Samsung officially confirms no KitKat for Galaxy S III (GT-I9300) and Galaxy S III mini

By +Frank B.
in Android Support

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Grand Master

+Frank B. Subscriber²

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Samsung officially confirms no KitKat for Galaxy S III (GT-I9300) and Galaxy S III mini

 

Here at SamMobile, we get asked all sorts of questions, and in recent months, a recurring query has been about whether the Galaxy S III would be receiving an update to KitKat. There were many signs that it had been cancelled, but then recently, Sprint started rolling out KitKat to its variant of the Galaxy S III (which sports 2GB of RAM, like all US variants), raising hope that the international variant would get it as well. But a leaked document that we published yesterday once again said that the international model would not be updated, so we reached out to Samsung for clarification, and the response we?ve got is going to disappoint a lot of folks.

 

According to Samsung, the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy S III mini are not capable of running KitKat smoothly as both have only 1GB of RAM, which has apparently not been enough to get KitKat working properly on either device. Here?s the official statement that we received:

 

?In order to facilitate an effective upgrade on the Google platform, various hardware performances such as the memory (RAM, ROM, etc.), multi-tasking capabilities, and display must meet certain technical expectations. The Galaxy S3 and S3 mini 3G versions come equipped with 1GB RAM, which does not allow them to effectively support the platform upgrade. As a result of the Galaxy S3 and S3 mini 3G versions? hardware limitation, they cannot effectively support the platform upgrade while continuing to provide the best consumer experience. Samsung has decided not to roll-out the KitKat upgrade to Galaxy S3 and S3 mini 3G versions, and the KitKat upgrade will be available to the Galaxy S3 LTE version as the device?s 2GB RAM is enough to support the platform upgrade.? ? Samsung Mobile UK

 

This is as official as things can get, and Samsung?s statement confirms our fears of the amount of RAM being the issue. Now, before you say ?but KitKat supports 512MB RAM devices and is running on a couple of new Samsung devices with 512MB of RAM already!?, we will point out that KitKat runs fine with that amount of memory only on stock Android, which does not have any of the added features or bloat that Samsung (and other non-Nexus phones come with.) Also, the newer Samsung devices are running a lighter and newer version of TouchWiz that debuted on the Galaxy S5, which we?re guessing is something Samsung doesn?t want to bring to the Galaxy S III as it would affect sales of its newer devices (and not to mention those low-end devices don?t have all the features that you would find on flagship devices.)

 

In any case, it looks like Android 4.3 is the last update the Galaxy S III will get (and Android 4.2 on the S III mini), and the official statement should finally put the matter to rest. The Galaxy S III had a good run, going from Android 4.0 to Android 4.3 since launch, but it looks like Samsung won?t be extending any further update love to one of its best-selling smartphones.

 

Source: SamMobile

Grand Master

+InsaneNutter MVC

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  • MVC
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So basically the device would be run it vanilla but not with all the bloatware they bundle.

Yup thats basically it, 1gb is more than enough. My Mums Moto G runs Kitkat with 1gb of ram perfectly, it flys!

Same with my Galaxy Nexus which also has 1gb of ram (custom rom as Google couldn't be bothered updating it either)

Veteran

REM2000

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Yup thats basically it, 1gb is more than enough. My Mums Moto G runs Kitkat with 1gb of ram perfectly, it flys!

Same with my Galaxy Nexus which also has 1gb of ram (custom rom as Google couldn't be bothered updating it either)

 

just going to post the same thing, i have a moto g and was actually suprised at the number of apps i could open without a slow down. I would have thought that the S3 would have been fine, obviously the touchwiz stuff is just too heavy.

Grand Master

McKay

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Aha Samsung, using the RAM requirement as an excuse when Google specifically made the requirements of KitKat lower, so that cheapo handsets would hopefully stop shipping with 2.3

 

Installed CM11 on my Note 3 last night on a semi-related note  :rofl:

 

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Grand Master

Draconian Guppy

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So according to Samsung they cannot release KitKat for Galaxy S3 because this phone is not capable of running their bloatware.

+1

 

Good thing there's hope for S3 on XDA who already have several roms on kitkat (Cyanogenmod included)

Grand Master

+Warwagon MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

+1

 

Good thing there's hope for S3 on XDA who already have several roms on kitkat (Cyanogenmod included)

 

Slim Kat being one of them.

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