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Iphone Apple

iPhone 6 Sales Crush Means Late-Night Waits For Some Early Adopters 222

Even after the months of hype and speculation, the behind-the-scenes development and manufacture, and then the announcement Tuesday, it seems Apple's servers weren't quite ready for the workout they got from would-be early adopters of its newest iPhone. Preorders through Verizon Wireless and AT&T largely started without a hitch at midnight, though some customers on Twitter have since complained about issues. Those problems were nothing compared to the issues experienced by Sprint and T-Mobile customers. The Sprint and T-Mobile sites were still down for many users nearly two hours after presales were slated to start. Access to Sprint's site faded in and out, while the T-Mobile site continued to display a form to register for a reminder for when the preorders began. Some people joked on Twitter that they "might as well wait for the iPhone 6S now." Apple's store itself was down for a few hours, too.
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iPhone 6 Sales Crush Means Late-Night Waits For Some Early Adopters

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  • by LWATCDR ( 28044 ) on Friday September 12, 2014 @10:41AM (#47890149) Homepage Journal

    So when is the new Nexus coming out?

    Over all I found the 6 to be a lack luster announcement. Nothing really new was announced.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by jandrese ( 485 )
      The only real feature of note was Apple Pay, which might finally make NFC payments take off in the US. It's been a technology that should have hit it big a couple of years ago, but has never seen much consumer buy-in for some reason.
      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward

        The ironic thing is that NFC isn't anything new. All my recent Android phones have had the ability to use NFC, and my HTC One M8 can use an app that sits on the SIM card, called ISIS (poor name, ironically) that can handle payments in a secure manner (the SIM card does all the processing, so even if the phone is compromised, the PIN used is not stored/used on the phone. Of course, I'm sure malware can log the PIN, but it is as secure as any other wallet mechanism.) My biggest beef about it is that you ca

        • >is because there are many standards

          The problem with creating the one true standard is that in the US the PCI-DSS people would want to do it, and I've never seen a more incompetent bunch of standards writers than PCI-DSS when it comes to payment security.

        • To me, I don't see anything interesting about the 6 and 6+ that would make it worth jumping from an iPhone 5S or even an iPhone 5.

          MUCH BETTER BATTERY LIFE = 6+ battery is over twice as large as iPhone 5s battery, from 1,440 mAh to 2,915 mAh. While some might say "battery life will be the same because of the larger screen" it's been shown in iPad's that is not true, devices like the Mini have an enormous battery life despite the 8" screen and only a 4,490 mAh battery. If the 6+ can get just half the battery life of the Mini that will be a huge improvement from the battery life of the 5s. Apple is already reporting the 6+ will provi

          • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) *

            Apart from the fingerprint sensor you are describing my old Galaxy S3 from three years ago. Bigger battery, bigger screen, NFC, image stabilisation, small low power cores etc.

            If you are looking for an upgrade get s Nexus 5 for half the price, or wait s month for the new model. They cost half the price too.

            • Nexus 5 is the boss. Cheap comparatively. My wife left iPhone's behind because she wanted my phone. Needs a case for sure, but I wouldn't carry a phone without a case.

        • NFC isn't new technology like the internet wasn't new technology in the late 90's. It doesn't matter if most people aren't using it. NFC still isn't common enough for my liking. Oddly enough it'll probably be apple that drives NFC to mainstream usage.
      • by American AC in Paris ( 230456 ) on Friday September 12, 2014 @11:12AM (#47890505) Homepage

        The only real feature of note was Apple Pay, which might finally make NFC payments take off in the US. It's been a technology that should have hit it big a couple of years ago, but has never seen much consumer buy-in for some reason.

        It's pretty straightforward, to my mind. With the exception of all but the most staggering technological advancements, widespread adoption of new technology typically requires:

        1. a sound implementation,
        2. a robust support infrastructure, and
        3. an effective marketing campaign.

        Geeks, for a variety of reasons, tend to respect the first, grok the second, and abhor the third. I personally believe it's what drives our perpetual cycle of incredulity on this subject--because we so detest the last part of this equation, we refuse to see its importance in getting all those squishy, distracted, emotional bags of water to adopt cool new stuff.

        NFC has never had the effective marketing campaign in the US, and only kinda had the support infrastructure. The iPhone has incredible inertia on the marketing front, and Apple have clearly done the legwork on building a good starting lineup of financial institutions and retailers for Apple Pay. It remains to be seen whether this'll be sufficient to make NFC catch on, but it's easily the closest we've come to covering all three of the bases above.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by LWATCDR ( 28044 )

        NFC is cool and boy did people think it was neat when I paid for something at the 7-11 with my Galaxy Nexus a few years ago. You are right that it might finally take off in the US now that Apple is doing it. They are even following the standards so they can use the existing NFC machines at Walgreens, 7-11, and McDonald's. It is really not innovative but an example of the clout that Apple has with the carriers.

        • If the only thing Apple ever does consistently is break the control of the carriers, we should still all bow down. The carriers in North America are all terrible. Any time anyone knocks them down a peg, I'm happy. If Google'd done it, I'd sing the same praises, just as loudly.

      • by tlhIngan ( 30335 ) <slashdot@worf.ERDOSnet minus math_god> on Friday September 12, 2014 @11:58AM (#47891023)

        The only real feature of note was Apple Pay, which might finally make NFC payments take off in the US. It's been a technology that should have hit it big a couple of years ago, but has never seen much consumer buy-in for some reason.

        Because no one unified around it. You have credit cards and phones and all that, and the phones were all fragmented into using Google Wallet or other custom thing so it was impossible to actually use.

        Effectively, Google thought "If you build it, they will come" and everyone basically gave a collective "meh" and promptly did their own thing.

        What Apple did was try to be a de-facto standard. Apple made deals with Visa, MasterCard and American Express (which probably covers the vast majority of credit card charges out there). Apple made deals with big retailers people used. So in the end, Apple has, upon launch, the support of the vast majority of credit card payment companies, and big companies that most people shop at.

        Plus, Apple has money on their side - the people who buy Apple products tend to be ones who have money, and are the kind of people who do spend it. Android users tend to be more tight-asses (given the vast majority of them are free phones that their carrier gave away), so are in generaly seen as a "lesser valued" market.

        So you have companies agreeing to Apple because they know Apple customers generally have money. As a side effect, it means the technology being promoted gets widely distributed so everyone else benefits as well.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Lumpy ( 12016 )

          Right here.

          google wallet is clunky to use. I tried using it several times and it always gave me fits to where I finally gave up and used the card in my wallet.

          I really hope apple figured out how to make it work a LOT better than GW does. Because having to log into the app and waiting for it to sync takes longer than opening my wallet and swiping the card.

          • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) *

            I just touch my phone against the pad and it pays. No need to open an app or anything like that. Don't even have to turn the screen on.

            Not sure why you had problems.

      • by cHiphead ( 17854 )

        Google Wallet or bust, fuck ISIS, and now Apple, with their strategies based on taking over the market for NFC payments instead of just fucking offering an option for NFC payments.

      • That's missing the biggest piece of the ApplePay announcement; in-app purchase support at below-card-present rates for the merchant, without having Apple as a direct participant in the payment chain. That's absolutely massive and has far more potential to be a game changer.

    • by nblender ( 741424 ) on Friday September 12, 2014 @10:57AM (#47890337)

      I've got a Nexus-5 so I'm going to skip the Nexus-6... I'm holding out for the Nexus-7!

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by CastrTroy ( 595695 )
        Nexus 4 and 5 made sense because they had a 4 and 5 inch screen. The 7 has a 7 inch screen. Unless the 6 has a six inch screen, the numbering system won't make sense. Perhaps they should go with Nexus 5 again, like they did with the two models of Nexus 7.
    • by schlachter ( 862210 ) on Friday September 12, 2014 @10:57AM (#47890341)

      I've met many 40's and up Android users who say they wanted an iPhone but bought an Android because they couldn't read on the iPhone screen because it was too small. So the larger screen size is a feature that many people will cite when the buy the iPhone 6.

      It's also got between 10% and 100%+ battery life improvement. They didn't focus on that but it's pretty important to many.

      • by nblender ( 741424 ) on Friday September 12, 2014 @11:16AM (#47890555)

        I'm one. I switched from my iphone4 to a nexus5 for two reasons:

        - my eyes have aged substantially in the last 6 or 7 years, most dramatically in the last 3.
        - $829 (CAD) for an iphone5 vs. $349 for a Nexus5...

        Additional perks:
        - wireless charging

      • It is a pretty big deal. I have a Galaxy S3 which I like. To me it really only has one downside. That big screen chows down on battery power pretty fast when you are actually using it for anything. As such the battery length isn't great. It is mitigated a bit by the fact that you can pop out a used battery and pop in a charged one and you are ready to go.

        If Apply managed to not only increase screen sized AND increase battery length, that is a pretty primary feature. However you are probably still stuck with

    • Well, I'm not sure. But don't worry, I'm sure the order page won't have the same capacity problems!

    • by slashdice ( 3722985 ) on Friday September 12, 2014 @11:01AM (#47890379)

      It's worse than that. The original iphone was 320 x 480. They went retina by doubling it - 640 x 960. No problem, you provide 2x images, everything works great. Then the elongated it to 640 x 1136. still pretty straightforward, though, 2x images with a bit more height. You may need to adjust your layout a bit but no major problems. But now the iphone 6 is 750 x 1334 and 1080 x 1920.

      It's like they somehow decided android's fragmentation was a competitive advantage! Oh, and now you provide 3x images and they get downsampled. It will not look as good. Full stop.

      Listen Apple, you didn't build a phone that people wanted, you built a phone that the press wanted. Not because they wanted it as a phone, but because they need to write stories about something. These are the same idiots that spent 20 years calling you beleaguered and taking bets on when you would go bankrupt. A larger phone won't do shit except change the narrative from "they need to release a larger phone" to "out of ideas and copying samsung"

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) *

        They needed to up the resolution for two reasons. Firstly to break away from the old fixed resolutions that as you point out they were stuck with, and encourage more fluid layouts. That allows them to do a greater b variety of devices in the future.

        Secondly they needed to go HD. Retina has become a joke, with even Apple now admitting that it was bullshit to begin with. Every other phone competing with it, often at less than half the price, has a HD screen now. The smaller iPhone 6 is just 720p but at least

    • I agree I watched apples event that required their browser and flash which meant the mobile apple users couldn't watch it lol.

      All old features and trends I didn't see one innovation... why is everyone so crazy about it Idk. Apple is too scared to do anything "new" anymore lol.

      Big screens been around, nfc has been around, gear has been around and payment processors. They even call their gray "space gray" to jump on the Sci Fi band wagon. Like anyone would use apple in space haha.

      Yes I'm bias I j
    • Given the rumours google us killing the nexus line your wait might take awhile. Seems google can't compete in Samsung's market.
  • The outage (Score:5, Funny)

    by iMouse ( 963104 ) on Friday September 12, 2014 @10:54AM (#47890299)

    ...that Samsung wishes they had.

    • Apple planned the outage to make the iFaithful salivate more and to prove to the tech press that demand is high.
      • Apple planned the outage to make the iFaithful salivate more and to prove to the tech press that demand is high.

        Maybe. Apple sent out an email this morning letting people know that preorders were still available for next Friday delivery at 9am eastern time. So my guess is that, initially at least, their sales weren't as good as they hoped. Indeed, I ordered one just in case I decided I wanted one. If not, I'll set it for slightly above cost when it comes in.

      • I think it is the even number rush.
        The original iPhone (iPhone 2) Had a good demand on it.
        People gradually got the iPhone 3 and 3g (incremental improvements nothing show stopping)
        There was a big demand on the iPhone 4 (The higher res screen, and FaceTime)
        The iPhone 4S 5 and 5S were incremental improvements the bigger screen on the 5 is nice but not enough to get people off the 4.
        The iPhone 6 with a significantly larger screen means the people who have been hanging onto the 4 needs an upgrade.

        • by Karlt1 ( 231423 )

          I think it is the even number rush.
          The original iPhone (iPhone 2) Had a good demand on it.
          People gradually got the iPhone 3 and 3g (incremental improvements nothing show stopping)
          There was a big demand on the iPhone 4 (The higher res screen, and FaceTime)
          The iPhone 4S 5 and 5S were incremental improvements the bigger screen on the 5 is nice but not enough to get people off the 4.
          The iPhone 6 with a significantly larger screen means the people who have been hanging onto the 4 needs an upgrade.

          [sarcasm]
          It's a

          • Interestingly, Sprint seems to be releasing a $50/mo unlimited iphone plan that doesn't include the phone subsidy. It looks like a step in the right direction.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 12, 2014 @10:59AM (#47890357)

    I love how the ihaters around here croon the iphone's demise as each new device is launched.. And they each go on to smashing, record sales that beat the last one.

    The 5s was particularly funny. People bitched and moaned about nothing innovative. (Despite being the first mobile device with a 64bit arm cpu, and stands to be still for probably another good 8 months. That's almost 2 full years of apple leading an innovation that nobody else even had plans for at that point) - Oh, and that fingerprint scanner that turned out to be everyone's favorite feature. One button press secure unlock anyone?

    Yet, the 5s went to smash sales records even beyond apple's most optimistic expectations. Record breaking device sales in it's category.
    The 6 launch is looking to be even better.

    Do you know why I stick with the iphone line? It's easy. It's simple. It works. I don't have to fuck around with my phone. It's always there. Each time I get a new phone, all of my shit migrates over seamlessly. I still have songs, apps, notes, pictures from my original iphone.

    I build my own PCs. I love linux. I stick with the iphone because it's nice having something you don't have to fuck with to get it to work properly every once in a while.

    • by CastrTroy ( 595695 ) on Friday September 12, 2014 @11:48AM (#47890897)
      I don't have an iPhone, but I kind of agree with this. A phone is a tool, it's not a toy that I want to play with and modify. I don't want to miss a call or not get an alarm because I installed some rogue firmware on my phone (I know people this has happened to because they're always installing different ROMs on their Android phone). I'm not saying that getting an iPhone is the only way to get this experience, but that I find that this is really the point of a phone. I wanted a toy to install software on and experiment with and crash and reboot all the time, there's plenty of devices out there that are cheaper and can do just that.
      • I fall into the other camp. I want a computer in my pocket, something I can do whatever I want with, and if it happens to be able to make and receive phone calls once in a while, all the better.

        There are a lot like me.
    • seamlessly? I have family members asking me to help with their iPhones routinely, and this is always a nightmare.

      Is it just a matter of your having one stable iTunes installation over the entire period? Because the problem that I run into over and over again is that iCloud is either partial in its backing up and/or doesn't have enough space and thus doesn't back everything up, and they have invariably got a computer that's newer than their iPhone. As a result, their iPhone has never been backed up to iTunes

      • It doesn't matter how old the phone, computer or iTunes installation is. Only the date of the backup matters. Just make sure to manually take a fresh backup of the old phone to iTunes before you setup the new one. (You should be running the latest versions of iOS and iTunes, too).

        I'm on my third iPhone and about to get my fourth. The setup and restore from the old backup has always worked without a hitch. That's one of the big reasons I've stayed with iOS devices despite the lure of Nexus and Galaxy.

        • if the computer + iTunes is newer than the phone. Try this:

          -> Plug a full, everyday-used iPhone that was backed up or set up on an old computer
          -> Into a new computer where it has never been backed up before

          What you will get is an option to erase the phone and start over. You will not get the option to back up the phone, and Apple says that's by design—the licensed content on the phone is tied to the iTunes installation where it was set up, and the license can't be associated with a new iTunes.

          Pr

          • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

            by Anonymous Coward

            Incorrect.

            Install itunes then Authorize the computer. then let it sync the phone. it does NOT "erase the whole phone" it simply will delete and reload all the music and videos all the photos, camera videos, and contact info remains intact.

            Apps will be removed and reinstalled but the date for them will remain intact.

            Read the instructions, you will find you do things right when you do that. Instead of just assuming and bumbling your way through as if you knew what you were doing.

            • You can't backup everything that's on the phone.

              Your process sounds great to a technology-enabled person. But for mere humans?

              They don't remember their Apple ID password.
              They put in random answers to security questions for password recovery.
              Their email address has changed, their computer has changed, etc.
              They installed all that music, all those videos, and all those apps, like, a *year* ago or more. Who remembers how?

              "Can't you just copy everything from my old phone over to my new phone?"

              As you say, the pro

      • by wbo ( 1172247 )

        iTunes simply offers to erase the phone when you plug it in since the phone predates the iTunes installation.

        iTunes can be a pain at times and it's interface can be difficult to navigate if you don't know what you are doing but it is possible to use it to backup a phone even if that phone was previously synced with another PC or installation of iTunes.

        iTunes will want to erase the phone (or any other iOS device for that matter) if you choose to synchronize the phone with the existing iTunes library on

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) *

      64 bit was just marketing wank. Have a look at comparison videos on YouTube between an iPhone 5s and a Nexus 5. For practical purposes like opening apps and navigating around them, opening files, making calls etc the Nexus is usually the same or slightly faster.

      That's how Apple always pitch to the faithful. Offer some technical feature that sounds amazing but actually does very little in practice.

      As for sales records, Apples own graphics show sales tapering off a bit.

  • Woke up at 3am, and it took me 45 mins to place my order. The website was slow and produced some sort of error, which I later found out had to do with me having an employer discount (that makes zero difference for the purchase).

    If they actually ship Friday next week, I'd be surprised/delighted.

  • by DJCouchyCouch ( 622482 ) on Friday September 12, 2014 @11:09AM (#47890473)
    Apple is doomed.
  • by X.25 ( 255792 ) on Friday September 12, 2014 @11:19AM (#47890577)

    Is that how we need to call them, in order to be politically correct?

    Sigh.

    • by Torp ( 199297 )

      "Impatient kids"?
      And i say this as the owner of a few Apple devices... which i bought on my own schedule, not by queueing at launches.

      • by Wovel ( 964431 )

        I ordered my iPad 2 on launch day and it was pretty painless. I was in China at the time so it was pretty easy to be awake for the US launch. I don't understanding waiting in line or even setting an alarm to wake up at 3:00 am.

      • by Skater ( 41976 )
        I ordered one this morning, because I can't wait to stop using my Samsung S3. The S3 was supposed to be an iPhone killer; instead, it killed my interest in Android.
    • Is that how we need to call them, in order to be politically correct?

      Sigh.

      No, it's simply a misuse of the term. An early adopter is someone who is willing to take a risk on a completely new technology. The iPhone 6 is a new product not new technology.

      For example, people who bought the 2014 Sea Doo Spark jetski this year (like I did) would be considered early adopters because they are taking a chance on the all plastic hull design and it's durability. It's new technology and a new product category. However, someone buying the 2014 Sea-Doo GTX Limited 215 would not be considere

  • are these people who can't wait to fork over a 1/2-1/4 months wage every time a new phone comes out? Seriously wtf is wrong with them? Yah in high skool it was cool to be the first to have that Ice T/BDP/NWA tape or the first to have a new Nintendo/Sega game but those cost a pittance compared to a phone. At least with those you could listen and play with your friends, the phone is just a recluse device meant to keep people apart.

    • by Dr. Evil ( 3501 )

      The same people who are selling their iPhone 5 on eBay for 80% of its original price.

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) *

        What idiot would buy a used phone with non-replaceable battery and unknown history on eBay when they can pay 20% more for a new one? Not just a new one, the latest version too, and with a warranty.

    • You seem to think everyone of Apple's 500 million customers buy a new phone each time a new one comes out and that their children aren't getting any older to where they also might want an iPhone. I don't know anyone that buys a new iPhone each release even with carriers now pushing that (ATT Next and others). So what you are seeing is the result of only (~80/500) about 1/6 of Apples customers buying a new phone. Let alone the financing provided by the carriers make small monthly payments fairly reasonabl
  • The Apple Store app started working well before the website did, say 30 minutes after the supposed launch...

    The early parts of selection worked fine, it was when you chose a carrier that things timed out.

    Once the website came up (about two and a half hours late) it was pretty speedy.

    So it was something around the carrier gateway that was the issue.

    The interesting aspect of that, was that people had no issue ordering from carriers directly that supported it (Verizon and AT&T were the two I knew people or

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