Confirmation of June 9th 3G iPhone Launch?

[captain kaos]

Im in the UK, i've got till October to the end of my 18 month contract with my NON iphone phone. Waiting till october will pretty much kill me (i finally buckled and now i want/need an iphone!) so how can i get hold of one? Will the v2.0 be hackable, will i have to resort to getting one from the states or another european country, or even Australia (if they do have unblocked iphones come june/july)? Or do i have to become O2 bitch and somehow blag one and sign up for another 18 month contract eek

Questions, Questions......

 

[bretm]

I can think of one potential good reason to do what they did...people can whine about the 3G coming out right after they bought their (now old) iPhone. Inventory died up a month ahead of time, so it's pretty obvious to everyone what's going on. No excuses, and no reason for Apple to have to placate late adopters of the current iPhone.

I don't know if that's enough reason to go a month without. However, with the absolute flood of sales that the 3G launch will surely bring, they just might not care about losing a month of sales.

They could do like every other money making business and keep selling phones. If that's their worry they can sell them at a discount. They can put up a sign saying 3G coming June 9! Current iPhone on sale. They've already dropped the price, time to drop it again and sell out of your inventory. Or perhpas they have, too early. But there's absolutely no reason for a company to quit selling a product to placate the whiners. Give them a 30 day price guarantee or whatever it takes, but as a stockholder, keep selling phones for cryin out loud.

 

[Stately]

WWDC, of course. When else would it be?

They also suggest that the next iPhone will be offered with more traditional discounts and incentives rather then the fixed price point Apple had been offering with the original iPhone. No specific details have been leaked, though there have been rumors that even AT&T might offer a subsidy on the upcoming 3G iPhone.

Article Link

Forget traditional discounts, Apple needs to nix ties with carriers and produce their own towers for their products. I'm sure that we would get unheard of pricing for phone plans and whatever else. Apple is not greedy, they are truly for their customers. I could see it now . . .

 

[mhuk01]

I just took my original iPhoine back to the Apple Store last night due to a problem with the screen (white area in upper right corner). They quickly replaced my iPhone and "activated" it right there. I said I thought I had to activate at home with iTunes and he said that "they streamlined that a bit".

is this activating in store going to pose a problem if they don't release a sim-only version? surely they can't force you to sign up in store, u buy the phone therefore it is yours?!

 

[thaitillidie]

What the...?!! @ discounts

Ugh at the thought of Apple or AT&T offering discounts on THE coolest phone on the planet. I realize this is simply a moneys game and Apple wants to sell as many phones as possible, but...I CHERISH MY EXCLUSIVITY! This reeks of what happened with the RAZR! Remember when you were the ONLY person who had one then suddenly EVERYBODY (literally) got one?! Remember how it sucked to then have the same phone as every other lowlife on the planet? This is exactly what's gonna happen if they discount the iPhone so deeply that everybody can afford one! I currently get a cheap thrill outta knowing that at any given time in any given place I'm one of if not the only dude with an iphone! Oh well. Say goodbye to that if they cheapen it. Mass consumerism sucks!

 

[Sean Dempsey]

Still it`s hard to believe how the hell did Apple screw up this bad. iPhone 3G after June 9th???? That means more than a month of zero iphone sales. They have never done something like this with any of their other products. I still cant digest it....

Ummm.... have you ever been to these forums when a new product is released and people just bought the older model a few weeks/days previous?

It's like Apple can't please you fanboys. They sell an old product right up to the DAY of a major update without warning, and you all get the torches and pitchforks demanding refunds and saying how it's "unfair" apple sold you the old model when a new one was just hours away.

So now, they drain their stock of an obsolete iPhone so they can't sell any just weeks/days before a TOTALLY new model comes out, and you cry again? They try to prevent people from buying iPhone1 when just around the corner iPhone2 will be out for the same or lower price, and you're confused?

Sounds like this forum needs a spray to the crotch of "sandy-vag-be-gone."

 

[daneoni]

Why would/should they be allowed that?

Why not. Another option would be you extend your contract by 6 months if you upgrade. Otherwise i dont think too many people would be happy at the thought of another 18 months...especially if they dont like the carrier in the first place

I have been speaking to the iPhone O2 people a fair bit about this. Basically it goes like this:

You have your SIM card in your iPhone and thats linked to your account. If your iPhone you have at the moment non 3G broke, then all you do is take the SIM card out of it and put it in a new one. When you connect that to your Mac/PC iTunes will then do a soft activation and everything is back to normal.

Relating this to the 3G iPhone, they are saying simply because you own the phone, all you have to do is take the SIM out of your original iPhone, put it in the new 3G one and then do the same soft activation procedure with iTunes. Then thats you on the same contract, same number everything the same except you are using a 3G iPhone.

I hope this is truly the case

 

[nomad01]

I have been speaking to the iPhone O2 people a fair bit about this. Basically it goes like this:
<snip>
Relating this to the 3G iPhone, they are saying simply because you own the phone, all you have to do is take the SIM out of your original iPhone, put it in the new 3G one and then do the same soft activation procedure with iTunes. Then thats you on the same contract, same number everything the same except you are using a 3G iPhone.

Is this final though? O2's webpage at one time was saying that you could upgrade the iPhone when a new model came out but you'd restart your 18 month contract from the date of activation.

Then, when the 16Gb model came out, they were letting people buy a new phone and transfer the sim without restarting the contract.

 

[daneoni]

Ugh at the thought of Apple or AT&T offering discounts on THE coolest phone on the planet. I realize this is simply a moneys game and Apple wants to sell as many phones as possible, but...I CHERISH MY EXCLUSIVITY! This reeks of what happened with the RAZR! Remember when you were the ONLY person who had one then suddenly EVERYBODY (literally) got one?! Remember how it sucked to then have the same phone as every other lowlife on the planet? This is exactly what's gonna happen if they discount the iPhone so deeply that everybody can afford one! I currently get a cheap thrill outta knowing that at any given time in any given place I'm one of if not the only dude with an iphone! Oh well. Say goodbye to that if they cheapen it. Mass consumerism sucks!

Elitist much

 

[bbplayer5]

This is confirmation of nothing.

 

[Much Ado]

Ugh at the thought of Apple or AT&T offering discounts on THE coolest phone on the planet. I realize this is simply a moneys game and Apple wants to sell as many phones as possible, but...I CHERISH MY EXCLUSIVITY! This reeks of what happened with the RAZR! Remember when you were the ONLY person who had one then suddenly EVERYBODY (literally) got one?! Remember how it sucked to then have the same phone as every other lowlife on the planet? This is exactly what's gonna happen if they discount the iPhone so deeply that everybody can afford one! I currently get a cheap thrill outta knowing that at any given time in any given place I'm one of if not the only dude with an iphone! Oh well. Say goodbye to that if they cheapen it. Mass consumerism sucks!

Eeewwww... now the peasants are allowed phones too...

 

[johnnyjibbs]

Please be cheaper...

I'm hearing ya.

This actually makes a lot of sense. Take the world by storm with the original iPhone. Announce 6 months prior to launch to get appetite up on it and buzz. Offer it for stupendous amounts of money with no subsidies to keep up the perceived value (the "Mercedes Benz effect"). Then offer version 2 with all the usual discounts once you've s**t on everyone else for true mass market appeal.

Smart move Apple.

And if it's cheaper, I can't wait.

 

[Santa Rosa]

I just took my original iPhoine back to the Apple Store last night due to a problem with the screen (white area in upper right corner). They quickly replaced my iPhone and "activated" it right there. I said I thought I had to activate at home with iTunes and he said that "they streamlined that a bit".

Is this final though? O2's webpage at one time was saying that you could upgrade the iPhone when a new model came out but you'd restart your 18 month contract from the date of activation.

Then, when the 16Gb model came out, they were letting people buy a new phone and transfer the sim without restarting the contract.

What they are getting confused with is the fact that if you buy a new model say the 16GB then they are assuming that you are having that as another phone, not as a replacement, hence you need a new contract for it.

As the quote above points out, what they did in store is just what I am talking about except at home.

With the iPhone you are not at present paying for the phone via your contract. How this is going to work with the new deals I do not know. With the current iPhone O2 contract you are only contracted to service from them and not the phone, hence you can change it to whatever you want such as a 3G iPhone with no problems. That is what the iPhone O2 dedicated helpline told me and from what I have been gathering from bits and pieces.

 

[csmitty]

Ugh at the thought of Apple or AT&T offering discounts on THE coolest phone on the planet. I realize this is simply a moneys game and Apple wants to sell as many phones as possible, but...I CHERISH MY EXCLUSIVITY! This reeks of what happened with the RAZR! Remember when you were the ONLY person who had one then suddenly EVERYBODY (literally) got one?! Remember how it sucked to then have the same phone as every other lowlife on the planet? This is exactly what's gonna happen if they discount the iPhone so deeply that everybody can afford one! I currently get a cheap thrill outta knowing that at any given time in any given place I'm one of if not the only dude with an iphone! Oh well. Say goodbye to that if they cheapen it. Mass consumerism sucks!

I see iphones pretty much everywhere. No, not as much as a razr. It really dosn't matter on the price to me. I love my ipod touch but want it to do more. A normal iphone would sufice for me, but with a new one lurking. Book that!

 

[cal6n]

Ugh at the thought of Apple or AT&T offering discounts on THE coolest phone on the planet. I realize this is simply a moneys game and Apple wants to sell as many phones as possible, but...I CHERISH MY EXCLUSIVITY! This reeks of what happened with the RAZR! Remember when you were the ONLY person who had one then suddenly EVERYBODY (literally) got one?! Remember how it sucked to then have the same phone as every other lowlife on the planet? This is exactly what's gonna happen if they discount the iPhone so deeply that everybody can afford one! I currently get a cheap thrill outta knowing that at any given time in any given place I'm one of if not the only dude with an iphone! Oh well. Say goodbye to that if they cheapen it. Mass consumerism sucks!

You are a seriously obnoxious little oik, aren't you?

 

[csmitty]

What about the whole two year contract issues for those of us considering upgrading? Would we have to sign up for another two years of service or would it just be a matter of dropping in the new SIM card?

If you want the cheaper price, say maybe $200 less, it'd be a contract extension. If you don't want a longer contract, full price.

Thats how nextels been doin it forever. I know, I wanted a i580 so bad. Almost 2 years ago but i'll be damned if it wasn't the best phone i ever had. never had to have it replaced, or any part of it, and usually threw it arcross the room for fun. if the iphone meet milspec standards, i would give them a check with my name on it. and thats it.

 

[TheOrioles33]

This is the end.

The major whines of most iPhone haters were no 3G and no GPS. if it has both, it's game over. There simply won't be a better phone.

Totally agree! Now the forums will be used for infomational purposes like its supposed to.

 

[billystlyes]

Wow, a "new iPhone is coming" article of the day?

 

[McL0vin]

Meh.

This Gizmodo piece is yet another 'confirmation' with some seriously funny/ambiguous elements that undermine the validity of their sources.

Let's see:

1. all they confirm is an announcement at WWDC, which we already knew. It's really the latest apple can announce the phone, you don't need sources for that.

2. availability is noted as "right after" which isn't the same as "same day". Right after could be weeks or months.

3. not at year's end, as previously thought Really??? when was the phone ever slated to arrive in the months of november or december?

 

[Obi-Wan Kubrick]

This phone wont take off until they can ditch AT&T and spread to Verizon etc.

 

[darklyt]

Ugh at the thought of Apple or AT&T offering discounts on THE coolest phone on the planet. I realize this is simply a moneys game and Apple wants to sell as many phones as possible, but...I CHERISH MY EXCLUSIVITY! This reeks of what happened with the RAZR! Remember when you were the ONLY person who had one then suddenly EVERYBODY (literally) got one?! Remember how it sucked to then have the same phone as every other lowlife on the planet? This is exactly what's gonna happen if they discount the iPhone so deeply that everybody can afford one! I currently get a cheap thrill outta knowing that at any given time in any given place I'm one of if not the only dude with an iphone! Oh well. Say goodbye to that if they cheapen it. Mass consumerism sucks!

I find it's best to keep those commoners from touching my exclusive products. Thats why I think you should keep your iPhone hidden, they might get their finger grease and drool all over the screen.

By the way, have you heard of this device called an iPod? It's pretty expensive for something that doesn't really do anything other than play some music. I bet nobody has them because they're priced out of the range of so many people.

 

[Parky]

Apple will not lose sales, simply postpone them.

Most people who would buy an iPhone want an iPhone.
If they can't get one because they have sold out but know that a new model will be out soon they will wait and buy it later.

I can't see many people thinking "I want an iPhone, but they have sold out so I will buy an LG". They may lose a few sales, but the majority of people will wait until they are available.

Ian

 

[Diggity-Dan]

iPhone? What's an iPhone?

 

[nomad01]

With the iPhone you are not at present paying for the phone via your contract. How this is going to work with the new deals I do not know. With the current iPhone O2 contract you are only contracted to service from them and not the phone, hence you can change it to whatever you want such as a 3G iPhone with no problems. That is what the iPhone O2 dedicated helpline told me and from what I have been gathering from bits and pieces.

The only reason I'm asking is that the O2 webpage FAQ quite clearly stated the opposite at one time. It said something to the effect of "when a new iPhone is released, will I have to start a new contract?" and the answer was that you would be able to buy the phone and restart your contract. IE not having to pay it up and start a new one.

 

[sassenach74]

Why not. Another option would be you extend your contract by 6 months if you upgrade. Otherwise i dont think too many people would be happy at the thought of another 18 months...especially if they dont like the carrier in the first place.

I fail to understand why you think you should get special treatment simply because you bought the first gen, you had that choice, you made that choice, you signed the contract. That's the whole purpose of a contract is it not?
I can appreciate you should be allowed to buy the new iPhone (full price) and insert your existing sim card and continue your contract, but I cannot for the life of me see how you feel you should get a reduction in price. Cake and eat it?