Despite citing 2-4 week delays in iPhone shipments made from the online Apple Store, Apple has notified some customers that their iPhones will ship by July 6th (Friday):
Good news! We're happy to let you know your iPhone will ship by July 6th, 2007. Visit Order Status
Apple started accepting online orders for iPhones on June 29th at 6pm PT.
One of the early criticisms of the Apple iPhone was the lack of a user-replaceable battery. Apple received some negative press about their iPod's battery life, which prompted an official iPod battery replacement program.
Apple has similarly launched an iPhone Battery Replacement program, providing battery replacement for $79 plus $6.95 shipping. The program requires a 3 business-day turn around for service.
iPodBatteryFaq.com notes that Apple is also offering an iPhone rental program for $29 if your iPhone requires service (for any reason, not just battery replacement).
Businessweek reports on an iPhone tear down by Portelligent which estimates the component cost of the iPhone at $220.
Portelligent estimates that the cost of the materials used in the iPhone add up to about $200 for the 4-gigabyte version, which sells for $499 and about $220 for the 8-gigabyte version, which sells for $599. Their estimate doesn't include costs of final assembly, but it does give some insight into the gross margin on the device
It seems some guessing was still involved as the cost of the touch-screen ($60) was admittedly an "educated guess". Even the identify of the manufacturer of the screen was based on guesswork:
Carey told BusinessWeek that his analysis found no apparent markings that identified the screen's origin. But Balda's role in the screen has been something of an open secret in the wireless industry since the iPhone was first announced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in January.
Regardless, these breakdown costs only indicate raw component costs and do not include assembly, research, development or even boxing/packaging.
JohnMuch.com posted some Javascript benchmarks of the 8GB iPhone compared to his 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB of RAM. He ran a number of different online benchmarks including JSSpeed:
iPhone
Try/Catch with errors 378
Layer movement 3078
Random number engine (Did not compute)
Math engine 3474
DOM speed Testing (998/1000)
Array functions 1739
String functions 535
Ajax declaration 1089
Total Duration: 10293 ms
Macbook Pro
Try/Catch with errors 5
Layer movement 33
Random number engine 28
Math engine 43
DOM speed 21
Array functions 10
String functions 11
Ajax declaration 8
Total Duration 159 ms
More benchmark results are available with links to tools to try yourself. [via Ajaxian]
After opening weekend for iPhone sales, the analysts are taking their guesses at how many iPhones sold over the weekend. Without official numbers, these are simply estimates by analysts.
Shaw Wu claims that 250,000 units sold over two days, while Gene Munster estimates 500,000 and Trip Chowdhry says 525,000 for the weekend.
iPhone sales kicked off with massive lines (Apple.com Photo Gallery) and we have heard that 5th Avenue's iPhone sales alone on opening day reached 5000 units.
Reuters reports on the activation errors that have been causing major problems for some iPhone users. According to Reuters sources, approximately 2% of individuals who purchased the iPhone over the weekend have been affected by the activation problems.
AT&T spokesperson blamed the delays on both technical and "process related" issues, and also pointed to the high volume of customers trying to activate service.
An Associated Press article claims the problems are now improving, and Apple acknowledged that "a small percentage of iPhone customers who have had a less than perfect activation experience".
Our own iPhone Help and Troubleshooting forum has a dedicated topic for Activation issues.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Universal Music Group is set to notify Apple that it will not be renewing their long term contract to sell digital music through Apple's iTunes Store. Instead they will continue with a "short-term" sales agreement, which would mean Universal's catalog would remain on iTunes for the time being.
Though it is unlikely to have sweeping effects immediately, the change could give Universal more flexibility in its dealings with competitors to iTunes -- for instance enabling the company to offer other digital download stores parts of its catalog exclusively to other services.
The exact impact of shift is not entirely clear, but record labels have been reportedly concerned with Apple's increasing dominance in digital music sales.
It's been well publicized that the iPhone requires a 2 year contract for activation, and that the other iPhone functions (iPod, Internet) are unusable without proper activation.
That hasn't stopped people from trying to activate the iPhone otherwise, or to get an off-contract plan.
No Contract
Earlier reports from AT&T documentation revealed that iPhone would be offered with "Pick Your Plan" contractless rates for customers who don't pass the required credit check.
The catch for these Pre-Paid plans is that the Pick Your Plan monthly rates offer significantly fewer voice minutes than the 2-year standard plans. So, the only users that should be actively interested in this option would be those who plan to use very few voice minutes and wish to remain contractless.
TUAW provides the "work around" to qualify for the Pre-Paid option. Simply enter "999-99-9999" as your social security number during activation.
Widescreen iPod / Wifi
For those interested in simply having a Widescreen iPod / Wifi internet with no mobile phone, Gizmodo posts unconfirmed instructions on how to do so. Again, these are unconfirmed so you should proceed at your own risk. (And you need 2 iPhones)
1.) Obtain 2 iPhones
2.) Plug in iPhone #1 In iTunes select "I am a new AT&T Wireless Customer" and "Activate 2 or more phones on an individual or FamilyTalk Plan."
3.) Follow the steps for the FamilyTalk plan and enter "Cell Number X" to port a number over from another provider (e.g. Sprint)
4.) When the you receive the "Activation Complete" e-mail, plug in iPhone #2.
5.) Select the option "I am an existing AT&T (Cingular) wireless customer" and "Replace a phone on my account with this iPhone"
6.) Fill in the information re-using "Cell Number X." Allow the iPhone #2 to activate using this number. This number will be legit.
7.) Plug in iPhone #2, it will unlock the phone for use, but without a cell phone number assigned or account from AT&T.
Unlocked
Efforts are underway to try to create an unlocked iPhone. Despite some claims on the internet, there's been no evidence that this has been successfully accomplished.
As noted by TUAW, Apple has launched (iPhone Link) movie trailers for the iPhone that was previously spotted.
The iPhone specific page offers links to iPhone-formatted movies, which launch their own video player in Safari. The videos stream over the internet and can be watched in both landscape and portrait mode.
iPodHacks posted a Gallery of images taken with the iPhone.
Meanwhile our own forum members are posting photos taken with their iPhones. Click on thumbnails for full size images.
CrunchGear believes multi-touch capable MacBooks will arrive in October. According to the site, the technology would piggyback off the technology currently found in the iPhone, however, the trackpad would act as the input device rather than the screen, presumably to keep costs down.
Crunchgear has not been a particularly reliable source of Apple rumors. Their previous claim believed that OLED MacBooks were coming in May/June.
As it turns out David Cann's iChat for iPhone (iPhone Link) is the only instant messaging application that can be used on the iPhone, though its not without its bugs. I'm not sure if David made changes to his iPhoneChat site since Friday, but it was not working on the iPhone when I first tried it.
Keeping focus on the IM text field and scrolling back to see what has been said is a bit awkward, and the session is limited to 10 minutes, but it works. Another bug is that tap-drag motions aren't sent by the iPhone, so if your buddy list exceeds the space of 1 page on the iPhone, you can't scroll down to see the rest.
Meebo.com is another popular Web IM client. While their site appears to work initially, iPhone users are stuck unable to actually send messages. There is no "submit" button for the IM text fields, and the iPhone won't generate one through the standard on screen keyboard.
Amidst the pre-iPhone launch hype, Visto announced that they would be providing Exchange support for the iPhone.
Through Visto, iPhone users will be able to experience secure mobile access to current and legacy versions of both Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino corporate messaging platforms. Visto will enable access that is easy to implement and administer and will alleviate IT concerns regarding security and reliability.
At present, the iPhone can only support Exchange servers if IMAP support is enabled on the servers.
Visto Mobile for the iPhone will be available in "late Q3 2007". A free 60-day trial will be offered when its released. There is no other word on pricing.
This does, however, represent at least one 3rd party application making its way to the iPhone.
Apple has posted a Day One Gallery with images from New York, San Diego, Miami Beach, and Chicago.
A lot of people who seem very happy to be spending $500.
Inventive users can download the iPhone 1A543a restore image (93MB) from Apple.
The link was discovered through iTunes 7.3, which offers users the capability to restore their iPhone to factory default settings. The resultant .zip file provides a Firmware Folder and two DMG (one password protected).
There have been some ongoing efforts to unlock the Apple iPhone, but no documented success. According to one blogger, the Apple iPhone becomes locked to your SIM which you use to activate it (photo), but the iPhone's SIM can succesfully be used in another AT&T phone.
I took some iPhone size comparison pictures today for y'all.
Let's start in the kitchen....
Any more comparisons y'all want to see that you think I left out? Leave 'em in the comments!
It appears that most of AT&T's 1800 retail stores sold out of iPhones within hours of going on sale.
Virtually all of our stores sold out of the iPhone last night, AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said, declining to specify how many units had been sold.
According to anecdotal reports on the forums, some AT&T stores received as few as 20 units for sale, while others claimed in excess of 100.
Meanwhile, at this time, according to Apple's online search tool shows 24/164 stores that are currently sold out. Apple Stores, however, received significantly more stock of iPhones than the AT&T stores.
Our comprehensive guide highlighting every major new addition in iOS 26, plus how-tos that walk you through using the new features.
End-to-end encrypted RCS messaging in beta, Suggested Places in Maps, new Pride Luminance wallpaper, and more.
Apple's four new iPhones feature more differences between the latest models than ever before, so which one should you buy?
Siri AI, Apple Intelligence features throughout, child safety improvements, and more. In developer beta now.
Siri AI, design refinements, new Apple Intelligence features, and more. In developer beta now.
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a ~5.5-inch outer display and a ~7.8-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.
iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max with smaller Dynamic Island, new color options, camera and chip improvements, and more.
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