Apple Store employees giving out free smart water to people in line. for the 14th St. store. Note that this is a full city block away from the start of the line.(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET)
It's finally here. The much-anticipated
iPhone 4 is hitting store shelves on Thursday at 7 a.m. local time in each time zone where it's available.CNET has teams of reporters covering the launch in New York City and San Francisco. Marguerite Reardon and Caroline McCarthy will be heading up coverage at Apple stores on the East Coast, while Erica Ogg, Josh Lowensohn, and James Martin will be keeping tabs on what's happening on the West Coast.These reporters will be checking in at Apple stores and other locations, such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Radio Shack, where iPhone 4s will be sold starting on Thursday. CNET will also let you know how things are going at the AT&T stores where only customers who preordered phones will be able to pick them up. Anyone looking to buy an iPhone off-the-shelf from AT&T
will have to wait until Tuesday.AT&T says that demand for the iPhone 4 is 10 times what it was for last year's iPhone 3GS. And Apple says it took
600,000 preorders for the new phone through its sales channels.If history is any indication of what to expect, initial sales of the iPhone 4 are likely big. Apple sold more than 1 million iPhone 3GS smartphones the first three days it was on sale. The original iPhone sold about 270,000 units during its first weekend in June 2007, while the iPhone 3G sold around 1 million when it launched in July 2008.While there's little doubt that the lines will long, the big question is whether AT&T's activation system will be able to hold up under the pressure. If the preorder process is any indication of what to expect, iPhone fans may need to be patient. On June 15, thousands of customers trying to preorder the iPhone were met with error messages on AT&T's and Apple's Web sites. AT&T's servers were overwhelmed and the company ended up suspending preorders.To keep up with the latest news from the launch, stay tuned to CNET's updates all day.
An iPad ad looms overhead at the 14th St Apple Store in Manhattan as a line to obtain the new iPhone 4 stretches down the block and out of view. One guy, a book in hand, arrived at the line and was dismayed to see how long it was. He said, "I'd have been happy to wait six months" and then showed off his current iPhone, which has a smashed screen. Happened yesterday, he said.(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET)
About 150 people are in the preorder line for iPhone 4. The line for non-reserved phones is significantly longer. They're telling new arrivals to get in one big line, and then if people have proof of preorder, they sort them into the preorder line.
The line at the Apple Store at Fifth Ave., shortly before the store opened.(Credit: Marguerite Reardon/CNET)
The lines for the iPhone 4 are wrapped around the block at Apple's flagship store on Fifth Ave. The line for the customers who haven't reserved an iPhone wind down 58th Street and around the block to 59th Street next to the Apple Store. There's also a huge line of people already lined up in the reserved line. These are customers who have reserved their phones in advance and are just waiting to pick them up.While it's clear the crowds are bigger to get the phone, the hoopla and the party atmosphere from previous iPhone launches seems to be missing. With a half hour to go, no one is chanting yet.
McCarthy, 6:41 a.m. EDT: The line stretches all the way from the corner of 14th St. and 9th Ave. down to 10th Ave. (Google Maps should be able to tell you how long this is) and then up around 10th Ave. past the intersection of 15th St. almost to 16th St., but after the corner of 14th and 10th there are gaps in the line because of driveways, a gas station, etc.
A closer look at the line at the Fifth Ave. store.(Credit: Marguerite Reardon/CNET)
Employees of the Apple Store are wearing blue
iPad T shirts--no special shirts for this launch.
McCarthy, 6:44 a.m. EDT: First preorder: Been here since 10:15 p.m. EDT last night, originally had a 3G and lost it> He's a textbook editor for McGraw-Hill, and his name is Zach (26). He was about 42nd in line before they divided it into preorder and non-preorder. First people to show up who didn't preorder the phone got to the store at 3 p.m. EDT yesterday.Zach says he took the day off work, and got his boss' approval. He is not playing hooky.
Reardon, 6:50 a.m. EDT: The doors open in 10 minutes. People in the back of the line only got here about 20 minutes ago. Jose Marinez, 36, said he has stood in line every year since 2007 to get an iPhone. He isn't worried that Apple will run out of phones, but he is a little worried that AT&T's servers might crash again. He tried to preorder the phone on June 15 and gave up when he couldn't get through on the Web site.
McCarthy, 6:58 a.m. EDT: Apple Store employees starting to cheer to rev people up.
Front of line gets ready to go in at 14th St. store. (Zach is the guy in the striped shirt, first in line). Employees in Apple store now shouting "iPhone 4! IPhone 4!" in unison.(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET)
Preorders are being let in, 60 people at a time. It's going smoothly so far. Afew minutes later, the first batch of walk-ups (non-preorders) are let into store, but ushered downstairs rather than into the upstairs area. Only about 20 let in.
McCarthy, 7:10 a.m. EDT: It's been 10 minutes and the first guy in line has not yet come back out--AT&T activation. Apple Store employee talking to people who show up and wonder how long the wait will be: "The demand is tremendous. It seems like everybody in New York wants this phone."
McCarthy, 7:11 a.m. EDT: First customer walks out with phone.
McCarthy, 7:17 a.m. EDT: This is going to be a long day for some of these people: there are still hundreds of people in the preorder line--still only one group of 60 has been let in--and the walk-up line is still much much longer. Line going SLOW.An Apple Store employee tells me that they do not yet know when the store will be open to "regular" customers for non-iPhone purchases.
McCarthy, 7:25 a.m. EDT: Activation time in-store appears to be 10-15 minutes. But the line itself is very slow. A lot of people who may have expected to get to work on time might not.Lots of reps from companies that resell used iPhones, or organizations that donate them to developing countries, are soliciting people in line.The line for walk-ups is now all the way to corner of 16th St.--and keeps growing.
Reardon, 7:30 a.m. EDT: People have been filing into the store for about a half-hour now. The line for people who have reserved iPhones is moving quickly. But the line for people who have not preordered a phone keeps growing. It now ends near the corner of 59th St. and Fifth Ave.--people enter the Apple store on 58th and Fifth Ave.
Reardon, 7:40 a.m. EDT: I just overheard an Apple representative say that everyone standing in line right now without a reservation will likely get a phone. He thinks the line should take two hours to get through.
McCarthy, 7:51 a.m. EDT, en route in Manhattan: The RadioShack on 14th St. and 7th Ave. is opening at its usual 9 a.m. time, no one waiting in front, no ads for iPhone 4 in window (in fact, there's still a 3GS poster).
In Brooklyn, it's sunny start to the day at the Shack.(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET)
Across the East River in Brooklyn Heights, about 15 people are clustered in front of the RadioShack on Montague St. It's opening at its regular hour of 9 a.m. The people waiting are a mix of preorders and walk-ups.There are no Apple Stores in Brooklyn, FYI.
McCarthy, 8:32 a.m. EDT: A RadioShack employee just arrived at the Brooklyn Heights store. The line is not getting much longer. The first guy has been here since 5:30 a.m. EDT. The 15th person in line is a girl who says her boyfriend is in line at the 14th St. Apple Store. He preordered a phone there and says even the preorder line is moving at a snail's pace; she, meanwhile, preordered at the Montague St. RadioShack: "I'll probably be back in bed before he even gets to the front of the line."She said the two of them waited in line for the original iPhone together but that she's "over that."That said, people at RadioShack know they're taking a gamble because they've heard the store may have as few as 10 phones in stock.
Reardon, 8:36 a.m. EDT: I just spent some time inside the Fifth Ave. Apple store with CNET TV's camera crew. Unlike with previous iPhone launches, the activation process is going pretty smoothly--customers are in and out within 25 minutes. No one I talked to reported any problems. Customers with preorders were allowed in the store first. And by 8:00 a.m. the store was letting in people without preorders. But the line outside for non-preorder customers doesn't look to have moved much yet.
McCarthy, 8:36 a.m. EDT: A RadioShack employee comes out of the store and says they don't have as many phones as they'd hoped. Even though the store technically isn't open yet, he's letting the people who preordered phones come in one by one.
McCarthy, 8:43 a.m. EDT: If people who preordered the phone aren't in line right now, it'll be first come, first serve. Only 4 each of the 16GB and 32GB models are in stock. Guy at RadioShack has a list and if people's names aren't near the top of it, they don't get a phone now. The line breaks up once people learn they won't get one.
Reardon, 8:52 a.m. EDT: It's a good thing that Apple is offering a tutorial at one of the tables for people to show them how to use the features on their new phones. Some customers were having trouble getting the FaceTime app to work. Two guys who had come to the store together to get their iPhones were eager to show off the new
FaceTime video chat application. But at first, neither one was able to figure out how to launch the chat. Once they realized that they initiated the video call by clicking on the FaceTime button in their contacts, the application wasn't working for one of the guys. Even though FaceTime video calls are made only over a Wi-Fi connection, users still need to have a 3G connection to initiate the call. And unfortunately for these friends, one of their phones wasn't getting 3G cellular signal from AT&T in the Apple store.
Source: CNET News (http://cnet.com/)
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