Just hours after pre-orders began, shipping estimates for new iPhone 4S orders placed through Apple's online stores in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK have slipped to 1-2 weeks from the initial "by October 14th" estimate. Shipping estimates through Apple remain at October 14th in the United States, while the company is not offering online sales in Japan.
Current shipping estimates in Apple's Canadian online store
Apple and its carrier partners began pre-orders around midnight Pacific Time, although Apple's and AT&T's sites didn't come up for orders until about 40 minutes after the scheduled launch time. And even after pre-orders came up on Apple's site, users had significant difficulty getting through. Much of the bottleneck appeared to be related to verifying eligibility and plans through AT&T, with the purchasing process repeatedly hanging and resulting in errors for many users.
iPhone 4S reservation issued due to problems with carrier processing
Apple eventually shut down its iPhone pre-order system for a brief period of time, bringing it back up to issue reservations that would allow users to return later to verify eligibility and select their service plans. Apple has begun notifying users who placed early reservations that they may now return to apple.com to complete their orders, and that they must complete the process by 5:00 PM Pacific Time tomorrow in order maintain their priority order status.
I thought people didn't like the 4S. What happened?
Read the comments: lots of people with iPhone 3s are updating. Their plan cycle is up and they are stepping up to the latest & greatest available from Apple. Had it been an iPhone 5, they would be doing this too... not because a "5" is necessarily better than a "4s" but just because it was time for an update and this is the latest iPhone available. If Apple had said "no new iPhone this year; we're sticking with the 4 (inside & out)" I suspect many of these same iPhone 3 people would still upgrade anyway to a "4" as it is just a natural outcome of their contracts ending.
I think the griping and "not liking it" is a lot of people with expectations of major design updates every year fueled by the delay by several additional months beyond the "normal" launch time and the usual hype-a-rama machine of rumors. And some of these are "4" owners who don't care about cost inefficiencies and/or extended contract terms from renewing hardware before the normal contract term cycle.
Personally, I think Apple should have called this one a "5" as I suspect a lot of the gripes were attached to an idea of a name (number). Sure, if it was branded the "5" the gripes would have been that it looks exactly the same as a "4". But those needing to brag about owning the latest gadget could have got their "5" instead of having to emphasize the "S" in 4s.
Functionally, it has the latest & greatest guts available from Apple. Yes, the rumored bigger screen was an interesting possibility and a new body shape would help those who need to brag show they have a "5" without having to say they have a "5". But otherwise, Apple took the latest horsepower & guts they have and put them in the same shell with the same-sized screen. The braggers will just have to emphasize the "S" or wait out the next iPhone. For those that care about their spending, maybe the next one will arrive right about the time their 2-year deal on the "4" is about to end, so they can do what these "3" people are doing and not waste extra money for their next upgrade?
IMO, it was a waste to wake up early this morning (2:45 EDT), I couldn't get my order in through Apple due to ATT's FAN premier site being down. That along with the fact that Apple was delayed 43 minutes in opening up the store, I went back to bed. Woke up this morning and got my order in on the Apple site within two minutes. Got a confirmation email and not one of those bogus reserve ones. Never staying up again. :)
Mines coming between the 21st-28th, so excited! Got in there before the Shipping Estimates went up, which they inevitably will.
All the people complaining about the new iPhone 4S, this is the biggest spec bump the iPhone has ever seen.
iPhone 2G+3G = 400Mhz Processor + 128MB RAM + 2MP Camera iPhone 3GS = 600Mhz Processor + 256MB of RAM + 3MP Camera iPhone 4 = 800Mhz Processor + 512MB of RAM + 5MP Camera iPhone 4S = 2 x 800Mhz Cores + (Supposedly) 1GB of RAM + 8MP Camera
This is the biggest leap in the iPhones specs ever. If it was in a new different case, most of the complainers here would be crapping themselves in giddy excitement as they trip over each over in the stampede to buy it.
The £600 ($930) price tag for the 32GB stung a little bit though, but I wanted the extra space for the bigger file sized pictures and 1080p video.
Friday February 3, 2023 1:13 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released iOS 16.3 in late January following nearly six weeks of beta testing. The software update is available for the iPhone 8 and newer, and while it is a relatively minor update, it still includes a handful of new features, changes, and bug fixes.
Below, we've recapped new features in iOS 16.3, including support for physical security keys as a two-factor authentication option for...
Sunday February 5, 2023 6:07 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple has discussed selling a new top-of-the-line iPhone alongside the Pro and Pro Max models in 2024 at the earliest, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Based on this timeframe, the device would be part of the iPhone 16 lineup or later.
In a September 2022 edition of his weekly "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said there was "potential" for an iPhone 15 Ultra to replace the iPhone 15 Pro...
Saturday February 4, 2023 10:05 am PST by Eric Slivka
Online retailer TigerDirect has slashed pricing on the M1 iPad Air in several colors, offering the base 64GB configuration for just $313.99 in Purple and Pink.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with TigerDirect. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
That's a savings of 48% compared to Apple's normal $599.00...
A new version of the Mac Studio with the "M2 Ultra" chip is unlikely to arrive in the near future, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained that since the upcoming Apple silicon Mac Pro is "very similar in functionality to the Mac Studio," Apple may wait until the release of M3- or M4-series chips to update the machine, or...
Monday February 6, 2023 10:13 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released new tvOS 16.3.1 and HomePod 16.3.1 software updates, with the software coming two weeks after the tvOS 16.3 and HomePod 16.3 updates were released.
According to Apple's release notes for HomePod software 16.3.1, the update includes general performance and stability improvements. Notes for tvOS 16.3.1 are unavailable as of yet, but are probably similar to the HomePod...
The iPhone 15 Pro models will feature a "buttonless design" thanks to additional Taptic Engines, according to multiple corroborated reports, so what do we know about the change so far?
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo was first to report that the volume and power buttons on this year's two high-end iPhone models will adopt a solid-state design, similar to the iPhone 7's home button, replacing a...
Tuesday February 7, 2023 5:38 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple has reportedly considered releasing a new top-of-the-line iPhone alongside future Pro and Pro Max models, tentatively referred to as "iPhone Ultra," and one designer has taken it upon himself to envision what such a device could potentially look like.
German industrial designer Jonas Daehnert came up with this impressive-looking concept (pictured) by marrying design elements of the...
Google's Chromium developers are working on an experimental web browser for iOS that would break Apple's browser engine restrictions, The Register reports.
The experimental browser, which is being actively pursued by developers, uses Google's Blink engine. Yet if Google attempted to release it on the App Store, it would not pass Apple's App Review process.
Apple's App Store rules dictate...
Apple on January 23 released iOS 16.3, delivering support for Security Keys for Apple IDs, changes to Emergency SOS functionality, support for the second-generation HomePod, and more.
Top Rated Comments
Fake-out so they could get in on the pre-orders. That plan seems to have failed.
Read the comments: lots of people with iPhone 3s are updating. Their plan cycle is up and they are stepping up to the latest & greatest available from Apple. Had it been an iPhone 5, they would be doing this too... not because a "5" is necessarily better than a "4s" but just because it was time for an update and this is the latest iPhone available. If Apple had said "no new iPhone this year; we're sticking with the 4 (inside & out)" I suspect many of these same iPhone 3 people would still upgrade anyway to a "4" as it is just a natural outcome of their contracts ending.
I think the griping and "not liking it" is a lot of people with expectations of major design updates every year fueled by the delay by several additional months beyond the "normal" launch time and the usual hype-a-rama machine of rumors. And some of these are "4" owners who don't care about cost inefficiencies and/or extended contract terms from renewing hardware before the normal contract term cycle.
Personally, I think Apple should have called this one a "5" as I suspect a lot of the gripes were attached to an idea of a name (number). Sure, if it was branded the "5" the gripes would have been that it looks exactly the same as a "4". But those needing to brag about owning the latest gadget could have got their "5" instead of having to emphasize the "S" in 4s.
Functionally, it has the latest & greatest guts available from Apple. Yes, the rumored bigger screen was an interesting possibility and a new body shape would help those who need to brag show they have a "5" without having to say they have a "5". But otherwise, Apple took the latest horsepower & guts they have and put them in the same shell with the same-sized screen. The braggers will just have to emphasize the "S" or wait out the next iPhone. For those that care about their spending, maybe the next one will arrive right about the time their 2-year deal on the "4" is about to end, so they can do what these "3" people are doing and not waste extra money for their next upgrade?
All the people complaining about the new iPhone 4S, this is the biggest spec bump the iPhone has ever seen.
iPhone 2G+3G = 400Mhz Processor + 128MB RAM + 2MP Camera
iPhone 3GS = 600Mhz Processor + 256MB of RAM + 3MP Camera
iPhone 4 = 800Mhz Processor + 512MB of RAM + 5MP Camera
iPhone 4S = 2 x 800Mhz Cores + (Supposedly) 1GB of RAM + 8MP Camera
This is the biggest leap in the iPhones specs ever. If it was in a new different case, most of the complainers here would be crapping themselves in giddy excitement as they trip over each over in the stampede to buy it.
The £600 ($930) price tag for the 32GB stung a little bit though, but I wanted the extra space for the bigger file sized pictures and 1080p video.