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

[Urban Joe]

The dwindling launch day lines seem to be by design.
Sad to see the passion dying out.
Why can't Apple wait 3 weeks to launch and have a bigger inventory to start with?
Steve knew how to cultivate, knew the importance of cultivating/inspiring customer passion and loyalty.
Tim is a remarkable guy and a business genius...he just has a stodgy and cold personality that is not too great for the Apple brand. Apple needs a warm CEO with more color and more edge. Think Legere or Musk. Tim is more of a COO, and a world class one at that so no slight intended.

 

[MS_Hedrick]

Hi,

got my iPhone 7 black today. But the quality/finish of the camerabump is absolutely terrible. This is not the standard I expect from a product that costs 860 Euros!! It is suttle but I saw it instantly when I held the phone in my hand for the first time.


Is your quality better? Maybe there is something wrong with the production process!


What should I do: Go to apple store?, Send it back?, Do nothing?

I live in Germany and I fear that they don't have any stock for replacement!

Thanks for replies guys!

Pictures:

https://www.imagebanana.com/view/brd1sy47/Pic1.jpg
https://www.imagebanana.com/code/jh3uksiy/Pic2.jpg
https://www.imagebanana.com/code/gd6agl6g/Pic3.jpg

Yeah, I'm with you on this. Haven't seen other 7's in the Wild yet, but that's not one of the prettier ones.

The OCD in me would be constantly staring at the wrong side of the phone. And a case wouldn't address the situation either.

I'd be forced to return it, and I would; even if it meant walking out of the Apple Store Today without a phone. If it's not the 128GB model, you may get lucky. The artificially created shortages have not affected the 4.7" versions as much as the bigger model.

Take it back.

Great pictures by the way. I could see the issue even in the low res thumbnails.

 

[Koodauw]

He's been gone for 5 years. Get over it smh

It was a joke SMH

 

[jfrankgb]

I walked right in to my local Best Buy at noon and grabbed a 7 Plus 128 MB. Some stores have inventory. Luck I guess.

 

[kevin_tron_taco]

If this post didn't have your name on it, I'd swear I typed it. Word-for-word it's my experience, down to driving to the BB store this morning to see what the hell is going on!

I should add that I did wait on telephone hold for over 45 minutes before giving up and driving to the store. And, I ordered at 2:00AM.

Glad to see I'm not alone in being ignored. Unfortunately, I'm leaving for vacation for 2 weeks and I bet as soon as my plane takes off, my iPhone 7+ will be in at the store.
[doublepost=1474051138][/doublepost]Could it be that Best Buy stores are being treated like end-users and not getting their deliveries until today?

I've seen this with many best buy phone orders even up the the galaxy note 7. Didn't have stock ready on release date but ended up receiving it on that date and through Saturday. Same with the ATT store I ended up getting the Note at.

 

[AppleMark]

My suspicion is that a few things played a role in this:

• Apple misjudged the demand for the Plus model. I know a lot of people who planned to buy the Plus because of the camera, and otherwise would have gotten the smaller size.

Apple probably thought that everybody knew that next years IP8+ will be a smaller footprint, (when they get rid of the top and bottom bezel and home button) and would give it a miss. I did...

You do know that the IP7 is the last IP with a button (fake as it is..)? It will be on the screen pretty much as it is now really, but without the fake button 'look'.

I will be upgrading to the IP8+ for that reason, as I will get the screen size I want, but not the bulk I cannot live with right now.

 

[Return Zero]

No, I don't want wireless headphones because I DO NOT want to have yet another device to remember to keep charged all the time.

How did the headphone jack impede on your wireless abilities on the iPhone 6S and prior? Are you just mindlessly agreeing with apple or did you always want to see the removal of the 3.5mm plug even if didnt matter?

It impeded my wireless abilities, albeit indirectly, because my battery didn't last as long as I wanted, and the built-in speakers were barely loud enough to hear in certain situations when I had to use them for lack of a better option (which is surprisingly often). I for one am extremely happy to have a larger battery and louder, stereo speakers instead of a mostly unused jack. This has always been Apple's M.O., to release old technologies as they near the end of their prime in order to push new ones into widespread adoption.

You are entitled to your opinion as much as anyone else. Just don't forget it's an opinion. Some people (many, I believe) will actually be better served by their phone because of the removal of the jack. Sure, it may benefit Apple as a business decision, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will be a detriment to all customers, which seems to be what you believe.

 

[igrover]

Flatirons Crossing Apple Store, Denver area this morning with a 10-10:30 appt for a 128 matte black iphone7. Arrived at 9:30 and did not get to talk with an Apple employee until 10:40am. Employees were announcing to everyone in line that they:

Did not receive any Jet Black iPhones
Did not have any iPhone 7 + in stock
Did not have any Apple Watch for sale

 

[LordVic]

Flatirons Crossing Apple Store, Denver area this morning with a 10-10:30 appt for a 128 matte black iphone7. Arrived at 9:30 and did not get to talk with an Apple employee until 10:40am. Employees were announcing to everyone in line that they:

Did not receive any Jet Black iPhones
Did not have any iPhone 7 + in stock
Did not have any Apple Watch for sale

This is why I don't buy the artificial scarcity thing in 2016 for iPhones.

just think of all the users who would have bought these devices on day 1 in store who now can't. this is money left in their pockets and not apples. Artificial scarcity doesn't help increase attention for something that already HAS worldwide attention.

 

[JackieInCo]

Flatirons Crossing Apple Store, Denver area this morning with a 10-10:30 appt for a 128 matte black iphone7. Arrived at 9:30 and did not get to talk with an Apple employee until 10:40am. Employees were announcing to everyone in line that they:

Did not receive any Jet Black iPhones
Did not have any iPhone 7 + in stock
Did not have any Apple Watch for sale

So you didn't get a phone at all?

 

[doboy]

another year, another man-made supply restrain

another year, another "expert" on supply chain & manufacturing offering the "facts"

 

[Chupa Chupa]

The cloud might not be noticed by the general population but the core fan base won't forget.

Well for a while. But if Apple comes out with a unique redesign next year and executes this year will be a blip. That said I think there are high expectations for the next iPhone and AW. iPhone b/c isn't that why they are essentially skipping this year. And AW because AW2 is a band-aid update to a design that isn't that sexy and a feature set that is mediocre.

 

[aquadevil2002]

Went to a local T-mobile store and in Houston at 6 and was first in the line. I was sure that I would get the 7 plus in Black matte. At 8 AM an employee came out and told us that the store had just 3 iPhone 7s and no 7 plus at all. Came back, kinda, disappointed but not really. I still have my iPhone 6 which has been great so far and I can wait a few weeks but this is the sort of fiasco both Apple and T-mobile should avoid.

 

[MS_Hedrick]

It was a joke SMH

The better joke would have been 'John Browett would never have allowed this.'

 

[gyang333]

What the hell is going on with in store availability? The lack of inventory might be the worst of any iPhone launch in recent memory.

Yeah, I think most (if not all) tmobile stores got a handful of phones, all 128GB, all the black version. The store I went to only had 2.

 

[dewski]

The manager I spoke with guaranteed they would not be selling any stock to walk in customers before they fulfilled all pre-orders, so I sure as heck hope they stick to that and don't sell to someone walking in off the street before I get that email that mine is ready for pickup.
Your post made me a little nervous so I called my store and they said they're expecting the shipment in a half hour or so. Again, fingers crossed.

I worked in shipping at Best Buy for several years. I can tell you that everyone in the store knows that iphones are off limits. There are probably only about 2 people in the store that would be allowed to touch them. The shipping lead (me) and the mobile manager. They come overnight shipping straight from apple and we get random models. 90% of them are to fill orders. They are received then placed in a locked cage until our order system prompts us to tag them for proper customer. When we confirm that tag, that is when the system send out the email to alert the customer that their order is ready for pick up.

There is no chance that the phones will go to a walk in customer, unless there is foul play.

 

[Macinva]

To the people telling them to ramp up production sooner: If they did that people would be complaining about Apple hoarding stock for an unnecessarily long time prior to launch. Or they could push back the launch date next year by a month to have more units ready. See, they can't get it right in some people's eyes no matter what they do.

I'm pretty sure that anyone with a 5s or better can still enjoy a decent experience with iOS 10 while they wait for their new phone to arrive.

I haven't put iOS 10 on my 6s yet as I wanted to wait to see if there were any major bugs, but on my old (spare) 5s 32gb iOS 10 runs great.

Now, for people still rocking 4, 4s, and to an extent 5 and 5c I can see why they would be a little put out by having to wait yet another month for a new device. I expect getting by on those older devices, especially the 4 and 4s, may be pretty rage inducing and require a massive amount of patience with modern apps and OSes loaded on.

Yep exactly. Neither of ours came today but having a 6S+, I can wait a couple weeks. I used to get pissed if I didn't get it launch day after pre-ordering, now I simply don't care.

AAPL has been doing great the last couple days, they couldn't have it reach $120 so of course a bad launch was needed.

 

[gyang333]

Angela does it again! Pay her more millions!

I don't think this is on Angela Ahrendts, this is on their supply chain logistics. She's just in charge of selling the product that is shipped to her/the retail experience. You can't expect her to sell stuff that isn't there.

 

[MS_Hedrick]

another year, another "expert" on supply chain & manufacturing offering the "facts"

Supply chain restraint is one marketing maneuver above being able to purchase something 'by invitation only'

 

[tDog1868]

So far Apple Store Union Square San Francisco is a disaster. Most employees will not give an answer on anything. Some employees saying 2 hour delay from reservation window.

 

[Kaibelf]

Angela does it again! Pay her more millions!

In what way does she control the supply chain or the backend reservation system?
[doublepost=1474053578][/doublepost]

The dwindling launch day lines seem to be by design.
Sad to see the passion dying out.
Why can't Apple wait 3 weeks to launch and have a bigger inventory to start with?
Steve knew how to cultivate, knew the importance of cultivating/inspiring customer passion and loyalty.
Tim is a remarkable guy and a business genius...he just has a stodgy and cold personality that is not too great for the Apple brand. Apple needs a warm CEO with more color and more edge. Think Legere or Musk. Tim is more of a COO, and a world class one at that so no slight intended.

Stop being dramatic. It's selling like crazy. Saying "the passion is dying out" is like saying Americans suddenly don't like to buy things because they go to Amazon instead of Sears. People are ordering for home delivery or coming in for a reservation, and it seems that aside from a single provided anecdote about a lost phone, it's pretty much a sure thing you'll get the unit you reserved. That's easily preferable to rolling the dice and being in the middle of a huge line and having to pick a unit you honestly don't really want. Mine (128 matte black plus) was there and they brought it to me about 2 minutes after I went in at my allotted time. As usual, the experience was a pleasure, and the store was extremely loud and busy. That's in a suburban store, too. Not a flagship.

 

[citysnaps]

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.

Pure conjecture. And wrong. I had to wait two months for my 6+. As did many others.

Astonishing many think Apple has infinite manufacturing capacity, as do the the many suppliers that source parts that go into the phones.

Likely they are people who have never been involved with or have a clue about manufacturing complex high-value products that will sell 200+ million units a year - roughly more than 1/2 million phones per day.

Edit: In addition to the above there's also test, packaging, shipping, and distribution to stores.

Overall it's an amazing feat.

 

[Asianpork]

Oh boy. Should I be worried? Have a reservation time for 6pm today at the Fifth Avenue flagship location for iPhone 7 128gb Jet Black.

It's not the 7+ so I should be ok...I think.

 

[Johnny907]

I worked in shipping at Best Buy for several years. I can tell you that everyone in the store knows that iphones are off limits. There are probably only about 2 people in the store that would be allowed to touch them. The shipping lead (me) and the mobile manager. They come overnight shipping straight from apple and we get random models. 90% of them are to fill orders. They are received then placed in a locked cage until our order system prompts us to tag them for proper customer. When we confirm that tag, that is when the system send out the email to alert the customer that their order is ready for pick up.

There is no chance that the phones will go to a walk in customer, unless there is foul play.

Happy to hear that, happier still to receive the email notifying me that my phone is ready for pickup. Just waiting to finish up with some clients and then it's straight to the mall to pick up my new 7.

 

[nvjusme]

I arrived at the Palo Alto Apple Store at 9am per my reservation time and they checked me in and then they came to me and said that their shipment hasn't arrived and that I had to come back around noon maybe. So I had to kill time with my daughter and then now I'm back and it's still not here and there is no guarantee that it's coming today! This is the worse process ever for any iPhone that I have preordered. UGHHH....now I have to wait and hope that my phone will arrive some time today and I don't want to drive home and have to come back! this sucks!