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iTunes Connect to Go Down for Maintenance as App Store Problems Persist

Wednesday July 13, 2011 12:01 am PDT by Arnold Kim
Early last evening, the Mac App Store and iTunes App Store began having intermittent connectivity problems that we originally reported on our Mac Blog. The issues were widely reported by our readers in many geographic areas though the problems came and went for individuals. Reports of problems, however, have persisted all night, representing one of the longest durations of connection issues with the App Store ever.


Late this evening, Apple has started emailing developers to let them know that their developer portal iTunes Connect will be undergoing maintenance throughout the day on Wednesday (emphasis ours):
iTunes Connect will be undergoing scheduled maintenance on Wednesday, July 13 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. PDT.

During this time, iTunes Connect will still be available. However, pricing changes made between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. PDT will cause the app to become unavailable for purchase until maintenance is complete, at which point the app will become available at the new price. To avoid interruptions to the availability of your apps, do not make price changes during this time.

Lastly, customers may not be able to purchase apps in the Mexico, U.K., Australia, Switzerland, Japan or Norway storefronts during the scheduled maintenance.

Regards,
The App Store team
It's not entirely clear if the maintenance is related to the downtime, but it seems likely given the short notice. The window of time covers the entire day and Apple says it could actually affect customer purchasing in many geographic areas.

While Apple is expected to also release OS X Lion to the App Store in July, the duration and scope of this maintenance seem beyond what might be considered normal downtime.

[ 97 comments ]


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wordoflife
100 months ago
It's probably related to the backlight keyboard on the next Macbook airs
Rating: 23 Votes
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arn
100 months ago

Could be a maintenance / preparation gone wrong...?


Perhaps.

I really hope Lulzsec hasn't decided to attack Apple. It probably has the most credit card numbers stored, next to the credit card companies themselves. And going after emails and passwords has been their modus operandi in the past.


No one has claimed it, so seems unlikely. I'd expect if someone was responsible for it, they would be bragging about it.

arn
Rating: 7 Votes
Avatar
jamied95
100 months ago

I know that none of you will believe me. I messaged @Lulsec on twitter (not expecting a response). Asking if they where DDOS ing Apple. They came back and said "depends who's asking"
So I replied"just a geek"
And they relied "we confirm"

If anyone at Mac Rumours wants to PM an email adress, I can send you the screenshot from my twitter.

My twitter account is @karlnicholson


It's because you're talking to some nobody. You got a reply from lulsec, not lulzsec.
Rating: 7 Votes
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MacsRgr8
100 months ago
I think it is in preparation of Lion
Rating: 5 Votes
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IT-Pro
100 months ago
Considering this article from InformationWeek earlier this week there's a lot at stake for Apple:

Beneath the all-digital release, there's a bigger goal, sources told BYTE. The all-digital launch of the 6GB Lion downoad to a giant, broad base of users is really designed to see how well Apple will deliver its even more ambitious iCloud service to a new generation of multi-touch, non-optical drive Macs and notebooks. Apple plans to debut them in August and ship September, sources say.


Digital delivery -- and the Maiden facility is key to this -- must work well for Apple to declare a success for Lion and continue along with its more ambitious plans later.


The Maiden, NC facility won't operate alone, sources say. For OS X Lion, Maiden will operate in concert with Apple's second-largest facility, the 110,000 sq. foot center in Newark, CA, its Cupertino, CA facility and likely those of third-party partners such as Akamai, sources say.
Apple needs to find out in a large scale test, and Lion is that test, if iCloud services really will work the way people will expect on current devices and the new Macs and notebooks coming in September, sources tell BYTE.


Source: InformationWeek (http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/desktop-os/231001289)

Thus, it would be very plausible to perform extensive maintenance. Apple would not necessarily have to move content over to other farms, but they would want to spread the load as much as possible, perhaps per region.
Rating: 5 Votes
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andiwm2003
100 months ago
seems the Mobileme team got transferred to iTunes........
Rating: 5 Votes
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MacsRgr8
100 months ago

This can't have been intentional.

arn


Could be a maintenance / preparation gone wrong...?
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
Portal83
100 months ago

Lastly, customers may not be able to purchase apps in the Mexico, U.K., Australia, Switzerland, Japan or Norway storefronts during the scheduled maintenance.


Oh no! I won't be able to purchase apps from "the Mexico"!
Rating: 4 Votes
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TimTheEnchanter
100 months ago
Simple answer people.... It's Bush's fault. :rolleyes:
Rating: 4 Votes
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mccldwll
100 months ago

My credit on my account seems to have all of a sudden changed from £45 to about 54p! Anyone else having any trouble like this, I have also changed my password


Curious. Another newbie claiming credit card trouble. Looks like more trolls than real posters on macrumors these days.
Rating: 3 Votes

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