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iPad Air Supplies Expected to Be Plentiful at Launch With In-Store Pickup Available
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The iPad 2 is the last iPad available with the old dock connector. This could be an important issue with business or government customers, who rely on receiving replacement devices and won't invest into new infrastructure (such as e.g. multi-charging stations) that soon. And No - the Lightning-to-30-pin adapter is not a solution, as that is too fiddly to work in such environments.
It's not unprecendented as well, because the iPod Classic is still in Apple's lineup without a lowered price, as it offers something no other Apple device can offer: 160GB of storage (and it also features the 30-pin connector).
If Apple would lower the price for old hardware too much, that would create a precedence users would start to expect for other (Apple) hardware as well. That would be a serious problem for Apple's business model.
Private customers will switch to other iPad models anyway and for business customers the price might still be more attractive than switching to new hardware, which is not yet internally approved (which often is a lengthy and cost-intensive process) and would also require additional investments for supporting infrastructure.
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Because their crystal ball is in chemical cleaning currently. </sarcasm>
While I can understand the urge for a smaller iPad, i doubt that the mini is technically identical to the Air. The smaller housing will surely have required some compromises here and there.
And personally I'll get an Air as I don't want to deal with a half-baked product that has seen an accelerated design, testing and production phase only to meet customers expectations.
I still prefer the "it's ready when it's ready" approach Apple followed in the past for good reasons, after they'd been burned badly with poor quality products that had been rushed to market.
I'll be heading up around 7:30. Be a part of the festivities of a launch. Back home by 8:30 and spend the day "working from home" while I get to know my new iPad Air.
Now that sounds like a good day. Top it off with a beer at night and it'll be a Good Friday!
I hope that I'm not making a mistake, but I believe that I am going to elect to buy an iPad Air instead of upgrading my MacBook Pro.
Since I tether with my iPhone, I'll go for the 128 GB WiFi iPad Air and see how that works for me.
I do not have to do much content creation in the field...it's almost always content assimilation, or watching a Netflix or iTunes movie in a hotel room away from home.
With my current iPad, email and such isn't much of a problem, so I'm thinking that the iPad Air would be just fine with that.
Spending $800.00 on an iPad sounds expensive, until you consider that it's saving me the cost of a MacBook Pro Retina upgrade. :-/ That's an Apple person's way of looking at things, of course, and has hardly any validity in absolute logic.
Since I tether with my iPhone, I'll go for the 128 GB WiFi iPad Air and see how that works for me.
I do not have to do much content creation in the field...it's almost always content assimilation, or watching a Netflix or iTunes movie in a hotel room away from home.
With my current iPad, email and such isn't much of a problem, so I'm thinking that the iPad Air would be just fine with that.
Spending $800.00 on an iPad sounds expensive, until you consider that it's saving me the cost of a MacBook Pro Retina upgrade. :-/ That's an Apple person's way of looking at things, of course, and has hardly any validity in absolute logic.
Great! Maybe I can pick one up while I'm waiting for my 5S.
For real - I just really want to get my 5s. Having to wait so long for the 5s really screws everything up - now I get off that upgrade cycle - and when the 6 or 6s comes out, people will have to wait 2 extra months...sigh...
i want my phone!
My decision is similar to yours. I will use the iPad more than a new MBP or MBA, and probably upgrade next year.
Plus, Tim Cook basically said there won't be enough to go around. I want the mini, but will look at the Air if the mini is too hard to get.
good link, perfectly applicable, thank you much!
No problem. I never had a problem at Lenox Mall on launch days, no experience with Perimeter Mall.
The belief that Apple purposefully shorts supplies is the likely BS. They don't. For security reasons etc they don't stockpile for months so yes they are limited in amounts but then they turn around and announce millions in sold units so that is hardly a shorting. Not like say HP would produced 5k launch units with a six month wait for more. Yes Apple often misses the guess on which models will be popular like with the gold iPhones (who knew after years of the black models being the desired ones that everyone would want gold) but they adjust once they have sales trends from the launch.
And in the end what really counts is that folks are willing to wait. People don't just say screw it if they can't get their phone, tablet etc on day one and go buy something else. Sure they bitch and moan about the shortages. They spread BS tin foil hat claims that Apple intentionally shorts the supplies so they can sell out blah blah. But they wait.
And they do seem to be trying to find a way to deal with the resellers that will also not get them sued for privacy violations, racism etc like in years past. This personal pickup option might be the only way they can achieve that even though some folks will gripe that those people have bought out all the stock at a store of some wanted model for the first few days. But then again the gripers have the same option even to the point of buying a gift card so they can pay cash (something they couldn't successfully prohibit after they were accused of bias a few years back)
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It's unfortunate that this program does not exist in Canada
Would be so easy to swing by an Apple store and pick up your product.
Who says it won't come Friday. They might be about to announce it in several countries in the next 48 hours.
The mall doesn't open for business but the doors to enter into the mall have to be opened earlier so employees can get to their respective stores and do stock, setup, etc. etc.
Folks have to wait outside before the doors open. I am not planning to do that.
Because if this is true then by morning it will likely be sold out both for ship to home stocks and pick up at store. And who knows of they will let you pay now and get it shipped to the store for easier pickup if it isn't available for 2-3 weeks.
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You are likely incorrect. If they do personal pickup at the store then it will likely come from the entire shipped supply. They aren't going to be holding stock to make sure there are walkins. Particularly since in many areas the folks camping out are resellers who technically are supposed to be refused service per Apple policy but they have no system to identify them and they aren't dumb enough to say it themselves.
They hold a very small amount of each model for DOA out of the box replacements (like 5 of each type) but those can only be used for that. Once official service parts arrive those held units go to general sales.
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Yet. Again who knows what will happen in the next few hours.
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Of course you will have to wait. There will likely be dozens of folks that did the same thing waiting to get theirs. Stores can't magically make more staff to match the line.
But you paid for it so you are guaranteed to get the one you want because they legally can't sell it to someone else etc.
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A few years ago doesn't necessarily apply to today. A few years ago they didn't have order online and pick up in the store. That's been like a year, year and a half.
And it's from the full stock count. There is no mechanism in the inventory system to mark X amount as buy online and Y as buy in store. To buy it the item has to be in 'sellable' and that makes it available for anyone to buy through either system
And that comes from someone that works there right now. (Like literally clocking in for his shift in about ten minutes)
Maybe this was last year when they told me....I promise you when I bought my 5S this year I experienced this first hand. I was fortunate enough to select "store pick up" on my 5S....I told a friend as well who tired to order online a hour later and it said no longer available. My friend met me at the store and as I told them I was there for my 64gb silver AT&T iPhone 5S to pick up...they told me it'll be a few minutes.
They asked my friend how could they help him and he told him he wanted the same phone. She had someone check ....she said we have it available and to wait. We both got our phones that day....AFTER online showed "no longer available" for my friend.
I'm not saying I'm right and you're wrong....I'm simply sharing my personal experience.
No kidding. If this was a seemingly artificial jacking up of prices on a vital item like milk or price via possible collusion sure. But nothing Apple sells is life vital no matter how much folks want it. Any judge would laugh such a suit out.
If it says it's available for pickup then there is one at the store. You will have paid for it online so it will be there for whatever term they tell you in the T&C before it is auto returned.
You will get an email confirmation once your unit has been pulled out and tagged and after that point, assuming the store is open,you can go get it.
They will probably freeze online for in store pickup for a couple of hours to let the staff prep items or the assumption that folks will come ASAP. So say like from 5am -8am you can't place in store orders. Then again, if they start at midnight by 5am many stores will be sold out anyway.
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So you want it to be twice as thick to handle those connector ports, with likely half or less of the battery life to handle the screen and the processor needed for pro apps and a real filing system.
And iOS versions of the pro apps????? I thought you wanted a hybrid. If it's a hybrid like Windows 8 then you can just run the OS X versions.
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They can't, or rather likely can't but won't tell you, right now. But I promise you that the managers of the stores do know on a rolling basis their stock counts. They have direct access to their inventory systems throughout the day. They know what they have, they know what they are getting (at least in terms of part numbers) and via what system plus when it is expected to arrive.
When you call many stores you are talking to the inventory staff because they don't hire staff just to run phones (huge stores like fifth ave do but not the smaller ones). When they tell you they don't know exact counts they are full of crap. They do. But they aren't allowed to tell it for security reasons so its simpler and faster to just say they don't have that information.
If they tell you at 8am they don't have something and won't that day it's fact. They have the current count and would know that it's all sold online and they have the manifest for the days confirmed delivery and what part numbers are on it.
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Not if they want it guaranteed. Personal pickups are online orders. Payment at time of order.
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You will likely be in that line also. No way are they going to risk a riot by cutting you in front of folks that camped all night.
But yours is guaranteed because it is paid for. And there won't likely be much of a didn't preorder ahead of you because staff will likely go out to any line and tell them about the preorders and a little before opening to out and announce what is sold out so anyone with their heart set on those that didn't preorder will know to go home. And they will likely walk the line with the same info all day. They don't want someone waiting two hours to get to the door to be told they are sold out.
What makes u think u know everything lol.
Apple retail stores do in fact have different reserves or else I would have not posted it.
Malls can open early to accommodate this kind of thing. Especially when Apple is what keeps folks coming there outside of holiday season.
They also often make the Apple store hire their own security for the lines or pay extra to the mall to cover the extra needed mall staff.
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He said that they have no real clue what demand will be like so there won't likely be enough. Not really the same.
Your version implies they know the demand and they know they don't have enough.
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So I guess it didn't occur to you that they might have just checked in a shipment of phones. Or even physically received it and someone was checking if the phone your friend wanted was on the list and they were going to be nice and flip it as received so she could buy it. Again to be nice.
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It's not about what I think but what I know. And I know that you stated your information was from 'a few years ago' and I know that my information is from the gent i live with who works at an Apple Store right now. So I know that my information is a bit more current than 'a few years ago'.
Now you can choose to think that you know the way things currently are and I'm a moron or not. Same with everyone else on this forum, I really don't care either way. But whether you think me a moron or not won't stop me from posting information from my source or pointing out where you or anyone else is very likely wrong.
If that is a problem for you then I invite you to invoke the great forum feature called the ignore list
So then he'd know in the morning that he couldn't get one instead of going to the store in the afternoon and finding out they were sold out.
The iPad 1 launch in 2010 had 2 lines. One was for reserved units (not prepaid, just reserved), and one for anyone who lined up that day. The lines moved at a ratio of roughly 10:1; 10 reserved people were allowed into the store for each person who lined up that day. Maybe Apple will do this again?
Well considering I had been checking there stock all day then at 3pm they had them and that's when I ordered. So I'm guessing that's when they got and updated their stock and got their shipment.
So I doubt they got two shipments in 2 hours. Plus given the fact of what the apple employee told me last year.
That's all I'm saying.... Just my experience