2nd Generation iPod Touch Faster than iPhone - MacRumors
Skip to Content

2nd Generation iPod Touch Faster than iPhone

Mobile developer Handheld Games Corp reported to TouchArcade.com that performance of their 3D TouchSports Tennis game [App Store, $4.99] is noticeably different between models of iPhones and iPod touches. Their 3D tennis game (video) seems to particularly challenge the 3D hardware on the iPhone and iPod touch. As a result, they had to implement specific optimizations to run consistently on every device.

100954 tennis 425
TouchSports Tennis

In part, the differences stem from the fact that the 2nd Generation iPod Touch had its processor quietly boosted to 532MHz. Meanwhile, the iPhone 3G, Original iPhone and 1st Generation iPod Touch run at 412MHz. However, the differences must extend beyond this simple change, as there seem to be substantial performance differences between the similarly-clocked models as well.

From Handheld Games Corp's experience, the 2nd Generation iPod touch is the fastest model "by far", followed by the iPhone 3G, iPhone and finally the 1st Generation iPod touch lagging behind (at least with respect to 3D gaming). Due to these differences, Handheld Games Corp's CEO does not recommend anyone interested in gaming to even consider buying a used 1st Generation iPod touch.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching in Two Months With These 12 New Features

Friday July 24, 2026 7:26 pm PDT by
It is now late July, and that means the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are less than two months away. The devices are expected to look similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will still be many year-over-year changes, with rumored features including a smaller Dynamic Island, 5G via satellite, and more. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro...
macbook ultra

'MacBook Ultra' Coming Soon With These 12 New Features

Friday July 24, 2026 6:00 pm PDT by
Apple's first high-end MacBook redesign in five years is expected to arrive in the near future, bringing a run of firsts to the Mac. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the laptop to arrive between late 2026 and early 2027, with the later window now looking more likely owing to the global memory chip shortage. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects mass production to begin by late 2026. Apple last...
5 Reasons to Buy the iPhone 17 Now Feature

5 Reasons to Buy the iPhone 17 Now Instead of Waiting for iPhone 18

Thursday July 23, 2026 8:26 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models and its first foldable are less than two months from being unveiled. That may sound like a reason to sit tight if you're looking to upgrade from an iPhone 16 or older series, but between looming price hikes and Apple's new split-launch calendar, there's a decent case for grabbing an iPhone 17 series model right now. Here are five reasons in favor of putting your order ...