iPhone 4 lines persist as AT&T sells first come, first served

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
AT&T on Tuesday began its second round of iPhone 4 orders, giving walk-in customers who didn't preorder through the wireless carrier their first opportunity to purchase Apple's latest handset.



Customers around the U.S. got in line once again for the iPhone 4, following last week's first day of sales. But while Apple's retail stores had some phones available for customers who did not preorder, AT&T was forced to suspend preorders after experiencing overwhelming demand earlier this month. The first day of preorders -- June 15 -- was said to be the busiest online sales day in AT&T history.



AT&T later announced that those who initially preordered would receive their iPhone 4 last week, while customers who were unable to get in before preorders were suspended would have to wait until June 29.



Starting Tuesday, the iPhone 4 became available on a first-come, first-served basis while supplied last at all AT&T sales channels. The handset is available through the wireless carrier's retail locations, at its website, and in business sales channels.



As inventory of the iPhone 4 sells out, AT&T, the exclusive wireless carrier of the iPhone in the U.S., offers customers the option of purchasing Apple's handset and having it delivered to a home, business or AT&T store. Customers will receive an e-mail when their order is placed, and again when it finally ships.



Photo via Flickr user thinkjose.



In other AT&T news, the company announced this week that it has completed its overhaul of its high-speed 3G network in New York City, throughout Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. The upgrade is said to offer customers improved G voice and data connectivity performance, especially during peak hours.



Through the upgrade, AT&T added new layers of frequency to nearly all cell sites in Manhattan, as well as many other areas in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. The upgrades were necessary as AT&T's network grew more than 5,000 percent over the last three years since the iPhone first launched.



"Our goal is pretty simple: in the city that never sleeps, we're working 24/7 to make sure our customers have a great experience every time they make a call, check e-mail, download a song or video, or surf the Internet on their AT&T device," said Tom DeVito, vice president and general manger for AT&T in NY and NJ. "Adding more capacity to cell sites is just one way we are doing to that."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 31
    postulantpostulant Posts: 1,272member
    I guess these customers aren't concerned that the sky is falling.
  • Reply 2 of 31
    ochymingochyming Posts: 474member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Postulant View Post


    I guess these customers aren't concerned that the sky is falling.



    : ? or that AT&T is Not that bad?
  • Reply 3 of 31
    maxtoshmaxtosh Posts: 17member
    I was 3rd in line at 3 am. They only had 16GB available, but the 32s were due later that day. By 6 am line was about 30 deep.



    No, the sky isn't falling. Not saying Apple can do no wrong, but they always take care of the cutomer when problems arise...my experience anyway.
  • Reply 4 of 31
    The demand for iPhone 4 is intense regardless of the issues we are hearing.



    This funny video pretty much sums it up: An EVO 4G Salesman Confronts An iPhone 4 Shopper (NSFW)
  • Reply 5 of 31
    Don't these people have jobs? It's just a phone.
  • Reply 6 of 31
    bageljoeybageljoey Posts: 2,004member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JustReelFilms View Post


    This funny video pretty much sums it up: An EVO 4G Salesman Confronts An iPhone 4 Shopper (NSFW)





    "I want the one with the bigger gee bees!"

    Crude and polemical, but still funny.

    (I can't wait to watch it again on my iPhone4 as soon as I can find one in stock...I'm on my way to Wallgreens now...)
  • Reply 7 of 31
    brucepbrucep Posts: 2,823member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by daving313 View Post


    Don't these people have jobs? It's just a phone.



    and your life is so grand commenting on our lack of life

    ha

    ha

    are we not men ????

    are we not....

    devo

    lives

    its waiting on line at AN ATT store that irks me



    i hope game stop starts to sell these babes soon enough so i can but some 360xbox games at the same time



    keeping supplies short or whatever we call it

    keeping 4000 usa stores selling out by noon day after day gives all concerned un beatab le good will and un beatable promotion.





    alas i will look again for a short line at a best buy or ATT or apple store in staten island

    all are with in 20000 feet of each other
  • Reply 8 of 31
    I got there at 10pm last night and was 6th in line, and had the option of either 32 or 16 (chose 16). By about 11:30 there were 16 total longhaulers, without a significant crowd showing up by around 4:30ish. By 7:00 the line was more than 50 people long and I stopped counting.



    Glad I got one



    Oh and about having a job: I'm a teacher and don't have to go back to work until August 12th.
  • Reply 9 of 31
    island hermitisland hermit Posts: 6,217member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JustReelFilms View Post


    The demand for iPhone 4 is intense regardless of the issues we are hearing.



    This funny video pretty much sums it up: An EVO 4G Salesman Confronts An iPhone 4 Shopper (NSFW)



    The clip is funny in its own right but one thing that most fandroids miss is that the EVO and other android phones have there own mess of problems... and not just reception problems.



    Why don't we hear much about these issues with android phones? Not sure but my first guess would be that they are not made by Apple.
  • Reply 10 of 31
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JustReelFilms View Post


    The demand for iPhone 4 is intense regardless of the issues we are hearing.



    This funny video pretty much sums it up: An EVO 4G Salesman Confronts An iPhone 4 Shopper (NSFW)



    hahahaha. dude, the sheeple need to get away from those stores so i can get my iphone already. I don't want to be stuck on sprints network. it doesn't work on the train or at work which is like 75% of my life unfortunately
  • Reply 11 of 31
    addicted44addicted44 Posts: 830member
    Long line stretching almost to the end of the block at an ATT store!



    About 50-60 people waiting at 10AM.
  • Reply 12 of 31
    s4mb4s4mb4 Posts: 267member
    fedex rules
  • Reply 13 of 31
    2boxy2boxy Posts: 2member
    meanwhile my pre-order still hasn't' shipped! This pisses me off, I had a preorder in at 345 AM CST on June 15th, still waiting for AT&T to ship my freaking phone (or in my case now, answer their phone calls) 48 mins and holding for "Premier" support (what a joke!! anything but premier)
  • Reply 14 of 31
    bartfatbartfat Posts: 434member
    Well, at least no one can seriously say that Apple is now doomed to Android phones taking over the market They can't make enough of 'em to meet demand, despite AT&T.



    This bodes well for my Apple stock Anyone see them selling 15 million by the end of the year?
  • Reply 15 of 31
    bartbuzzbartbuzz Posts: 131member
    Can someone out there educate me?



    Has there ever been as much demand or scrutiny with other smartphones? It just seems like most stories (positive and negative) are directed at Apple.



    Just curious.
  • Reply 16 of 31
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Postulant View Post


    I guess these customers aren't concerned that the sky is falling.









    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ochyming View Post


    : ? or that AT&T is Not that bad?



    Seriously though, despite AT&T's faults my (HSDPA Category 8) download speeds on the iPhone 4 have been rivaling that of the EVO 4G on WiMAX and my (HSUPA Category 6) upload speeds on the iPhone 4 have been easily trouncing the EVO 4G on WiMAX upload speeds I've been reading about in reviews. Add to the lack of cities for WiMAX, additional monthly cost and power drain for simply having it on and AT&T is looking pretty damn good this year.



    On top of that, I haven't experienced or read about any widespread activation issues that have plagued the 3 previous iPhone launches in the US. Right now AT&T is looking like the best possible choice for data heavy phone smartphone users
  • Reply 17 of 31
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BartBuzz View Post


    Can someone out there educate me?



    Has there ever been as much demand or scrutiny with other smartphones? It just seems like most stories (positive and negative) are directed at Apple.



    Just curious.



    Scrutiny, no. Issues, yes. Having every little issue scrutinized is the envious position because people care about your product and you are the product everyone compares all others to. This is also great for the consumer in the long run as it does mean they have to work even harder to ensure less issues.



    Take the iPhone's battery for example, despite having a great battery it's been vilified for it's bad battery for 3 years. The only test that it was consistently beaten in is 3G talk time when compared to a CDMA phone, but that is inherent to the way CDMA voice calls work as they are sent over '2G' while on GSM-based networks the call is sent over '3G' UMTS.



    Then there are phones like the Nexus One which have had plenty of production issues and an uncertain method for who is responsible for sales, but with lackluster sales it's hard to get press because no one cares.



    I think without this scrutiny the iPhone 4 would not be the phone we have today.



    Here is some battery tests between the 3GS and new Android-based phones on AnandTech. Note the iPhone 3GS is rated as 10 hours of video playback from Apple and the others don't like to disclose those stats even those many consider them to be important specs for a multi-media device.
    LOL here is a comparison on battery times back from 2007.
  • Reply 18 of 31
    shobizshobiz Posts: 207member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BartBuzz View Post


    Can someone out there educate me?



    Has there ever been as much demand or scrutiny with other smartphones? It just seems like most stories (positive and negative) are directed at Apple.



    Just curious.





    It's primarily just because of all of the drama that is created related to Apple products.
  • Reply 19 of 31
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by maxtosh View Post


    Not saying Apple can do no wrong, but they always take care of the cutomer when problems arise...my experience anyway.



    Well they try. And without charging you an arm and a leg in diagnostic fees etc. Best Buy's Geek Squad won't even take custody of your machine without a fee these days.



    In fact my roommate just got a check from Apple. Seems that he had them replace the hard drive on his laptop about 3 years ago. He had not gotten AppleCare so he had to pay for it. Okay fine that was on him that he did so whatever he wasn't bugged. But it turns out that upon reviewing stats it was found that over the acceptable number of hard drives from that batch failed and Apple believes that they might have been faulty from the start and thus it wasn't really the customer's issue. So they refunded all out of warranty replacement costs for any unit in that batch.



    And how many times have they replaced an iphone with reception issues when the phone might have been fine and it was problems with the service area. Or someone was smart enough to leave the word jailbroken out of their details with the genius. I bet plenty



    As for these lines, anyone that lines up at an ATT or a Best Buy is crazy. if there's an apple store in the area they are down right stupid. Apple is taking names, the others are not. Go and get your butt on the waiting list at Apple. Or bite it and order online



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BartBuzz View Post


    It just seems like most stories (positive and negative) are directed at Apple.



    You are pretty much correct.



    It has to do with how Apple markets stuff. They don't tell until they are ready, which means that the geek boys don't know if they should buy or wait. If they buy and something comes out in 2 months that is way more awesome they are pissed. So there's a huge market for rumors etc. This is the trap that Gawker fell into with Valleywag's attempted tablet stunt in January and Gizmodo's iphone stunt in April. And now they are leading the pack on negative stories in particular because they are being charged with a crime and Apple is cooperating with the Cali DAs (and have in effect given their blessing to the whole thing), plus Apple has deemed Gawker site non grata refusing to let them into events etc. Some other blogs have jumped on the bandwagon of defending Gawker and deeming Apple evil out of a knee jerk 'freedom of press' mode.



    Then there's the actual language. Apple says amazing, magical, revolutionary and it creates this high expectation. So when Apple fails, even just with a few units the internet is filled with complaints that spread like wild fire and suddenly there's a tragic design flaw. Happened with the small number of ipod batteries that exploded, happened with the 27 inch imacs, is happening with the iphone 4. Forget that all of these flaws were not new to these items or even Apple. The hype machine says that Apple is perfect so this is a disaster.



    Add that Apple doesn't speak until they have a full answer and you get "those dickwads don't care" and "those SOBs are moron" tales. Again, like wild fire on the 'Net



    Plus so many folks are not buying Apple that it's great hit fodder. In the celeb word, replace Apple and iphone with Twilight and (pick a major cast member) and it's the same game.
  • Reply 20 of 31
    bartbuzzbartbuzz Posts: 131member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by maxtosh View Post


    I was 3rd in line at 3 am. They only had 16GB available, but the 32s were due later that day. By 6 am line was about 30 deep.



    No, the sky isn't falling. Not saying Apple can do no wrong, but they always take care of the cutomer when problems arise...my experience anyway.



    I agree with you about Apple taking care of their customers. My MacBook was past warranty and Apple still fixed the problem without charging me the standard repair fee...which means they didn't charge me anything. That proves to me Apple wanted my return business. I fully expect to see the same thing happen with the iP4 issues.
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