Miqal
Running it on a non-jailbroken device, it went smoothly. Took about as much time as your traditional restore. Just be warned: from what I’ve been hearing, once you go to 3.0, you can’t go back to 2.0. (Apple must have changed some of the baseband firmware or something, no real surprise.) Update: been hearing it IS possible to go back to 2.0 from 3.0, but be warned, it could require some baseband hacking and god knows what else, so it’d be wise to prepare for the worst.
How’s performance been? I heard it’s really sluggish.
Actually, it’s been pretty good for me so far! Spotlight is actually faster than I expected and the rest of the common interactions feels the same as 2.2. I’m going to continue to keep an eye out for issues, but so far things have been humming along nicely. [Interestingly, Nilay, Ross, and Chris have all reported occasional slowness, proof that Ryan's zen-like patience is a virtue. -Ed.]
Do all of your apps sync? Do they work okay? From Kwarren and davidiom
So far, yes, I haven’t seen anything really go missing. 3.0 isn’t a fundamental architectural change, so I don’t think most apps need to be re-worked to function. Granted, there have been a few apps which have definitely given me some trouble when running in 3.0 (like the Peanut Butter Jelly Time! app — don’t you judge me), but so far I’ve run into very few problems and apps have been working mostly without much issue. As always, with something like this your mileage may vary.
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