Buying a new iPhone, Tucson style

Of course, like many people, I just had to have a 3G S, so my old 3G phone is off to NextWorth. I got to my local Apple Store (La Encantata Mall) about 6:30 AM, and there were about 30-35 people in line. There were 2 lines actually, one for people who reserved an iPhone, and one for those that had just come to buy. The lines were certainly shorter than with the 3G roll out. This mall is not enclosed, but the iPhone gods smiled upon us and gave us a cool morning in the 70's. Not our usual Arizona broil.

Line dynamics are interesting. iPhone owners were telling the newbies how much they'll love their new purchase. Experienced iPhone owners were trading tips with less experienced users, and I even saw one guy checking TUAW for the latest news. Nice.

One thing I noticed was that a lot of the people in line had BlackBerry or other brands of cell phones. My recollection of the last upgrade was that most people getting the 3G were replacing generation 1 phones. That's anecdotal, but that's what I saw.

One guy in line told me he worked at a hospital and that he wasn't allowed to get an iPhone until it had remote wipe. Now, his IT guys have blessed the purchase.

Read on...


The store opened at 7, and a few people were let in. I was 12 people back in the 'reserved' line, and it took an hour to actually get in the store and start the purchase. That seemed rather slow. An Apple Store employee told me there were a few glitches with computers, but he didn't say if it was Apple or AT&T. I loved the old days where they just handed you a box and you went home to get it registered.

I observed that the 'reserved' line didn't move any faster than the line for people who just showed up. I asked one of the Apple guys if I was guaranteed a phone if I reserved, even if I had come in late in the day? He said that was absolutely true, even though the email I was sent told me phones were on a first come- first served basis. Every person I asked at the Apple store gave me a different answer about this policy, so I wouldn't trust the reserved status.

Upon activation my old iPhone immediately lost any AT&T connection, and it took about 30 minutes for the new iPhone to activate. As I sat staring at the new phone with no connection to the outside world I finally put it in airplane mode and then back online. It then immediately registered with AT&T, so maybe that tip will help you if things get slow. Or maybe it was a coincidence.

Others here at TUAW will review the new phone in detail, and others will share their buying experience. It seems faster, and with 32GB of storage I've got a lot more room for my music and any videos I may shoot.

It wasn't a bad experience this time around, but it did take longer than I expected. I wonder if I could have just walked in later in the day, because most of my time was spent waiting in line after the store actually opened because the early arrivals were pretty backed up. I really dislike waiting in line, but I would have hated not getting the phone today, so I just had to choose between two evils. I do think Apple has a winner with this iteration of the iPhone. Sales figures will be extremely interesting to watch.

Happy Shopping.
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