Apple debuts iPhone 4 to sprawling lines, lengthy waits

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in iPhone edited January 2014
Across the globe, Apple launched the iPhone 4 in five countries Thursday, generating long lines and unparalleled buzz, as only an Apple product launch can do.



As lines outside of Apple's retail stores in the U.S. snaked further back, the wait time for hopeful phone purchasers also grew. At the Westchester Mall in White Plains, New York, hundreds of people were lined up before the store opened at 7 a.m.



Frustration in the line grew, however, after the store opened, when the store began taking just two customers at a time, and engaged in a lengthy setup process with all of them. The store also merged the preorder and purchase lines, meaning some who didn't have a reservation got their handset before others who reserved an iPhone 4.



At the Miami Beach Apple store on Lincoln Road, the reservation line had between 200 and 300 people by the 7 a.m. store opening time, according to Bridget Carey of The Miami Herald. The line was just as long for those customers without a reservation, and many of them were turned away due to limited availability.



Demand has been an issue for Apple's iPhone 4 launch since last week, when the company began accepting preorders. An influx of customers attempting to purchase the handset from both Apple and AT&T, its exclusive carrier in the U.S., caused a number of issues on the first day of preorders last Tuesday. AT&T's verification system for existing customers experienced failure, and Apple was forced to begin rejecting callers from its 800-MY-APPLE number.



Despite customers' frustrations, all signs point to the iPhone 4 launch being a tremendous success for Apple. The company revealed that the first day of preorders alone garnered 600,000 sales.



Customers wait outside the Apple store in Clarendon, Va. Photo via Flickr user blakespot.



To ensure they would get an iPhone 4, some began camping out in front of Apple stores a week ago, and by Wednesday crowds had already grown outside stores like the iconic Fifth Avenue glass cube. Some reserved their phone for pickup, while others were simply hoping to buy one after Apple sold through its initial allotment of shipments.



Some customers who prepurchased were lucky enough to receive the device on Wednesday, as Apple uncharacteristically allowed the devices to be delivered before the official launch date. Many speculated the decision was made to prevent servers from crashing by spreading out activations, as hundreds of thousands of iPhone 4 customers would attempt to turn on their new device in a single day.



Those who didn't brave the lines on Thursday may have to wait some time for the iPhone 4, as new orders from Apple are scheduled to ship by July 14. In addition, AT&T expects to have more devices available on June 29. And those waiting for the white iPhone 4 will have to wait until late July, as Apple said that the device proved "more challenging to manufacture than expected."



For a better look at the line waiting for the iPhone 4 at Apple's Fifth Avenue store, see the following video provided by AppleInsider reader Alexander Fringes:



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 82
    Standing in line at a Houston apple store. There's a boatload of people. They said about ten to fifteen minutes per phone and have not merged the two lines.
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  • Reply 2 of 82
    The process would go quicker if we could activate the phones outside of the store. But theoretically my phone is there until it closes. However I have tickets to the Astros today at one
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  • Reply 3 of 82
    alexh4alexh4 Posts: 7member
    I was number 2 inline at the apple store in Garden state plaza in paramus new jersey, got 2 iphone 32 gb and 2 bumper cases. In and out in less than 15 minutes. line was crazy long. but man its like walking the march of death with the people at the end of the line looking at you. well you should have came earlier, suuuuckkkkaaaaaas lol , just joking , but i wish them luck, oh i made it to work on time to. lets see if i get anywork done though
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  • Reply 4 of 82
    bdkennedy1bdkennedy1 Posts: 1,459member
    I'm never pre-ordering again.
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  • Reply 5 of 82
    kyle76kyle76 Posts: 54member
    Are any stores getting less than their allotment for pre-orders? I've got to drive an hour to pick up mine, and I don't want to get there and find out there's not enough phones to satisfy those with reservations.
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  • Reply 6 of 82
    ghostface147ghostface147 Posts: 1,629member
    I got in line at memorial city mall here in Houston at 3:30 am. I was about 100 people deep. The early people had gotten there at 5 pm yesterday. Funny part? They didn't reserve and I got my phone before they did. Hahahahahahahaha.



    In fact, I would say about 85% of the crowd didn't reserve.
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  • Reply 7 of 82
    ghostface147ghostface147 Posts: 1,629member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by johnnyb0731 View Post


    The process would go quicker if we could activate the phones outside of the store. But theoretically my phone is there until it closes. However I have tickets to the Astros today at one



    You can activate at home. How do you think those who got them yesterday and the day before got to use them when they were delivered at their homes?



    Astros? You sure you want to go? They're my hometeam too, but they are garbage this year.
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  • Reply 8 of 82
    ghostface147ghostface147 Posts: 1,629member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by johnnyb0731 View Post


    Standing in line at a Houston apple store. There's a boatload of people. They said about ten to fifteen minutes per phone and have not merged the two lines.



    Which one?
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  • Reply 9 of 82
    neilmneilm Posts: 1,001member
    Ordered mine at a local AT&T store on 6/15, which took a little over an hour. It'll be delivered to my office today by FedEx (cross fingers..) A lot less hassle than lining up for hours...days...
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  • Reply 10 of 82
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ghostface147 View Post


    You can activate at home. How do you think those who got them yesterday and the day before got to use them when they were delivered at their homes?



    Astros? You sure you want to go? They're my hometeam too, but they are garbage this year.



    Yeah but at this store they're forcing you to activate in store.



    Yeah I'm not too trilled about the Astros but I'll be nice to see the giants. I'm a cubs fan.



    I'm at the baybrook mall in clear lake
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  • Reply 11 of 82
    psych_guypsych_guy Posts: 486member
    Apple is Doomed!
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  • Reply 12 of 82
    bartfatbartfat Posts: 434member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Psych_guy View Post


    Apple is Doomed!



    You forgot to put the winking smiley face Haha.
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  • Reply 13 of 82
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bdkennedy1 View Post


    I'm never pre-ordering again.



    Good for you. This instant gratification, entitlement culture is really weird, almost bordering on OCD. It creeps me out.
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  • Reply 14 of 82
    bartfatbartfat Posts: 434member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bdkennedy1 View Post


    I'm never pre-ordering again.



    So you're going to wait in line for hours on end instead?
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  • Reply 15 of 82
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kyle76 View Post


    Are any stores getting less than their allotment for pre-orders? I've got to drive an hour to pick up mine, and I don't want to get there and find out there's not enough phones to satisfy those with reservations.



    Just picked up mine in Hickory, NC. Only 6 iPhones were delivered yesterday for today's pickup day, I was one of the lucky ones. They're turning away a lot of unhappy customers who thought that they'd have their iPhone in hand this morning.



    The AT&T Store didn't have the latest version of iTunes installed on their computers? So I had to take mine home to activate. Everything has gone smoothly :-)



    (and no yellow dots on the screen)
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  • Reply 16 of 82
    desarcdesarc Posts: 642member
    i know a lot of you hate AT&T, but at the Westfarms Mall in Connecticut, but when i got to the mall [5 minutes before 7 am] there were a few hundred people in the Apple line and SEVEN people in front of me at the AT&T "experience" store. when the ATT store opened up, they let 10 people in right away [the whole line minus two people]. i was out of the store in 5 minutes with two activated iPhones.



    total time from getting to the "line" to having my preorders in hand: 10 minutes.
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  • Reply 17 of 82
    djrumpydjrumpy Posts: 1,116member
    I'm on my way now to pick up a reserved phone. They've been open about two hours by now so hopefully it's not too bad.
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  • Reply 18 of 82
    I waited at the Louisville, KY store for ~2+ hours, they had two lines, one for reserve, one for pick ups. However, the Apple store personnel didn't look like they had their crap together, were too busy showing off, and it was taking forever. They were only taking about 5 people at a time in the store.
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  • Reply 19 of 82
    I'm glad that I pre-ordered (and received mine yesterday). There has never been a line this long at the store on 5th avenue. It's almost unbelievable, especially considering that it is 90+ degrees in NYC today.
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  • Reply 20 of 82
    paulmjohnsonpaulmjohnson Posts: 1,380member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NeilM View Post


    Ordered mine at a local AT&T store on 6/15, which took a little over an hour. It'll be delivered to my office today by FedEx (cross fingers..) A lot less hassle than lining up for hours...days...



    I've never quite understood the attraction of waiting in line for hours (days) when you can order on-line and have stuff delivered to your door, assuming you absolutely have to have it on release day.



    That said, I like it when things like this happen on release day:



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ3pgTvqntE
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