Apple Fall Event: Gather Round - Live Discussion and pre-purchasing thread (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

A couple I can think of. Online sold out within seconds and they want launch day products. So the store is their last hope.

Also, it’s a social event. I did it once. Back in iPhone 6 release day. It was fun. Customer service people handed refreshments out to the line. People were genuinely friendly and talkative w each other.

 

[TonyD]

A couple I can think of. Online sold out within seconds and they want launch day products. So the store is their last hope.

Also, it’s a social event. I did it once. Back in iPhone 6 release day. It was fun. Customer service people handed refreshments out to the line. People were genuinely friendly and talkative w each other.

What online sold out?

I ordered my iphone Max 2 days after the preorders went live.
Mine arrives tomorrow like everyone else who ordered.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Yeah, I don't think all phones sold out. At worst, the dates have been pushed back.

It just looks like hundreds upon hundreds of people camping out for a limited store supply. People are going to be making sacrifices on storage capacity and otherwise when they finally reach the counter.

 

[Nelson Au]

I am going to be one of those crazy people tomorrow. if the lines are long or it’s a zoo, I’ll skip trying to stay. My interest is to see and try a watch in person for size and fit to determine which size fits best. And if I’m lucky, Buy one in person.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thought I’d chime in. It’s 7:00am in California. I’m third in line at my local Apple Store. I’m in the walk-in line and there’s 4 guys behind me. 6 Apple Store was mployees outside greeting us and 3 security guys. One person with a pre-order is in the pre-order line.

I’ll see if I can pick up a watch.

 

[Nelson Au]

It’s a little after 7:30am, about 12 people including me in the walk-in line. I’m just in a mall at the upper edge of Silicon Valley. I’m guessing the flagship stores in San Francisco and Palo Alto have longer lines.

Hope you’ll forgive me posting while in line. The excitement is building here.

 

[JQuintana]

Is waiting in line on launch day for an iphone still a thing? As in huge crowds lining up like back in 2008 era?

 

[Nelson Au]

Sold out! No luck for me. My best bet is order online they told me. But I got to see the 40 and 44 and definitely the 44 works. The 10s Max I liked! It’s thin width wise and fit in my pocket still. Oh well. I did not ask but I could have got the phone I’m guessing. But I’m going to wait a bit on the phone.

 

[Carlo_M]

For clarification, when I said "sold out" I meant the guaranteed to arrive by release day ones. There are some who want their items on release, or as close to release, as possible, so if by the time they can get onto the preorder site it says "will deliver X days after release date", then their only option to get it on release day is by lining up.

And yes, people can get lucky and order cancellations (or a surge in assembly by Foxconn) can suddenly push up their post-release date estimate to release date delivery, but you don't know that on preorder night. And some people won't want to take that chance.

 

[Carlo_M]

Is waiting in line on launch day for an iphone still a thing? As in huge crowds lining up like back in 2008 era?

See previous page for your answer.

 

[Carlo_M]

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/09/21/some-iphone-xs-pickup-orders-delayed/

I have a theory...my watch has been sitting at "waiting at clearing agency for final release" for a while (UPS). I wonder if the agency is overwhelmed by the number of products. Although they shouldn't be, given how this has been now an annual thing for a decade.

 

[Sam Posten]

I think it’s a customs issue

 

[Nelson Au]

Hey Carlo, yes, I had hoped to try to get a watch on release day. But I did not pre-order because I had to see for myself what the 40mm and 44mm looked like in person and on my wrist. I got that opportunity today and was able to make up my mind which size was right for me.

Now is just a waiting game. I will either wait till the stock is not so constrained to buy one at the store. Or order on-line and wait for my order to ship in October time frame. Or maybe get lucky and find a store with one in stock by checking the Apple Store app.

 

[Mark Booth]

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/09/21/some-iphone-xs-pickup-orders-delayed/

I have a theory...my watch has been sitting at "waiting at clearing agency for final release" for a while (UPS). I wonder if the agency is overwhelmed by the number of products. Although they shouldn't be, given how this has been now an annual thing for a decade.

I was in the middle of the big debacle today (to some degree). I picked up my XS at 11:30am and didn't have any trouble whatsoever. I was in the Apple Store for about 5 minutes.

But I also preordered (for in-store pickup) an Apple Leather case for the XS. By ordering online for in-store pickup I was able to use my EPP account and get a 10% discount on the case. I placed the order about 1 hour before we arrived at the Apple Store to pickup the phone. The case wasn't ready for pickup yet, I was told I'd have to wait for the email saying it was ready for pickup. No biggie, my wife and I went to get lunch in the area.

While at lunch I received the pickup email and we went back to the Apple Store when we were finished eating. Wow, what a difference an hour made. The internal servers had crashed (or whatever) about 30 minutes after we left the store with my iPhone. They were completely unable to pull up my Leather case preorder despite scanning the QR code I received in email. It was a real mess. There were multiple irate customers standing in the iPhone/Apple Watch pickup line that wasn't moving at all.

I was very glad I picked up my phone when I did.

Mark

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Hey Carlo, yes, I had hoped to try to get a watch on release day. But I did not pre-order because I had to see for myself what the 40mm and 44mm looked like in person and on my wrist. I got that opportunity today and was able to make up my mind which size was right for me.

Now is just a waiting game. I will either wait till the stock is not so constrained to buy one at the store. Or order on-line and wait for my order to ship in October time frame. Or maybe get lucky and find a store with one in stock by checking the Apple Store app.

Nelson,

Which watch size did you decide upon?

 

[Nelson Au]

Hi Ron, I decided on the 44mm.

When I tried both, I was surprised the 40mm looked small on my skinny wrist. I figured the larger display on the slightly larger 40mm might appear similar to my old 42mm. And I thought the 40mm might look okay on my wrist since my mechanical watch has a 40mm diameter bezel.

The 44mm does look bigger then my old 42mm obviously, but not so much and looks ok.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Hi Ron, I decided on the 44mm.

When I tried both, I was surprised the 40mm looked small on my skinny wrist. I figured the larger display on the slightly larger 40mm might appear similar to my old 42mm. And I thought the 40mm might look okay on my wrist since my mechanical watch has a 40mm diameter bezel.

The 44mm does look bigger then my old 42mm obviously, but not so much and looks ok.

I went from the 42mm to 44mm and though it doesn't look much bigger the graphics certainly do look more impressive.

Love this new watch!

 

[Carlo_M]

Finally passed the clearing house, early next week delivery, which means it will beat the estimated arrival date (at the time I purchased) by several days. Very excited to finally own one!

 

[Nelson Au]

I hope to join you new owners soon! Enjoy!

Ron, when I was at the Apple Store, that new watch face complication on the 44mm really did look great! I can’t wait to try it on my next bike ride and see the excercise apps in action.

 

[DaveF]

I’m not a pre-order line guy, but my wife and I did that to buy her the original iPad. It was fun. We talked with an 80 year old woman who was a technology fan, and was thrilled at the prospect of using the iPad for video chatting in ASL with her deaf sister.