Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Launch Day Reaction Mixed as iPhone 7 Shipping Estimates Improve but Some Reservations Turned Away

I'm in Ottawa, Canada and decided to drop by our Rideau Shopping Centre's Apple Store. I was actually on the fence about getting an iPhone 7 but decided to ask about availability. No 7 plus but quite a few 7's in 128 and 256. I came away with a black iPhone 7 in 256GB. I showed up just after 10am. No line up at all. I have a feeling the next earnings report is gonna be rough.

There's actually a lot to love about the new iPhone 7's and upgrading from a 6, I'm counting all the improvements that came in the 6S. iOS 10 is wonderful and force touch feels pretty great. The Taptic Engine while scrolling with the OS native date pickers feel phenomenal. Will be good to see how 3rd parties use it. That said, the headphone thing (not a big deal for me), it cosmetically being almost the same, and the camera being so much better in the larger version (despite most preferring the smaller version) made this less of an easy purchase.

I have faith that next year's will be a smash hit again, but it's hard to see how that's not an anomaly with new features becoming less obvious going forward. Apple will want to diversify, but to what is not obvious. No other technology is ready for mass market adoption. I'd wager a much stronger push into enterprise being the best move and that they do it in a very in-Apple way. Low margins made up over volume.
 
cookies! said:
That store is constant claustrophobic nightmare. Even when you go months after product launches, it's crammed. But the mall has a Burger King, so it's cool.
Click to expand...

I wish Yashow market was the way it was before. It's pretty much an empty shell. I remember going to Yashow on a Saturday and being yelled at by vendors trying to get me to buy stuff lol
 
So... I used the following link and confirmed stock of the black 128 7 at the Pioneer Place store.

https://reserve.cdn-apple.com/US/en...1&sourceID=email&rv=0&path=&iPP=U&appleCare=Y

I wasn't able to reserve a T-Mobile phone, so I reserved an AT&T (also GSM) on the Upgrade Program and set the appointment for late this afternoon. Went to the store, showed the reservation, and waited in a short line.

Yes, they had the phone. Yes, it will work with T-Mobile. (I just need to transfer my SIM card.) No I can't buy it on the Upgrade Program. As my iPhone 5 is nearly dead, I bought the 7 outright. I skipped the Apple Care thing and there was no sales tax. I walked over to the T-Mobile store and had them switch SIM cards, just in case they needed to change my account settings. Everything went fine, though the customer service guy was surprised when he popped the AT&T card out of the 7. :)

I asked the guy at the Apple Store what the issue was. He said that T-Mobile was withholding SIM cards to minimize 3rd party (including Apple) sales, and they want to drive people to their own financing deals. I'm happy to not have rewarded the carrier.

So if I want to upgrade next year, I'll need to sell or trade in this phone. I'm cool with that. But it sure was a runaround.
 
JonFairhurst said:
Yes, they had the phone. Yes, it will work with T-Mobile. (I just need to transfer my SIM card.) No I can't buy it on the Upgrade Program. As my iPhone 5 is nearly dead, I bought the 7 outright. I skipped the Apple Care thing and there was no sales tax. I walked over to the T-Mobile store and had them switch SIM cards, just in case they needed to change my account settings. Everything went fine, though the customer service guy was surprised when he popped the AT&T card out of the 7. :)
Click to expand...

My opinion, if you were going to buy one outright, you should have bought the Verizon or Sprint one, so it had the extra CDMA bands available, and therefore higher resale value when you turn around and sell it.
 
Someone needs to tell the retail genius Angela that sales are better if, you know, have actual product to sell. Yeah, and here's an idea too - actually answer the phone in stores to tell me that instead of trapping people for 20 minutes through 2 Robosystems and APPLECARE before being able to admit you have no stock. Service matters when you charge a premium, or did you forget that Angela?
 
kmichalec said:
My opinion, if you were going to buy one outright, you should have bought the Verizon or Sprint one, so it had the extra CDMA bands available, and therefore higher resale value when you turn around and sell it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I thought about it, but reserved the GSM version hoping it was one step closer to getting on the Upgrade Program. Hindsight.
 
nevesis said:
Bingo. This is done on purpose to create what is called scarcity value.

If everyone could easily get a phone on launch day or shortly after, you wouldn't have any of the press, or 'hype' that helps the product look more valuable to not only existing customers, but new ones.

Apple knows exactly what they're doing.
Click to expand...

Riiiight. Because apple rather takes in all the negative press of people not getting their phones. Did you google the news? Its all about pissed of people not getting their phones. Same with the lawsuit they got from the apple update program.

You guys would be great business manager.

"Hey, lets actually reduce production so we sell less, piss more people off, and get negative press coverage".
 
What a difference a day makes. I was turned away from my original pre order reservation yesterday after waiting in line for 40 minutes because my phone had not arrived. Made a new reservation last night at a different store. Arrived at the store at 11 today and was out by 11:30 new phone in hand. General manager of the original store called me and apologized many times, said my original reservation had arrived and he wanted to offer me a complimentary Apple Store gift card. Good on apple for making things right
 
JohnPhamlore said:
Even when Steve Jobs was in charge, it was common folk wisdom to avoid the first year of a greatly re-designed Apple product such as the rumored IP8.

To me the IP7+ is the phone to get because it is both a refined design and because it has major spec upgrades in the processor, RAM, and camera. That would easily tide me over until the IP8S which will have whatever major design flaw in the IP8 fixed.
Click to expand...

I used to agree with the 'S' purchase cycle. I had (and still have) the Original IP, 3GS, 4S and the skipped a whole Gen for the IP6, which was great for a 1st Gen (they replaced my bent one with one that did not bend). I think Apple have come a long way and do not make the huge mistakes with first models. The worst IMO was the IP4, I also disliked the 5. The 7 for me is a 6S-S. These days Apple are pretty good at taking phones back when you say they are wrong (never used to...) and so I think they make sure they are right most of the time. For that reason I will have no problem buying a 1st Gen IP8+ if it is what I am expecting it to look like.

Really though, we have most of the design here and now, under the hood. They just wanted to wait for the 10 year anniversary to bring out the new suit.... The new suit will be properly officially waterproof as well, not just resistant. ;)

Enjoy your, IP7+ it is a great phone, just a bit big for my hands and jacket pocket right now.
 
That the Plus seeming outsells the regular sized model could be due to the fact that a lot of people were able to get the deal of a lifetime with the SE just a few months earlier. Same specs as the 6s, for a bargain price.

Then the plus model comes out, sleeker than the previous model, dual camera and 128 gig of storage for the price of previously 64.

Well that's me. I got both. Each for differ reasons. The SE is my "phone" and my Plus is for photography and media consumption.
I don't t think consumers are stupid. They know value. And the SE and Plus are a fantastic valley.
There is little reason to upgrade the 4.7 6s or 6 of you already have one.
 
michaelrmcneill said:
Well, hate to break it to you, but you're wrong. Whether they had independent pools for pre-orders vs. walk-ins I don't know. What I do know is that I had a pre-order for a phone that hadn't yet been fulfilled, and I walked in and got it first thing this morning and cancelled the online order. These phones were already locked in a cage and had just regular Best Buy employees handling them. Also, I wasn't the only one that got a walk-in phone, at least 15 other people did as well. Maybe things have changed since you left.
Click to expand...

I'm still there and they must have been unclaimed models with no orders. My location would have maybe 30 orders total? All the orders are tagged before they reach the sales floor.
 
ghostface147 said:
Oh no, someone's b-day party pictures won't be awesome because they don't have the latest iPhone. Apparently he must have an iPhone, 3G or 3GS that is terrible.
Click to expand...
Birthday pictures are normally in low light and that always improves year on year...
 
My iPhone 7 shipment is around 9-27-10-10. I ordered from carrier not Apple sadly. T-mobile only allows customers to order from them.
 
dewski said:
I'm still there and they must have been unclaimed models with no orders. My location would have maybe 30 orders total? All the orders are tagged before they reach the sales floor.
Click to expand...
Obviously the way your store does it is different, but I went to two different Best Buy's and both had significant amounts (more than 50 phones total) of walk-in stock. They told multiple people that some pre-orders would not be filled on launch day, but if they had it in-stock, you could walk-in and get it and just cancel your pre-order. Like I said, I'm unsure if these specific devices were earmarked for walk-ins or were a shared pool for both pre-orders and walk-ins, but either way, what you are saying isn't the reality of what I experienced at two different locations.
 
What a total cluster flock. I swear it's like they've taken an extended leave of absence in Cupertino. It reminds me of a classroom of kids that usually have a very strict teacher. If the teacher leaves for more than a few days, then the kids turn into complete hooligans while the substitute is there. Apple has lost their discipline along with their innovative drive.
 
After at least seven iterations of "order, delay and wait" for iPhones, I'm giving them a dose of their own medicine! I special ordered my iPhone 7 Plus Gloss Black with Gold Piping Trim, Whitewall Tires and 1,028 MHz of HDD Space. I placed my order within a few milliseconds of the site's opening. I have called Apple and AT&T tirelessly 27 times daily to ask for a status update and complain. It arrived on time and the local Apple Store contacted me promptly. I dashed down there, stood in a line 58 people deep for 3 hours and 27 minutes and 18 seconds. Once they were almost finished with checking me out, had it all swiped and scanned into their register/iPhones, just prior to swiping my card I explained I was desperate to pee and had to immediately or there would be an accident. They quickly showed me to the employee restroom in the stockroom where I quietly slipped out the back door and went home. Time after time over all these years I've waited on them. Now it's their turn to wait on me! Bahahahahahahahaha!
 
  • Like
Reactions: MacHead84
rippley5150 said:
I wish Yashow market was the way it was before. It's pretty much an empty shell. I remember going to Yashow on a Saturday and being yelled at by vendors trying to get me to buy stuff lol
Click to expand...

Haha yeah. Oh, and one of my favorite things about that Apple Store is how tons of people pay with big wads of red bills :D
 
cookies! said:
Haha yeah. Oh, and one of my favorite things about that Apple Store is how tons of people pay with big wads of red bills :D
Click to expand...

I love China for that lol
I was standing in front of a bank and noticed two guys bent over the ground. The one guy pulls out by what I counted, 40,000 USD and a bunch of Euros. Must be nice to walk around with 40,000 dollars lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back