iPhone 6 Buy at Launch or Wait

I thought it was an easy choice. That my 2 years wouldn't be up until after launch. Looked, I bought my 5 on September 21, 2012. So if the launch date was after that, I could buy at launch.

I think I'll wait at least a month after launch for reasons unrelated to the phone. Except that I seem to go through the battery faster than I used to (bluetooth on, for example, most of the time), the phone is still working fine and appears flawless.

I buy at launch so that I can upgrade in 2 years.

Without ninja skills, or the use of a tent and being one of those fools who camp outside Apple stores the night before, there isn't a cat in hell's chance of getting an iPhone on launch day (in the UK anyway). I had to drive 60 miles to purchase my iPhone 4.....two months after launch. They were like rocking horse poop up to that point.
Apple should know the demand by now and damned well make sure that sufficient stock is available.

They will be making over 80 million so getting the bugs out at this point is not going to happen. Updates will take care of problems that will come up.

Waiting is futile.

Keep in mind though that the "fade" issues with Touch ID had nothing to do with the hardware, and were fixed in later software updates.

I don't recall Apple making too many on-the-fly production changes once they release an iPhone model. Even the iPhone 4 with the infamous "antennagate" issue never had a design change with the GSM models (only the CDMA versions released later on had an antenna modification). The iPhone 5 had a midcycle update to add more LTE bands after T-Mobile started selling carrying the iPhone. I don't know of any hardware changes with the 5c or 5s.

Most of the bugs that get fixed are on the software side, and that will happen whether you buy early or buy later.

I bought the 5s at launch, and (at least in the US) it proved easier on launch day than if I had waited a couple of weeks. If you don't want to stand in lines, just wait until Apple's store site goes live at midnight PDT and order it online. Placed my order at 12:06am, and it arrived 5 days later.

In the first hour, most of the 5s configurations were still showing ship dates of "1 to 3 days." By 8am, most configurations had ship dates of "7 to 10 days," with the gold color and T-Mobile unlocked versions showing ship dates of "October." If you waited a week later, most of the configurations showed ship dates of "October" with the most in-demand configurations showing "November" as the ship dates.

So, if you placed the order right when the site goes live, you likely got the phone within a week. If you placed it within the first day, you likely received the phone within two weeks (or longer if you order an in-demand/short supplied configuration). If you placed the order a week after launch, then you might have waited a week for some models and over a month for others.

Going to the Apple Store in the days after launch, you still have to arrive before the store opens and line up. When the store opens, they will let the line up know which configurations they have available on that day, and issue reservation tickets. You won't know which configurations they have available beforehand.

Not sure if the iPhone 6 will play out the same way, but that's how the launch went for the 5s.

Buying at launch.

Done the same for every single iPhone since the original. Always sold my older iPhone within 3 days or so after the new purchase on eBay or via Craigslist.

Happy to have stick with my 4S but cannot wait for a bigger screen.

Just got 5s off contract playing with it for like a week loving it my upgrade date is sept 1st but my contract ends dec 31st I'm looking at going to another carrier so I'll probably wait the 5s is like a upgrade to me already lol. That's what I say now but I may jump on launch day then I'll be stuck with same carrier for 2 yrs going to need discipline to wait. Lol.

sunking101 said:

Without ninja skills, or the use of a tent and being one of those fools who camp outside Apple stores the night before, there isn't a cat in hell's chance of getting an iPhone on launch day (in the UK anyway). I had to drive 60 miles to purchase my iPhone 4.....two months after launch. They were like rocking horse poop up to that point.
Apple should know the demand by now and damned well make sure that sufficient stock is available.

Click to expand...

Ouch, it was still that bad over there? The last couple of releases, supply seemed to be plentiful at retail stores in the US. In my area, for the first 3 days, you stood a better chance of getting the phone more quickly if you went to a retail store than if you ordered online. Granted, by day 3, you pretty much don't have a choice of capacity.

launch. i have to or else i feel dumb buying tech thats aged for the same price. and the excitement of an apple launch it the best!

techspin said:

You're absolutely correct about this, I was tempted to impulsively sign with another carrier the morning I went if they didn't have the model I wanted. Not sure if this is consistent, but they didn't have any TMo phones the day I went. I'll definitely consider ordering at midnight...would we be able to order phones via AT&T Next upgrade?

Click to expand...

The configurations that sold out the fastest online were the T-Mobile, gold colored, and 64 GB models. The T-Mobile configurations were highly coveted because they come factory unlocked, and resellers looking to take them overseas flocked to those particular models. Don't know how it all breaks down in terms of supply for each configuration, but T-Mobile also might not have high priority at launch. I know that Sprint has a contractual obligation to sell a certain number of iPhones, so that might ensure better availability. For the T-Mobile phones, they were very difficult to find for several weeks after launch.

Ordering at midnight is relatively straight forward. Wait for the Apple Store to go live, and place the order. Some of the more extreme suggestions include logging into your Apple ID ahead of time, confirming your billing and shipping info, and even practicing the ordering sequence ahead of time a few days before so that you know where to click on the site at launch. It's a bit of a race, but I recall that even at the end of the first hour, several configurations were still available for short turnaround.

Ordered my iPhone 5s on launch day, at 12:03 pdt. Received it the following Wednesday.

Had no issues with hardware or software. Touch ID worked good for me.

Not upgrading to the 6, will wait for the 6s. On a 2 year agreement, and I'm totally okay with. I enjoy being in the s cycle.

My contract is up in December i don't have a choice. I'm waiting.

techspin said:

Depending on your carrier, you may be able to upgrade sooner. Wouldn't hurt to ask!

Click to expand...

Would I need to do something like AT&T next or can I get a normal 2 year contract?

Did they ever release a hardware or software fix for the 5s levelgate?

I'll be up at midnight hoping the servers allow me to pre-order!

Then, when people are standing in long lines, I'll wait for the Fedex truck to arrive so I can play with my new phone

I'm gonna wait until the new year just bought another iPhone 5S, if the 6 isn't all that much of a step up apart from screen size then i might hang on till the 6S next September.

We waited a week (maybe two) last time and we were able to get new phones from VZW, just walked in without any lines. I've pre-ordered in the past but I think depending on the timing and release date we may wait.

When I ordered my iPhone 5, I ordered on launch day for NZ
Didn't see the device for three weeks.

Downside of not having our own Apple Store

I have T-Mobile Jump, so I am on the fence on upgrading to a new phone even though I just got the M8 days ago. I will look at the Note 4 and 6. If they're wowing phones, I would have a tough decision to make, if not, simply sticking with the M8 doesn't hurt.