iPhone X pre-orders began at 12:01 a.m. on the West Coast and 3:01 a.m. on the East Coast in the United States, with throngs of Apple customers rushing to purchase the device as quickly as possible in the middle of the night.
While many customers were able to complete their order quickly enough to receive a delivery date of November 3, the day the device launches, some using the AT&T app to pre-order faced unexpected delays of 10 to 15 minutes or longer.
One AT&T subscriber, for example, tweeted screenshots of the app showing that her estimated wait time was 18 minutes until she could pre-order an iPhone X, but once she got down to one minute remaining she lost her position in the virtual queue.
@ATTCares ...You care?? I just had to wait 18 min to pre order and then redirects me to the site and makes me wait AGAIN now 30 more min???? pic.twitter.com/2TrgOd47e6
— momof4always (@Bayley4everat20) October 27, 2017
A second AT&T customer Chris tweeted a screenshot of the app saying "there's been an error tracking your place in line" with a "try again" button. When he tried again, he said he was placed into another 35-minute queue.
What is this @ATT I wait 47 min for the iphone X after a supposedly 15 wait and then I get this message? I’m really dissatisfied right now. pic.twitter.com/agmmIxzYUz
— Christopher Saker (@CJSaker) October 27, 2017
Meanwhile, some customers attempting to pre-order on Apple.com or with the Apple Store app said the storefront remained offline for around 10 to 20 minutes after iPhone X pre-orders officially began.
iPhone X shipping estimates slipped to 2-3 weeks for most models within just 15 minutes, and to 4-5 weeks within 30 minutes, so these hiccups mean that some customers might not receive their iPhone X until early December.
Apple typically underpromises with its shipping estimates, however, so some customers may receive their iPhone X earlier than expected.
A bit of good news is that some customers who received a message from Apple stating they "can't reach the carrier systems" have received an email with instructions to complete their order for delivery as early as November 3.
iPhone X shipping estimates are now holding steady at 5-6 weeks in the United States.
For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Casetify to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a case for the new iPhone X, which is launching on November 3. Casetify has created a whole range of new cases for the iPhone X, including the Essential Snap, Essential Woven, Essential Impact, Essential Skin, and DTLA. All of Casetify's cases work with the wireless charging feature in the iPhone X.
The four Essential cases are similar in design, but each offers unique features. The Snap Case, priced at $35, is one of Casetify's slimmest cases and offers a grippy non-matte finish along with basic protection from drops.
The Woven Case, priced at $40 with a card slot and $30 without, holds a couple of credit cards and offers more protection than the Snap Case with a woven fabric back and rubber bumpers at the sides.
Casetify's Essential Impact Case, priced at $45, is thicker and more protective than other cases, and it's constructed from a clear shockproof material that lets the design of the iPhone X shine through. The case has a hardshell exterior that's combined with an impact absorbing layer and a raised bezel around front to protect the screen.
The Essential Skin Case, priced at $25, is Casetify's most basic and affordable case. It's slimmer than even the Snap Case at .45mm thick, and offers light protection from drops. Though it's a thin case, there is a slightly raised lip to protect the iPhone's camera lens at the back.
The DLTA case line, priced at $49, comes in Sand, Olive, Matte Black, and Maroon. It offers military grade shock protection to keep the glass body of the iPhone X from shattering when dropped, and it has a raised lip to protect the display. It's 0.8mm thick and is made from a thermoplastic polyurethane that both absorbs shock and makes the iPhone easier to grip.
We have 10 Casetify cases to give away to MacRumors readers, and winners will be able to pick the style and color they like best. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumorsFacebook page.
Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.
The contest will run from today (October 27) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on November 3. The winners will be chosen randomly on November 3 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.
The first iPhone X pre-order customers have begun noting in the MacRumors forums that their orders recently moved to the "preparing for shipment/dispatch" stage. These users are located in Europe, and will be among the first to get the iPhone X in their hands, with deliveries promised to arrive on launch day next Friday, November 3. As of writing, no movement on order statuses has been made for customers in the United States.
Orders that are now updated to "preparing for shipment" status should begin shipping out to customers over the next few days. Once November 3 grows closer, the first orders will arrive to customers in New Zealand and Australia, and soon after that unboxing and hands-on videos of the iPhone X will likely be shared online.
Even though some orders are already preparing to ship, Apple coordinates with its shipping partners to hold deliveries until the official launch day, although on occasion a few can slip through early. The "preparing for shipment" stage also means that orders can no longer be changed or canceled. You can visit our iPhone forums now to discuss your order status with other MacRumors readers.
If you received a shipping estimate beyond the November 3 launch date, there's a chance you could pick up an iPhone X in retail stores when the smartphone launches next Friday in more than 55 countries and territories worldwide. Of course, you'll have to arrive early to get a place in line, and supply is predicted to be constrained in many stores. If you plan on visiting an Apple retail location, most stores will open at 8:00 a.m. local time on November 3.
Update: Some iPhone X orders placed in the United States have also now shifted to preparing to ship with November 3 delivery dates.
Virgin Mobile USA today announced that it will begin taking iPhone X pre-orders on its website on Friday, November 3. The carrier originally said it would launch pre-orders today, in line with Apple and major carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, but evidently the date has been pushed back by one week.
Boost Mobile likewise announced that the iPhone X will be available to order on its website on Friday, November 10 in the United States.
Virgin Mobile USA's so-called "Inner Circle" plan offers unlimited talk, text, and data with a few caveats: video quality is limited to up to 480p resolution, music streams at up to 500 kbps, and games stream at up to 2 Mbps. The carrier promises 4G LTE speeds for "practically everything else."
Customers who use more than 23GB of data in a billing cycle will be de-prioritized during times and places where the network is constrained.
Mobile Hotspot is available for an additional $10 per month, providing up to eight tethered devices with a dedicated allotment of 10GB of high-speed data to share each month. Unlimited calls to Mexico and Canada, and unlimited worldwide text messaging, can also be added for $5 per month.
Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile are both subsidiaries of Sprint and share the parent company's network in the United States.
Apple Watch Series 3 models with Wi-Fi and GPS became available to purchase on Apple's website in Mexico and the Philippines today after launching in Bahrain and Malaysia last week. Apple says the non-cellular models will also be available to buy in South Korea on November 3 and in Brazil on November 17.
Apple Watch Series 3 first launched September 22 in the United States Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the UK.
Availability of the GPS-only models expanded to the United Arab Emirates the next day, and to Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Guam, Hungary, Iceland, India, Jersey, Macau, Monaco, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Thailand, and Turkey on September 29. Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia followed September 30.
Apple Watch Series 3 models with LTE launched September 22 in the United States, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, and the UK, with other countries to follow next year.
iPhone X pre-orders began at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time today and effectively sold out in just minutes. Orders placed now are estimated to ship in five to six weeks, pushing deliveries into early December.
While the shipping estimates aren't a reliable indicator of iPhone X sales without knowing how much supply is available, Apple issued a statement to MacRumors indicating that customer demand is "off the charts."
We are thrilled to be taking orders for iPhone X, the future of the smartphone. We can see from the initial response, customer demand is off the charts. We're working hard to get this revolutionary new product into the hands of every customer who wants one, as quickly as possible. We will keep accepting orders online, and iPhone X will be available at Apple retail stores on Friday, November 3 starting at 8 a.m., as well as from our carrier and retailer partners around the world.
"The surging shipment lead times around the iPhone X approach the very popular iPhone 6 Plus," said Brian White, an Apple analyst with Drexel Hamilton, in a research note obtained by MacRumors.
The comparison with the iPhone 6 launch doesn't tell us much since, again, we don't know how much inventory was available on each launch day.
Gene Munster, a longtime Apple analyst turned venture capitalist at Loup Ventures, said he views Apple's current five to six week shipping estimate as a sign that demand for the iPhone X is "trending more favorable than investor expectations."
Munster created a chart that visualizes exactly when the iPhone X shipping estimates changed throughout the early hours.
Leading up to iPhone X pre-orders, multiple reports suggested Apple's manufacturing partners were struggling to assemble the TrueDepth camera and 3D facial recognition system that powers Face ID.
For this reason, several industry observers said the iPhone X would be in extremely short supply until next year. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo forecasted there would just two to three million units available at launch.
Apple stopped releasing first weekend sales numbers for new iPhone models last year, as demand typically outweighs supply, so the company feels it is no longer a representative metric for investors or customers.
Customers that missed out on pre-orders or face a lengthy shipping estimate can try their luck at Apple Stores on November 3. Apple said stores will have the iPhone X available for walk-in customers on a first come, first served basis, and it suggested customers arrive early as it anticipates strong demand.
Nintendo's newly-announced iOS game, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, has soft launched in the Australian iOS App Store, a launch rollout that Nintendo has begun to favor as a way to test its iOS apps prior to a worldwide debut. According to new data gathered by Sensor Tower, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp climbed to the top of the Australian App Store much faster than either Super Mario Run or Fire Emblem Heroes.
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp debuted quite high among all iPhone apps on the Australian App Store, hitting around number 2 within the first hour of its soft launch on October 25. Afterwards, the new game reached the number 1 spot on the Australian App Store within 12 hours of its debut. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is Nintendo's fourth smartphone game made in partnership with developer DeNA, following Miitomo, Super Mario Run, and Fire Emblem Heroes.
Hourly App Store category rankings from Sensor Tower App Intelligence show Nintendo’s third mobile game, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, off to a strong start in its Australian soft launch on iOS. According to the data, the game reached No. 1 among all iPhone apps faster than Nintendo’s previous mobile releases, Super Mario Run and Fire Emblem Heroes, hitting the impressive milestone within 12 hours of its launch on October 25.
Comparatively, Super Mario Run debuted just below the number 40 ranking. It then hit number 2 after 12 hours on the App Store in Australia, and finally obtained the number 1 spot 14 hours after its soft launch in the country last December.
Fire Emblem Heroes was ranked at number 35 at the 12 hour mark of its respective Australian soft launch earlier this year, and only made it as high as number 13 among all iPhone apps. Fire Emblem isn't quite as well-known a franchise as Mario or Animal Crossing, leading to low download rates on launch day in the United States.
Sensor Tower also reported that Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is currently ranked at number 117 among the top grossing iPhone apps in Australia. The game uses "Leaf Tickets" as its form of in-app purchase, allowing players to circumvent certain lengthy wait times for item and furniture building, supplement tickets for crafting materials, add in exclusive animals to their town like Tom Nook and K.K. Slider, and more.
Next, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is set to launch worldwide in late November, although Nintendo hasn't yet confirmed a release date. You can pre-register to be notified as soon as the game hits the App Store in your supported country on Nintendo's website right here.
Left to right: Anti-Glare, InvisiGlass Ultra, and EasyAlign sticker
InvisiGlass Ultra is made with 0.21mm ion-strengthened glass supplied by Corning, the same manufacturer of iPhone display glass. Belkin says the screen protector improves the iPhone X's scratch resistance by up to three to five times, with up to a 25 percent increase in protection against cracking and breakage from drops.
The anti-glare screen protector is said to reduce harsh reflections from both sunlight and artificial lighting, allowing you to view the screen comfortably in bright conditions. The ultra-thin screen protector has an anti-scratch coating.
Both screen protectors include a cleaning cloth and so-called EasyAlign sticker in the box for easier installation at home. The anti-glare version can also be professionally installed at an Apple Store with Apple's ScreenCare+ application system.
Belkin's InvisiGlass Ultra and Anti-Glare screen protectors are $39.95 and $19.95 respectively on Apple's online store in the United States. Both are currently estimated to ship in one business day.
Following Instagram's debut of Halloween filters yesterday, Facebook today announced the launch of Halloween-themed camera effects, posts, and even a new interactive game within the camera on the app. The update will be rolling out starting today and leading up to Halloween next Tuesday, October 31.
Included in the update are more than twelve different masks and frames themed around the holiday, and Facebook Live broadcasts will gain Halloween effects that you can place directly into your videos. In the camera there will also be a virtual game that turns you into a trick-or-treater who has to jump their way out of a haunted house by hopping up the walls to escape.
The game uses face tracking as its controls, so turning your head side to side changes the direction in which you jump, allowing you to climb higher and avoid traps, similar to the iOS game Doodle Jump. When you finish you can share your high score with a photo and send a challenge to friends to beat your record.
The colored background options on text posts will gain new themed backgrounds, including bats, pumpkins, a graveyard, and more. Additionally, Facebook plans to ensure that you're aware of Halloween events near you by sending prompts about local events to your feed.
Besides the main Facebook iOS app, Messenger will also gain various Halloween masks and frames for you to take pictures with, as well as send videos to friends. Facebook is known to launch holiday updates like this, doing the same one year ago with Halloween-themed reactions and using its acquisition of MSQRD to debut Halloween live filters in its camera.
Apple will add the third-generation iPad to its vintage and obsolete products list on October 31, 2017, according to an internal memo distributed to Apple Authorized Service Providers and verified by MacRumors.
Apple's third-generation iPad
The memo states that both Wi-Fi and cellular models of the third-generation iPad will be classified as obsolete around the world, except in the state of California and Turkey due to legalities in those regions.
The distinction means that Apple and Apple Authorized Service Providers will no longer repair or service the tablet since it will surpass five years since last being manufactured, except where required by law.
In California, for example, third-generation iPad owners may still obtain service from Apple Stores or by contacting Apple support at 1-800-APL-CARE. The extended coverage period will likely end in October 2019.
Apple released the third-generation iPad, formally known as "the new iPad," in March 2012. The tablet was Apple's last with a 30-pin dock connector, and it was immediately discontinued upon release of the fourth-generation iPad with a Lightning connector just seven months later.
The third-generation iPad will join the original iPad on the vintage and obsolete products list. iPad 2 hasn't received the classification yet since it remained in Apple's tablet lineup as a low-cost option until 2014.
Apple has updated its website with non-warranty service pricing for the iPhone X, which became available to pre-order starting today.
In the United States, Apple will charge flat rates of $279 for iPhone X screen repairs and $549 for any other damage to the device, unless it is a manufacturing defect covered by Apple's standard one-year limited warranty. The fees vary in other countries, such as Australia, Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
• Australia: $419 for screen repairs, $819 for other damage • Canada: $359 for screen repairs, $709 for other damage • Germany: €321 for screen repairs, and €611 for other damage • United Kingdom: £286 for screen repairs, £556 for other damage • United States: $279 for screen repairs, $549 for other damage
These prices do not apply to customers who purchase AppleCare+ for the iPhone X, which costs $199 upfront in the United States.
AppleCare+ is an optional warranty plan that extends an iPhone's coverage to two years from the original purchase date of the device. The plan adds up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage, each subject to a lower service fee of $29 for screen repairs, or $99 for any other damage.
If you shatter your iPhone X's screen once during its lifetime, for example, you would pay $279 out of warranty. With the upfront cost of AppleCare+ coupled with the screen repair incidental fee, you would pay $228, so purchasing the plan can save you money in the long run if an accident happens.
If you shatter your iPhone X's back glass, having AppleCare+ is even more worthwhile. Apple's flat rate is $549 for this type of damage, while the upfront cost of AppleCare+ coupled with a $99 incidental fee totals $298.
AppleCare+ for iPhone also provides 24/7 priority access to AppleCare advisors via online chat or phone for up to two years after the device's original purchase date. Without the plan, iPhone owners are covered by a limited one-year warranty and an initial 90 days of complimentary telephone support.
India has ousted the U.S. to become the world's second largest smartphone market after China, according to a new market research report on Thursday.
Figures aggregated by industry analyst Canalys show smartphone shipments in India in the third quarter of this year rose above 40 million units for the first time, representing 23 percent annual growth.
"This growth comes as a relief to the smartphone industry. Doubts about India’s market potential are clearly dispelled by this result," said Canalys Research Analyst Ishan Dutt. "There are close to 100 mobile device brands sold in India, with more vendors arriving every quarter. In addition, India has one of the most complex channel landscapes, but with low barriers to entry. Growth will continue. Low smartphone penetration and the explosion of LTE are the main drivers."
Samsung and Xiaomi, which shipped 9.4 million and 9.2 million units respectively, accounted for almost half of the total market, with Xiaomi expected to overtake Samsung if things continue. Meanwhile, Chinese trio Vivo, Oppo, and Lenovo also posted strong sales in Q3 2017.
Apple's sales, which were too low to make the chart, still indicated impressive growth, with iPhone shipments more than doubling to 900,000 units compared to Q3 2016. However, the relatively high price of iPhones has so far meant smaller adoption rates despite the introduction of lower-priced devices and discounted older models.
It's also worth considering that Apple only began local production in India earlier this year, while the Indian government has been mulling tax and policy exemptions sought by Apple for setting up more facilities to assemble iPhones.
Apple currently assembles iPhones at plants run by supplier Wistron, thereby satisfying India's requirement that 30 percent of products sold by foreign companies be manufactured or produced within the country. Apple also wants to open its first physical retail store in India as early as 2018, and the company is reportedly looking to open four to five flagship-class stores in the country over the next five to ten years.
Meanwhile, China remains the biggest smartphone market by some margin, with more than 110 million shipments per quarter.
Stranger Things: The Game received a feature update on Friday, coinciding with the hit TV series' season two debut on Netflix. Version 1.0.252 of the free retro-style sci-fi adventure game brings a new playable character to the Arcade and a brand new Hawkins High School dungeon.
Elsewhere, there are new quests to be gained from the Florist and the Hawk Theater Attendant, while players have another opportunity to get a 100 percent score thanks to a slew of new collectibles. In the words of the game's official blurb:
Things are stranger than ever in the town of Hawkins. Mike and the gang have new neighbors. Visit the Arcade to meet the new kid. Explore the Upside Down Gates that have opened around town. Solve the all-new throwback adventure in Hawkins High School.
Continuing the Stranger Things 2 theme, Snapchat today launched a new World Lens portal that takes users into an Upside Down version of Joyce Bryers' living room through an augmented reality doorway.
The room features several nods to the first season of Stranger Things, including fairy lights, alphabet graffiti, and a gaping hole in the living room wall. Interactive easter eggs and surprises scattered around the AR environment can also be discovered by tapping on objects.
To open the Upside Down lens in Snapchat, activate rear camera mode, tap the screen, and select the first sponsored effect in the list at the bottom of the interface. The lens can also be unlocked using Shazam in the Snapchat app when the Stranger Things them tune plays.
Two additional Stranger Things lenses are set to debut later in the day. To get the full augmented reality effect of the World Lenses, Snapchat users need to be using an iPhone 6s or later with iOS 11 installed.
Costing $149, the leather sleeve with soft microfiber lining is available in Saddle Brown and Midnight Blue colors. The case can also be twinned with Apple's iPhone X Leather Case ($49), also available in Saddle Brown and Midnight Blue.
The Leather Sleeve for 12-inch MacBook currently ships in 1 business day at the time of writing.
Pre-order supplies of the new iPhone X are now largely sold out, with the new iPhone models displaying shipping estimates well beyond the November 3 launch date. All models from all carriers at the moment list shipping estimates of five to six weeks in the United States, although some Sprint models can still be ordered for November 3 in-store pickup depending on the store. Other countries have similarly delayed shipping estimates.
Ahead of iPhone X pre-orders, rumors suggested supplies would be heavily constrained due to ongoing production issues with everything from the TrueDepth camera module to the flexible printed circuit board for the device's antenna.
With pre-order supplies of the iPhone X exhausted, some customers could be waiting for months to get their hands on one of Apple's new devices. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple will not reach supply/demand balance for the iPhone X until well into the new year.
Apple began accepting pre-orders for the iPhone X at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday, October 27, and it took just minutes for shipping estimates to start slipping. Shipping times are likely to get longer over the course of the next few hours as pre-orders continue to trickle in.
Customers who are hoping to get an iPhone X on launch day but weren't able to get a pre-order in early enough can try their luck waiting in line for a new device on launch day, Friday November 3.
Customers who were able to place an early iPhone X pre-order will begin receiving their devices starting next week.
Apple is now accepting pre-orders for the new iPhone X through its online storefront and through the Apple Store app.
The iPhone X features the first major redesign Apple has introduced in years with a 5.8-inch OLED display that is nearly bezel-free with no Home button. It also introduces a TrueDepth camera that supports a new Face ID facial recognition system and it supports Qi wireless inductive charging.
Apple's iPhone X is in high demand and all of the rumors we've heard suggest supplies are incredibly limited. Those hoping for launch day delivery should order as soon as possible, or a months-long wait could be in store.
Pre-orders are currently available in the first wave launch countries including Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, the UK, the US and the US Virgin Islands.
All of the major U.S. carriers -- Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile -- are accepting pre-orders for the new devices. Major online retailers including Best Buy and Target are also accepting pre-orders starting today.
Pricing on the iPhone X begins at $999 for a 64GB model and goes up to $1,149 for a 256GB model. Pricing for iPhone Upgrade Program customers starts at $49.91 per month and goes up to $56.16 per month. iPhone Upgrade pricing includes AppleCare+ support.
Customers who successfully place an order for launch day delivery can expect to begin receiving their devices starting on Friday, November 3, the official launch date for the iPhone X.
Apple has taken its online storefront down in order to prepare for the launch of the iPhone X, which will take place at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time or 3:01 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday, October 27 in the United States.
In other countries, pre-order times will vary based on local time zone. Pre-orders will kick off at 6:01 p.m. in Sydney, for example, 3:01 p.m. in China, and 8:01 a.m. in the UK. For details on when pre-orders go live in your country, make sure to check out our post that lists all of the pre-order times.
Apple will accept pre-orders through the Apple website and the Apple Store app. T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon will all be accepting pre-orders for the iPhone X in the U.S., as will major retailers like Target and Best Buy. We've rounded up all of the third-party retailers offering pre-orders in the United States.
Pre-orders will be available from Apple in the following first wave launch countries starting on October 27: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, the UK, the US and the US Virgin Islands.
Customers who are hoping to get an iPhone X on launch day should order as early as possible. iPhone X supplies are believed to be severely constrained, and available devices could sell out quickly, perhaps within a matter of minutes.
The iPhone X, which comes in Silver and Black, is available in 64 and 256GB capacities for $999 and $1,149, respectively. iPhone Upgrade Program customers will need to pay $49.91 a month for the 64GB model or $56.16 per month for the 256GB model.
Elgato's Eve lineup of smart home devices is one of the largest contributors to the HomeKit ecosystem, with a variety of sensors and switches for inside and out, including five more products announced a couple of months ago.
We reviewed a set of the early Eve products two years ago, when we found a solid set of sensors that were hampered by bugs in the early days of HomeKit. HomeKit has come a long way since that time, making it much more stable and useful, so many of our early qualms have been resolved and we were impressed by the new Eve Degree temperature monitor released earlier this year.
Two of the other products in the Eve lineup are the Eve Light Switch, a rather typical smart light switch, and Eve Motion, a battery-operated motion sensor. I've been using both of these for a few months, and I've found them to be quite useful in automating my home.
Eve Light Switch
There are a number of HomeKit-compatible smart switches on the market, including one from iDevices that I looked at earlier this year. The Eve Light Switch was, however, the first entrant into this category late last year, and it remains a worthy competitor.
Installation and Setup
If you've ever swapped out a light switch, it's a pretty straightforward process, and installing the Eve Light Switch isn't much different. As always, make sure you turn off power at the circuit breaker for safety before getting inside the junction box.
The Eve Light Switch is a lot bulkier than a traditional switch in order to accommodate all of the electronics, so you'll need to make sure you have enough room in your junction box, and you'll also need to have a neutral wire present at the switch location in order to provide continuous power to the switch. If you don't have one, you'll have to run some new wiring to the switch (which may not be a do-it-yourself job) or else select another location.
Unlike the iDevices Wall Switch, the Eve Light Switch can only be used in single-pole configurations. So if you've got a three-way circuit where a single light is controlled from two different switches, for example, you won't be able to use the Eve Light Switch.
Once you've determined the switch you want to replace is an appropriate location for the Eve Light Switch, it's just a matter or removing the old switch, transferring the wires over to the Eve Light Switch using the included wire nuts, shoving everything back into the wall, and screwing it all together.
Included snap-on plate (left) vs. standard wall plate purchased separately (right)
From there, you have a decision to make. Elgato includes a two-piece face plate for a clean look, which requires that you screw on a snap plate over the switch and then snap on the face plate. Alternatively, you can skip those two pieces and put your own face plate on. Metal face plates may decrease the Bluetooth range of the switch, but I haven't experienced any issues with mine.
With everything put back together, it's time to turn the circuit breaker back on and make sure tapping the switch properly turns your light on and off. From there, head to the Eve app to get finish setting up the switch and getting it registered with your HomeKit network.
When you're done with setup on your device, you'll be all set to control the Eve Light Switch using the Eve app, the built-in Home app on iOS, or Siri. And as always, you can set up scenes to control the switch in conjunction with other HomeKit accessories, such as a "Good night" scene that turns off the lights, locks the doors, and adjusts the thermostat when heading to bed.
Usage
One thing my whole family loves about the Eve Light Switch is that the switch is actually just one big capacitive touch sensor. Tapping anywhere on the switch will turn the light on or off, and a green light in the center of the switch when it's off helps make it easy to find and hit in the dark.
The sensor makes for a big target, and it's easy to activate it when carrying things, even if you have to use an elbow. That's in contrast to the iDevices Wall Switch, which is a more traditional paddle design that requires you to physically press the top or bottom half of the switch to turn it on or off.
The Eve Motion communicates via Bluetooth, which conserves energy but somewhat limits its range. It can connect directly to your phone via Bluetooth, but if you have an Apple TV or iPad set up as a hub for your HomeKit setup, it'll ensure that all notifications and scenes function properly even when your phone isn't in range. Bluetooth range is much shorter than Wi-Fi, however, so you could run into some difficulty if your hub is located far from the switch.
Eve App
Once you've set up your light switch in the Eve app, you'll find that it's also a very full-featured HomeKit control app, showing all of your HomeKit devices around the house with options to set scenes, timers, rules (triggers), rooms, and zones (groups of rooms).
I won't go into too much detail on the app, as we've covered it fairly extensively in previous reviews such as the Eve Degree, but it's definitely a high-quality app for managing not just Eve products but a variety of HomeKit-compatible accessories.
The Eve app keeps a log of events such as when the light switch is turned on and off, which you can view in graph or table form. The various rules and scenes also make it easy to set up products to work together in scenarios such as activating multiple products at once or using an event on one accessory to automatically trigger a change in the state of another one.
Eve Motion
The Eve Motion is a simple product designed to do only one thing: sense motion in a room. Its 120º field of view and 30-foot detection range help it recognize whenever someone enters a room, and the fact that it's powered by a pair of AA batteries means you can put it almost anywhere. The Eve Motion is also IPX3 water resistant, meaning it can withstand splashes and sprays, and with an operating temperature range of 0º to 130º F, it can be used outdoors as well as inside.
Setup is straightforward, and once you insert the batteries and set the Eve Motion in an appropriate location, the Eve app walks you through step-by-step to allow you to pair with the Eve Motion, set sensitivity for the motion sensing, and set a Siri name for the sensor. If you'd like to integrate with other Eve or HomeKit products, you can set up scenes by specifying triggers and conditions.
As with the Eve Light Switch, the Eve Motion connects to your iOS device over Bluetooth, and if you have an Apple TV or iPad set up as a HomeKit hub, it'll be able to integrate with all of your other smart home devices at all times.
On its own, the Eve Motion is rather limited, basically restricted to pushing notifications whenever motion is sensed. This can come in handy if you want to mount it on your front porch, inside your front door, or in a seldom-used room if you want to be alerted whenever anyone's presence is detected. Within the HomeKit ecosystem, you can restrict notifications to only certain times of the day or, using geofencing, to only times when you either are or are not home.
Notification preferences in Home app for Eve Motion
The real power of the Eve Motion, however, is its wireless connectivity that integrates with the rest of the Eve platform and HomeKit, which lets you use the Eve Motion to trigger actions by other smart home components. For example, you could automatically turn on a light when motion is detected. Rules can also use multiple criteria, so you could set up an "I'm home" scene that turns on lights if it detects motion at your front door but only if it's after sunset. Or you could arrange to have a fan turn on when you enter a room, but only if the temperature is above 72º F.
One of the setups I tried with the Eve Motion was inside a pantry in my kitchen, pairing it with an iDevices Switch to try to automatically turn on a light in the pantry when the door was opened. The setup worked, but it's not instantaneous, sometimes taking as much as five seconds for the Eve Motion to recognize the motion of the door opening and me moving around in front of it, passing the event to HomeKit for processing the trigger, and sending a signal to the iDevices Switch to turn the light on it.
It wasn't ideal, considering I am frequently spending less time popping my head into the pantry than it takes for the light to come on, but it was an interesting test to push the limits of how HomeKit products can work together.
(November 2017 Update: Elgato has released updated firmware for the Eve Motion and Eve Light Switch that greatly improves response time in automations like this by leveraging updated Bluetooth architecture for HomeKit that was introduced in iOS 11.)
Other less time-sensitive setups worked better, such as triggering lights to come on when motion was detected on my front porch. The slight lag in response for the scene to activate once motion is detected isn't really significant in these contexts.
Wrap-up
The Eve Light Switch carries a list price of $49.95, and a few third-party sellers at Amazon are even knocking a few dollars off of that, which makes for a pretty decent deal in the world of connected light switches where many are closer to $100. It's a lot more than the buck or two you can spend on a traditional toggle switch at the low end, but there's obviously a lot more technology packed in and it comes with much more functionality. Your cash outlay will add up quickly if you want to use any of these smart switches throughout your home, so at least for now most users will want to be fairly selective about where they choose to install them.
The Eve Motion is priced at $49.95, and it's available through a number of retailers including Amazon or directly from Elgato. As a simple motion sensor without any other Eve or HomeKit products, it's not really worth investing in, but as part of a larger smart home setup, it can be a handy addition to help your other accessories do more.
Note: Elgato provided the Eve Light Switch and Eve Motion to MacRumors free of charge for the purposes of this review. No other compensation was received. MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon and may earn commissions on purchases made through links in this article.
