iPhone 5 Availability

[csal80]

Wanted to sound off about the lack of the availability of the iPhone 5. Some of this does not come as a surprise as we have all read the articles and seen the news about the production constraints, etc. etc. that has caused apple to not produce enough 5's to match the demand. But the extent of this shortage really has shocked me, and downright frustrated the hell out of me. Now, I want to first acknowledge that when a highly anticipated and desired product comes out, some of the fun of purchasing it is maybe waiting in a line a little longer for it, inconveniencing yourself by traveling a little further to purchase it, or maybe even paying a little more for it ... but to not even have the opportunity to do any of those .... ridiculous!! My wife and I finally became eligible for an upgrade this weekend and were so excited to finally get the 5. We both called nearly 20 apple stores in the NY NJ area, to no avail ... the most they had was a couple 16GB versions that we have long outgrown. As far as AT&T stores, we were basically laughed at and told they are not even expected to get in models for weeks. On friday and saturday night, we both made sure right at 10pm to try and reserve for pickup the next day through the apple website ... not even one store with availability. This is just downright frustrating and way beyond just having to go a little above and beyond for a highly desired product. What frustrates me the most is that there is absolutely nothing I can do to get one right now. Why even release a phone if you can't even come close to matching demand? You are just going to end up frustrating the hell out of customers and turning people off to the experience. Those are my thoughts on this iPhone 5-less sunday ...

 

[chobbs1]

I really want one too and had hoped to pick one up a few weeks after launch. But alas. I could not find one. So I decided to order online and wait. I must admit, I hate the waiting, but when one looks at the bigger picture, what does a few weeks matter? I have decided that a couple of weeks really is not a big deal for a phone that I'll be using for the next two years. And the plus side is, maybe they will work out the kinks in the manufacturing process and the phone I'll finally receive will be flawless.

It is just a phone, after all, and unless both you and your wife broke your phones, I am sure they will work for a few more weeks

Another plus for me, I discovered was...since I order my cases from "Vaja", the time I have to wait for the phone has allowed Vaja to create their new cases for the phone and also allowed me enough time to order and receive my case before the phone arrives. That way I do not have to go a single day without a case!

Signed....
Happy to wait

 

[cardfan]

Yep, i'd just order from Apple and wait the 3-4 weeks. You'll have more accessories & apps optimized for the iphone 5 by then.

My biggest complaint would be the whole Lightning cable saga. I don't care about Apple's reasons, but get it available for 3rd party accessories...yesterday. The solutions I'm seeing right now for car mounts for example are not so good and stop gaps. Proclip talks about it in their blog.

ProClip USA Inc. We can't nor can any other company in the world make Lightning accessories. Apple has new 3rd party licensing rules that does not allow any company to produce charging cables, pass through docks or connectors of any kind. Rumors are we (ProClip) will not see any legal accessories in bulk until first quarter next year.

Until then, it's bring your own cable...and halfbaked solutions. Anyone expecting accessories anytime soon as the iphone 4/4S had will be waiting.

 

[fubaracing7374]

I checked and checked and found a 64GB model at a local AT&T store. While I was there I could hear them tell people over the phone that they were out but I was told they had plenty of the 64GB model. It sucks but I was doing all of those things and I hope you're able to find someone with them. Trust me... keep checking and you will love it once you get it.


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

 

[csal80]

I checked and checked and found a 64GB model at a local AT&T store. While I was there I could hear them tell people over the phone that they were out but I was told they had plenty of the 64GB model. It sucks but I was doing all of those things and I hope you're able to find someone with them. Trust me... keep checking and you will love it once you get it.


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

So you mean to tell me that they are telling people over the phone that they don't have any but they actually do have some in stores that aren't already reserved?

 

[kilcher]

Or the person on the phone was asking for a 16/32GB model or something completely different. I doubt there's some huge conspiracy where Apple doesn't want to sell phones.

 

[fubaracing7374]

Yeah I doubt it. I was told on the phone that they had them, then greeted by the manager when I got to the store and she she confirmed that they had them and then when the salesperson walked up to me he said they were out. I was freaking out and then he asked the manager and she said yes, they did have some. Just seems like depending on who you talk to you might get different answers to the same question.


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

 

[csal80]

Or the person on the phone was asking for a 16/32GB model or something completely different. I doubt there's some huge conspiracy where Apple doesn't want to sell phones.

Maybe they don't want a frenzy of people rushing the stores when they know they will sell out at the end of the day anyway. Or they don't want people to get pissed because they are making the trip after they were told they are in stock and they end up selling out by the time they get there.

 

[Nolander07]

10 days ago I was at a (not so great) mall with my wife and kids and I decided to pop into a radio shack to see if they had any. They had one left. Needless to say I bought it on the spot, which irritated my family because they all had to wait an extra 40 minutes for me as the activated it, etc.
I guess the point is that you never know, a random, less popular store may have one or 2 sitting around.

 

[michikade#AC]

I happened to luck out as well. I walked into a Best Buy Mobile in a not so nice mall in town and they had one available. Apparently someone had canceled their reservation and I happened to luck out.


Sent from my iPad 2 using Tapatalk

 

[kilcher]

Apple stores are probably keeping some in stock for exchanges. It would probably be up to the manager, how many they have, and how many they think they're going to need whether they go ahead and sell some of those units.

 

[Rocket_Girl]

Apple stores are probably keeping some in stock for exchanges. It would probably be up to the manager, how many they have, and how many they think they're going to need whether they go ahead and sell some of those units.

The units they have in store for exchanges are new, yet not packaged for sale. They came from factory in the 'replacement' packaging.. . . my local Apple store said the replacements were in the store before the launch- day units arrived. Neither here nor there, really - except to suggest that there are probably not replacements units they could instead decide to sell...

 

[xlipstickandbruisesx]

Yes it does suck and not trying to be rude but I think your biggest problem was expecting to go in a couple weeks after launch and expecting to be able to just get one. I say that because every year it is the same thing with people waiting for phones and with this being the first year with the bigger screen it should have been expected. I had pre-ordered but decided I wanted a different color so I was stuck waiting so I know how it feels. I had given up on a local store and 10pm pick up and just decided to go ahead and order it. The wait time had gone down to ships in 1 week so it wasn't going to be that bad I ordered at 11 at night, the next morning I got an email with a tracking number and it was on my doorstep the next day. It is quite possible that your phone would ship early as well and honestly I don't see the wait time going down anytime soon so at least you'd be in line

 

[chasemyprov1]

I had gone into my local Apple store last week just to see if they happened to get any in that day, to no avail. The guy gave me the speech about going online each night at 10pm to check and see if they received any new inventory. I decided to open the Apple Store App the next night at 9:59 and it said that all 3 stores in my area had stock in. After I ordered mine, about 2-3 minutes later I checked again, and all 3 stores were 'Unavailable for Pickup'. It was just before 10pm these stores had their stock available, maybe give that a try, but who knows!

 

[JB01]

If your already on or want to go to Verizon they got new stock today apparently. I walked into my local store and bought my wife a 32Gb black unit with no pre order or wait. The customer service rep told me they were delivered this morning and they also can't be held. Only for walk in sales. My store had several units (only 32Gb) in both black and white. Amazing seeing as elsewhere the wait is quoted as 3-4 weeks! I hope this helps somebody!

 

[Jackal]

awwe... boo hoo, I cant find an iPhone a month after launch date. I'm from the NY metro area and I'm away at school and I have no apple stores around me so I'm forced to order and wait 3-4 weeks for it to ship. Its because of crying people waiting outside of apple stores and franticly trying at 10pm is the reason why I have to wait extra time for my iPhone to ship when I am already a paying customer.

 

[noaim]

Your complaining about apple not having the stock hmm. Did you not read the fact that 5 million sold within hours of preorders going live? Ask any company if they can instantly produce product to meet that kind of demand! I feel bad that you have to go through a headache to try and get one but hell the demand is pretty ridiculous! The sg3 has been out for months and the iPhone 5 has already passed it up..


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

 

[mikells43]

it also depends on where your at on the map i think... a friend of mine got his the beginning of the week by a simple order online and pick up instore. i got mine launch day via pre order, my bro was late on his pre order and got his a week after mine... when i got mine, the apps wernt optimized for it, some were but more are catching up now.. i was able to sell my 4s for 350$ to make up for the cost of the new one. you should have called att when you wanted it before your upgrade, alot of times they work with you on that. at least verizon does. they are happy to extend an upgrade when your close to keep you.

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also id never buy from a carrier. always off of apple directly. because carriers pull shady like this.

 

[lv1]

Did you try Radio Shack? Most people do not think of them. I got one about 3 weeks ago. Went in around 10:30 in the morning they had a number of them from different carriers in stock. I got the 64GB model.

 

[csal80]

Ended up walking into a random AT&T store yesterday and apparently they are shipping in 24 hours. The rep said that was more common with the white but the last time he checked the black was shipping in 3-4 weeks. Mine comes the end of this week!!