Early iPhone 5 Purchases Trend Toward iPhone 4S Upgraders and Black Models Amid Long Lines

[brambleton-boy]

I'm really pissed right now. I ordered the iphone 5 last Friday but they gave me an October 5th pick up day. Ok, I said, no problem, let me try to see if I can pick one up at the store today. So there ARE some at the Apple Store, but now that I go and try and cancel the preorder, I cannot! It says it's being prepped for shipping but still a delivery date of 10/5! WTF??!! Apple really screwed up on this one, I've never had such an issue before and I've had 3 other iPhones! So for the next 2 weeks, I'm out of luck even though there's availability right in front of me! This is the last ****** time I preorder! What a waste of my time!

[darkslide29]

Originally Posted by QCassidy352

I find this attitude so strange. 4s --> 5 is the second biggest hardware change they've ever done (after 3GS --> 4). Bigger screen, thinner, lighter, new materials (including stronger glass), 2x processing power, 2x graphics power, 2x ram, faster wifi, better rear camera, much better front camera, new dock connector, new antenna design, better battery life, and oh yeah, LTE.

Don't get me wrong - I still have a 4s, and it's a great phone and runs iOS 6 really well. But they upgraded practically every aspect of the hardware from 4s to five. It's a huge upgrade compared to 3G --> 3GS, 4 --> 4s, or even original --> 3G.

^^^ quoted and upvoted just because this doesn't get said enough ^^^

[jctevere]

I upgraded from my white iPhone 4... Luckily I filled out some survey to get an earlier upgrade otherwise I would have to wait until November like my brother - suckerrr!!

My sister also upgraded from her iPhone 3GS (LONG overdue!) lol.

We lucked out. Didn't wait on any lines or camp out or anything. Headed over to our local AT&T store around 12:00. They were sold out, however, as soon as we were about to leave a FedEx truck pulled in with their second shipment! Perfect timing and we left two happy customers! Not to mention that the second shipment sold out before our upgrade process even finished. The demand for these products is crazy!

This guy was also at the counter next to us getting his Galaxy S3 fixed - sucks to suck!

[celloman]

Survey? 100 people? Hasn't anybody ever heard of a stratified random sample? Yeesh.

[jrswizzle]

Originally Posted by cdsfire

My 4S is slick and smooth on iOS 6. I'm having trouble seeing what the big push from 4S to 5 is for.

Have a feeling they're people like me who wanted to go from the 4 to the 5 but for various reasons (in my case, my 4 quit on me) they got the 4S and are now getting the 5 they originally thought the 4S would be.

There are also those people who have every iteration of the phone because they can

[somethingelsefl]

This site no longer needs to be called "MacRumors". From here onward it shall only be called "iPhoneRumors"

[RoboCop001]

Originally Posted by DVDxR

Assuming 8 million launch day sales (probably much less, but it really doesn't matter much, we know it will be in the millions and the numbers don't change that much from 2M to 8M), a 95% confidence level and a CI of ~10 then yea, 100 users would be statistically acceptable. Not great, but usable.

There are other confounding factors (lack of geographic diversity in the sample size, for example) but I'd imagine the overall trends outlined would be correct.

I suppose. But the people lining up are usually the hardcore fans, who always have the latest device anyway. Yes? No? .... Maybe?

[jrswizzle]

Originally Posted by somethingelsefl

This site no longer needs to be called "MacRumors". From here onward it shall only be called "iPhoneRumors"

LOL....so because Apple just released its flagship mobile device and MacRumors is covering it you're upset you aren't hearing more about Macs? Do you want them to make stuff up for you to read?

Maybe for these last two months they should call is iPhoneRumors, but that's because those are the rumors that are out there. I'm sure as soon as more rumors about an iMac or Mac Pro surface MR will post them as well.

[morespce54]

Ha... numbers! The iPhone numbering, that is not the stats!
Chances are that more people are going for a full revision number than a "s" one.

Originally Posted by thelink

Can we get the number of people who said... "the headphone jack can't be at the bottom"...

Well, that makes one! Even if "some-big-head-chef-of-ergonomics" says it's better this way, I'm not so sure... But that's just me. Off topic, I'm glad Apple didn't decide (yet) to change the headphone jack on this one...

[b166er]

Originally Posted by gkarris

Not really - a bunch of people I know have to have the latest iPhone and stand in line on launch day and pay the early upgrade fees.

It's nice when you have a steady job and money....

Money has nothing to do with it. It's just value vs cost for me. I'm more than willing to spend money on a new phone every year. This year the iPhone isn't wowing me. I have the money. And I work. A lot. But thanks for assuming otherwise. I'm not a food stamp toting iPhone user like some.

[Number 41]

Originally Posted by b166er

This is shocking. I feel like its not much of an upgrade from the 4S. Not enough to sign for another two years and pay full price. From a 4 I'd understand.

The 4S was the "who cares" upgrade -- essentially the same phone as the 4 with a few new features. When the best thing about an upgrade is Siri, that's saying something.

Here, you have true 4G / LTE speed, a larger screen, AND (as the drop tests show) a stronger form factor that's less susceptible to shattering.

Major upgrade. If I had the cash, I'd be all about ditching my 4S and getting this.

[unplugme71]

100 people, in NYC? haha

At minimum, get a 1000 people to respond and do it at all the Apple stores in Manhattan.

[KPOM]

Originally Posted by BC2009

Definitely. Most iPhone 4 owners would have pre-ordered. The iPhone 4S owners were debating and wanting to see the reviews first. Then many of them suffered anxiety of not having the latest iPhone because they saw how good it was going to be. I went through much of this and I just kept telling myself that I did not need to spend the money and that my 4S was a great iPhone. But part of me wanted to go down and stand in line last night and get an iPhone 5. I imagine other people had the same struggle and many of them did cave in and they had to get in line to get one since the pre-orders moved to 3-4 week delays for shipping.

Another explanation is that "serial upgraders" are more likely to wait in line the first day. Someone using an iPhone 4 isn't one of them, and may just wait until the contract runs out, or until the initial wave dies down and they no longer need to wait in line.

An observation about the lines at 5th Avenue and the UWS is that since last year, the Grand Central location has opened. This is handling some traffic that otherwise would have went to those two stores, and so a longer line is that much more impressive.

[gwelmarten]

I presume nobody want's me to say: Steve wouldnt have let this happen.

[ls1dreams]

How are all of these 4s users upgrading if the unlocked / full price phones aren't available yet?

[DVDxR]

Originally Posted by RoboCop001

I suppose. But the people lining up are usually the hardcore fans, who always have the latest device anyway. Yes? No? .... Maybe?

Sorry, I meant to point this out (multitasking!) but yes, these numbers would only be valid for people waiting in line today for the iPhone. I would not expect them to project onto people who pre-ordered online for home delivery. It would not be unreasonable to include people standing in line at other stores but not preorder users. Keep in mind too that this is at the very border of being acceptable (we're talking +/- a little less than 10% on all the numbers they provided)

The sample is just too narrowly selected apply it outside of US launch day, in person purchasers with any reasonable amount of confidence. Too many confounding factors come into play. It would not surprise me if some of the trends hold true for other groups but it can't be backed up by this sampling.

[Gobeatty]

Classic case of releasing survey data prematurely. Just say'n.

[deannnnn]

Originally Posted by b166er

This is shocking. I feel like its not much of an upgrade from the 4S. Not enough to sign for another two years and pay full price. From a 4 I'd understand.

Seriously? LTE alone is enough for me to upgrade. LTE + Bigger Screen? Absolute upgrade. LTE + Bigger Screen + Better Camera? Necessary upgrade.

And on top of all that when you can sell your 4S for the same amount it will cost to buy the 5, why not do it?!

[Radio]

What a stupid inaccurate survey lol

They are professionals?!

[mr.steevo]

Originally Posted by Gobeatty

Classic case of releasing survey data prematurely. Just say'n.

Are you suggesting that this was a case of premature speculation?

[TopKatz]

Is it surprising that people waiting/camping out in line for a new iphone are the same people willing to absorb the cost of upgrading from a iphone 4s. They probably did the same thing when the 4s came out.

Personally I skipped the 4s, and I'm waiting for my wifes contract to expire to move both of us to verizon and get new hardware. I just can not see throwing away the cash at this point in my life.

[Krauser]

Originally Posted by kiantech

I still find this data nonsense. The people who wait in line are a different breed then people who prefer to have the phone delivered to them.

Exactly what I was thinking. If you're willing to wait outside of a store for a phone, odds are you're probably an Apple fanatic of the highest order. That's not an insult or a dig at anyone, I'm just saying that those people waiting are probably more likely than not, huge Apple fans. That said, it's not surprising that they'd be upgrading from a 4S... they're pumped for the latest and greatest Apple tech, regardless of the price. The majority of "regular" consumers aren't going to do that. I have a 4S myself and I wouldn't even consider upgrading to a 5, especially not at the full contract price I'd pay. I don't know a single one of my friends or peers who has a 4S that is contemplating upgrading to a 5. If anything, the iOS 6 update has confirmed for them that a 5 isn't worth it if they have a 4S.

[RoboCop001]

Originally Posted by DVDxR

Sorry, I meant to point this out (multitasking!) but yes, these numbers would only be valid for people waiting in line today for the iPhone. I would not expect them to project onto people who pre-ordered online for home delivery. It would not be unreasonable to include people standing in line at other stores but not preorder users. Keep in mind too that this is at the very border of being acceptable (we're talking +/- a little less than 10% on all the numbers they provided)

The sample is just too narrowly selected apply it outside of US launch day, in person purchasers with any reasonable amount of confidence. Too many confounding factors come into play. It would not surprise me if some of the trends hold true for other groups but it can't be backed up by this sampling.

Ahh yes, that makes sense. Thank you for explaining

[blackcrayon]

Originally Posted by darkslide29

^^^ quoted and upvoted just because this doesn't get said enough ^^^

You just have to shake your head and walk away. No matter what Apple does, the next phone will be seen as an "Extremely minor" update. I sure wish I could replace my iMac at home with a ridiculously minor update to twice the cpu and gpu speed.

[johndallas999]

They asked "100" people! Wow! What a survey!