Apple's Online Store Down Ahead of iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and Apple Watch Series 4 Pre-Orders

[Markoth]

Source?

Do you think Amazon.com goes down every time they add a product to their store? How about Spotify every time they add a new song? They do this for the hype. There's no technical reason for this, unless someone at Apple doesn't understand how to properly handle cache expirations and whatnot, but I doubt that's the case as that's a highly basic piece of knowledge for managing a web server.

EDIT: Just checked, and they do handle cache expiration properly. There is no technical reason for this.

Caching?

Nope. Browsers should dump their cache for Apple.com every 180 seconds.

 

[bigpoppa]

Actually, SIM free was an option last I checked, just not on the IUP.

If I have my info correct, both the Xs and the Xs Max support all bands for the first time. I normally would buy a Verizon phone unlocked since it worked internationally too. Anyone else heard anything?

 

[mariusignorello]

I’ll be skipping this year’s midnight extravaganza. I want the Max but my VZW bill is due as we speak. No upgrade until it’s paid.

 

[stanhope]

The whole “take the whole store offline” gimmick is rather old and played out now. There’s no legitimate need to do that anymore.

Tell Angela..innovation isn’t her strong suit....town squares LMAO

 

[naturalstar]

I’ve never pre-ordered online before. I’m a little excited for the experience.

 

[usarioclave]

The whole “take the whole store offline” gimmick is rather old and played out now. There’s no legitimate need to do that anymore.

There's probably a technical reason. Last time I looked it was still using the WebObjects path in its URL. Yes, the store might still be running of of WebObjects. Hard to believe, but definitely possible.

But yeah, they should be able to roll out new product without this "store is down" stuff. Maybe they feel it's more dramatic this way.

 

[BootsWalking]

Never considered buying an Apple Watch before but this Series 4 has me seriously contemplating it.

 

[weezerr]

Will BH or Adorama have watch series 4 soon? Do they typically do watch preorders?

 

[quietstormSD]

I don’t think the sales will be through the roof on this launch. I expect orders to be tepid given the price points. Apple could have lowered supply too given the price points of the models being released next week. So max (no pun intended) an actual one week delay if you don’t get in right away.

 

[kingofwale]

it's absolutely annoying they have to take the ENTIRE store site down. what's wrong with just take the specific product site down instead?

I was shopping for a refurb mac. n

 

[Kaibelf]

The whole “take the whole store offline” gimmick is rather old and played out now. There’s no legitimate need to do that anymore.

Exactly how intimate is your knowledge of Apple’s e-commerce infrastructure? Did you also advise Amazon on this past July’s Prime Day?
[doublepost=1536888540][/doublepost]

Tell Angela..innovation isn’t her strong suit....town squares LMAO

Obviously the website and brick and mortar are different. As for bashing Angela, I think her Burberry tenure speaks for itself. I’m sure flashier CompUSA nonsense appeals to some but business is business and clearly Apple’s choices are working.

 

[Scottsoapbox]

This gets a little less exciting each year. After many years of perorder every iPhone... Last year, I pre-ordered an X and was so underwhelmed I gave it away. This year I was so underwhelmed by the keynote that I just don't care.

It makes me a little sad that this annual tech excitement is just played out and meh for me now.

 

[TantalizedMind]

I wanted an iPhone 8 Plus Product Red for 0% financing via Citizens Bank once the price dropped.

Apple f——- that up for me. Now I’m just keeping my SE with a shattered screen and bezel. Sucks but now Apple officially offers “ZERO” phones I want.

I do not want Face ID or a notch.

 

[sliceoftoast]

Credit card is at the ready!

 

[nwcs]

Source?

For what? The ability to deploy site changes without taking down the site? It’s incredibly simple and a standard deployment scenario for many companies.

 

[jbachandouris]

The biggest issue I have with the store going down is the time it takes to come back up. I live on the East (NY), so the store seems to take 10-15 minutes to come up in my area. That 15 minutes could be the difference between Launch Day and 5 weeks.

At least they allow AUP customers to do their pre-approval the day before the actual pre-order. I have been approved...now I have to wait until 3AM EST to order.

 

[wesley96]

Do you think Amazon.com goes down every time they add a product to their store? How about Spotify every time they add a new song? They do this for the hype. There's no technical reason for this, unless someone at Apple doesn't understand how to properly handle cache expirations and whatnot, but I doubt that's the case as that's a highly basic piece of knowledge for managing a web server.

EDIT: Just checked, and they do handle cache expiration properly. There is no technical reason for this.

Apple has always added accessories on the store without taking the whole place down. So the act of adding products itself is indeed not a cause for going offline.

However, the products that are about to be added will create a big demand on the servers. So there has to be some sort of preparation, including taking the servers down for maintenance. Also, not taking it down means a lot of clicks within the store that ultimately end up nowhere (since ordering is blocked) yet create unnecessary load. All this while the stuff has to get ready in a few hours.

Remember, this product line will have orders in the millions in a span of few hours. On a website that has nowhere near the infrastructure of Amazon.com.

So, a period of “site down for maintenance” has technical merits. Whether 6 hours is really necessary is another matter.

 

[AgentAnonymous]

XS Max 256gb here we go. Coming from a note 5.

 

[nwcs]

There's probably a technical reason. Last time I looked it was still using the WebObjects path in its URL. Yes, the store might still be running of of WebObjects. Hard to believe, but definitely possible.

But yeah, they should be able to roll out new product without this "store is down" stuff. Maybe they feel it's more dramatic this way.

That’s the big thing. It’s dramatic this way. If they were constrained by technology they should/could easily have moved to a system that wouldn’t have the limitations.

 

[NetMage]

The Watch Series 4 is available in Silver, Gold and Space Gray GPS and GPS+Cellular Aluminum and Silver, Gold and Space Black GPS+Cellular Stainless Steel. Unlike in the past, all Series 4 have Saphire crystals.

 

[Aussi3]

Series 4 Apple Watch is going to fly off the shelves! Might even beat iPhone sales for the weekend

 

[Baymowe335]

Do you think Amazon.com goes down every time they add a product to their store? How about Spotify every time they add a new song? They do this for the hype. There's no technical reason for this, unless someone at Apple doesn't understand how to properly handle cache expirations and whatnot, but I doubt that's the case as that's a highly basic piece of knowledge for managing a web server.

EDIT: Just checked, and they do handle cache expiration properly. There is no technical reason for this.



Nope. Browsers should dump their cache for Apple.com every 180 seconds.

Wondering if Amazon ever has 10M visitors on a single product page in a 20 minute period.

 

[nwcs]

Wondering if Amazon ever has 10M visitors on a single product page in a 20 minute period.

That’s not how load works. It’s not loading a document from disk each time. The template is undoubtedly in cache and the database entries are undoubtedly cached on the back end. And, yes, I’m sure they’ve had more load on Prime Day for their annual garage sale. The load being far higher most likely. Enough to cause them to drop connections like a DDOS attack.

Apple can easily spin up as many servers as they need and have the CDNs prepped before going live.

 

[avanpelt]

If I have my info correct, both the Xs and the Xs Max support all bands for the first time. I normally would buy a Verizon phone unlocked since it worked internationally too. Anyone else heard anything?

That definitely appears to be the case. One model of each phone which works on all bands. Very nice change.

 

[kcslc]

That’s the big thing. It’s dramatic this way. If they were constrained by technology they should/could easily have moved to a system that wouldn’t have the limitations.

Maybe they’re using a 2014 Mac Mini for their web store server.