Over the past few days, Apple’s iOS 4.1 update has gone from “coming soon” to “gold master”. Per The Unofficial Apple Weblog, user report have stated that the update resolves iOS 4.0.2′s stuttering, crashing, and generalized slowness on the iPhone 3G handset and offers better overall performance.

Specific improvements included speed, performance via the Maps app and much faster Spotlight search on the iPhone 3G wherein the app no longer searches through text messages.

Individual mileage may vary, but the iOS 4.1 update could be worth looking forward to once it’s released later this week.