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iPhone 4S pre-orders have begun on Apple's site (Updated)

by Chris Rawson Oct 7th 2011 at 3:44AM


After an inexplicably long delay, pre-orders for the iPhone 4S have begun on Apple's online store. Orders began as scheduled on both Verizon and Sprint, but AT&T and Apple both experienced significant issues getting the ball rolling. The device won't hit Apple's retail stores until October 14, but if you'd rather not brave the inevitable launch day lines you can get your order in now. As with all iPhone pre-orders, if you really want to nab the device you'd better get moving; in fact, by the time you've finished reading this there's every chance the shipping date will have already slipped.

The iPhone 4S is available in the United States through AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. Plan pricing between the three carriers is relatively comparable, though Sprint is the only of the three who is offering unlimited data. The iPhone 4S is available for a subsidized price ranging from $199 for 16 GB up to $399 for 64 GB if you sign up for a two-year contract.

Unlocked models will be offered, but they're not going to be made available until November. Thanks a million for that one, Apple; about a million other customers just probably said the same four-letter word that I did, though I doubt many of them said it as loudly.

The iPhone 4S features the same A5 processor as the iPad 2, leading to graphical performance up to 7 times better than the A4 processor in the iPhone 4. The iPhone 4S also has an 8 megapixel camera with improved sensor and lens components. The main new feature of the iPhone 4S is Siri, a voice-activated personal assistant function that understands natural language queries.

Update: As you can probably guess, the pre-order is going more smoothly for some customers than others, just like it seems to every year. AT&T pre-orders in particular have been a bumpy road for customers -- SURPRISE! -- while orders through the other US carriers have been hit or miss, but with more hits than misses compared to AT&T. Demand for pre-orders seems to be just as high as ever, so all the pundits predicting the iPhone 4S would be a flop seem to have missed the mark. Again.

As for the lack of unlocked iPhones on the US store, it's notable that Canada and Australia are both offering only unlocked models during the pre-order. I picked one up from Australia via one of my contacts there -- sure it costs more to go that route compared to picking up a US model, but it's better than waiting until November for US availability or December for the official NZ launch.



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After an inexplicably long delay, pre-orders for the iPhone 4S have begun on Apple's online store. Orders began as scheduled on both...
 

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akinjxyz

All u guys are lucky, I just got the iphone4 9/27, i want to return it and the buy the new unlocked 4s, but apple says it 'ships in November' Question is is it November 1st or 30th, can someone help out?

October 09 2011 at 2:49 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rooben

Ordered at 2:00 am Central time from the Verizon Wireless site. No hiccoughs at all, process took less than 5 minutes, and got an email confirmation within an hour - and this was upgrading 1 phone on a 4 phone plan (My Treo finally gave up the ghost), so there could have been complications with the existing account, upgrade eligiblity, etc - but everything went perfect, right when everyone was trying to hit the site at the same time.

Verizon Wireless for the win!

October 07 2011 at 11:20 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
bt42

Why does it say that the iPhone 4S will work only with the carrier selected? I thought it had all antennas built into, so if you wanted to you could switch?

October 07 2011 at 11:10 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
DAVID DRUPA

Cupertino, we have a problem!

I got to the confirm order button, but no receipt, no confirmation and no way to check if the order "took". The check order, my account options are both broken and lead to an error page. An hour later, still no confirmation that my order was accepted...

October 07 2011 at 11:04 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jason

ordered without any problem on apples site on ipad. whatup

October 07 2011 at 11:00 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Contrellm

I used the Apple Store App on iPhone...took all of 2 minutes to order.

October 07 2011 at 11:00 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Scott Wallace

AT&T's site would not allow me to confirm the unlimited data plan that my old 3G phone has currently...Apple's web site worked flawlessly! Bravo! Expected delivery date October 14!!!

October 07 2011 at 10:56 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
John

Just more reasons to hate AT&T...I have always been able to upgrade to the newest and best from Apple every year since 2007, and I figured since Apple is releasing this one a little later then usual that I wouldn't have any issues. Nope, of course I would -- I'm dealing with AT&T after all. They say I'm not eligible for a full discounted upgrade until mid-November. I tried asking them nicely if they could allow me to upgrade a month early, nope again! I really should wait out my contract and move to Sprint, but I don't think I can go another 8 months to do so. Long live Apple! I hate AT&T =(

October 07 2011 at 10:53 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jlmoran@mac.com

I was able to get my order for a Verizon 32 GB 4S in black at 6:15 AM EDT with no problems. Only issue I've had is that you can't order the new AppleCare+ with the phone, which is something I really want because it's the same price as SquareTrade is currently offering and it covers *two* incidents instead of SquareTrade's one.

I called my local Apple Store about it, and they said there's an issue on the site that's preventing users from being able to order it. No ETA on a fix. The rep suggested I call the 800-MYAPPLE number or the customer support number on my order receipt in a few days to see if they can add it on manually, and in the meantime keep checking the web site to see if it's purchasable. I guess if they make it buyable online, I can go in and modify my existing order to add the AppleCare+?

October 07 2011 at 10:47 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Celycynd

Does anyone know if its possible to order two phones for a FamilyTalk plan from Apple? I add the first number to the order, and it shows the correct pricing for my rate plan (voice, data, messaging), but then when I try and go back and add a second phone to the order, it shows the pricing of the main plan, not the additional phone pricing... I don't want to end up some how getting plan switched to individual plans.

October 07 2011 at 10:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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