iPhone OS 4.0 Feature Breakdown, iPhone 3G to Get Overclock?

A flurry of comments that Apple has sent via both official and unofficial channels has created a lot of confusion in regards to what each generation of device can and cannot do.

Indeed, much of this confusion stems from even Apple’s own announcement. Wherein, Apple provided confusing and conflicting statements about which devices would be updated. Below is a breakdown of what to expect this summer when iPhone OS 4 ships.

Clearly, these are restrictions imposed by Apple to improve the experience. Testers have already jailbroken iPhone OS 4.0 and hacked in enabling support of multitasking on the second-generation iPod touch and iPhone 3G.

More suspect however was Apple’s justification for shipping iPhone 3G the same upgrade that Apple now claims cannot run on first-generation iPhone and iPod touch. The iPhone 3G is slower than the second-generation iPod touch and in terms of processing power is in-line with the first-generation devices.

While initial reports are conflicting, Apple appears to be “overclocking” the iPhone 3G CPU to match iPod touch second-generation devices in iPhone OS 4.0. Apple historically downclocks CPUs and GPUs to preserve battery life, dating back to the original MacBook Pro. In fact, overclocking the iPhone 3G to iPod touch second-generation speeds still would not exceed the maximum speed rated by Samsung for the iPhone 3G’s CPU.