Photos From Inside a 747 Flying iPhone 6 Units to the U.S.

[powerstrokin]

Not the point.

Only authorized personnel gets to see what is coming from China.

He is violating a confidentiality clause the airline has with its clients.
Truckers don't post pictures of themselves with the freight they are carrying.

Would he have done the same with a load of superhero underwear for Walmart?

His 5 minutes of fame are now used up!

Doesn't really matter if he didn't sign a NDA, if Apple puts pressure on the freight company they will likely let him go. No one wants to be known as a company that lost their business with Apple.

I think it's time to step away from the keyboard.

You guys are way over thinking this. I think we can take this pilot's word that this is an acceptable thing to do over your speculation. He is, after all, the professional here. Surely he knows what he is or isn't allowed to do.

And no, it's unlikely to see the same thing happen for a load of underwear because who cares about underwear? Listen to yourself. Really.

 

[ChiliBlue]

Look! I found this on the internets. It's a mailman! Delivering a letter! Eeeeeeee!

He's fired too!

Shipping air freight is not the same. There are certain things that can be shared on a 'need to know basis'. When the pilot got his job he was tested and signed a piece of paper agreeing to follow the rules. One of the rules is don't share anything about your cargo, flight path with anyone how doesn't need to know. I don't think the Internet and Macrumors are on the need to know list.

I get that he probably is caught up in the excitement of the moment but you get a TSA auditor on a bad day? Kiss your butt good-bye.

 

[gbc204]

And news on MacRumor's has reached an all time low.

No, that will happen when they're showing photos of the phones in the factories...

 

[Arran]

Not the point.

Only authorized personnel gets to see what is coming from China.

He is violating a confidentiality clause the airline has with its clients.
Truckers don't post pictures of themselves with the freight they are carrying.

Would he have done the same with a load of superhero underwear for Walmart?

His 5 minutes of fame are now used up!

Oh dear, I think someone's a wee bit jealous.

I mean who here (especially here) wouldn't want to be floating high in the clouds with 195,000 virgin iPhones? That's geek heaven right there.

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Shipping air freight is not the same. There are certain things that can be shared on a 'need to know basis'. When the pilot got his job he was tested and signed a piece of paper agreeing to follow the rules. One of the rules is don't share anything about your cargo, flight path with anyone how doesn't need to know. I don't think the Internet and Macrumors are on the need to know list.

I get that he probably is caught up in the excitement of the moment but you get a TSA auditor on a bad day? Kiss your butt good-bye.

He said in an earlier post he'd signed no NDA - so I'll go with his judgement on this one.

 

[MacSince1990]

Watching people like you get upset over it

I'm more puzzled than upset, tbh.

Although if you get your kicks from other people's frustration, I think you might want to rethink your perspective in life.

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Oh Come now, it's not like MR is reporting this story instead of other news.
(maybe I misspoke there, Apple surely must have released the aTV 4, but now we will never know, because they posted this article instead)

It's cool to know a MR reader is one of the pilots, and to see a bit of his part in the process. I like knowing a fellow MR fan is part of the supply chain and this is more interesting to me than most "regular news" out there today. What would you rather MR post instead of this article?

I guess I should have specified. The story itself is kind of neat. The pilot seems like a cool guy.

What I find ridiculous though, is the title, and the fact that the pics we're getting are of packages inside a plane lol.

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No, that will happen when they're showing photos of the phones in the factories...

They've been doing that for months lol

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you mean high, because it's on an airplane

Either way, better than having mock up hardware posts everyday

Yeah you know what, I hadn't even thought of that. You're right. Especially when they're the same mockups every time lol.. three phones in the grass what XD

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I hope you're joking. As it's clear the pilot was joking when he said he gave it some extra gas.

I wouldn't gas you up about something like this.

 

[usarioclave]

Upon further reflection, Apple saved a whole bunch of money by getting iOS 8 out the door a little earlier, which allowed Apple to airfreight iPhones from China to the US then release them to FedEx in the US - saving the cost of international shipping.

This is peanuts compared to the amount of $$ that Apple makes, but it shows that even though Apple has money coming out the wazoo it still cares enough to save $2m in freight.

I can't get a fedex quote between China and the US for some reason, but from previous experience I think it costs around $25. Given Apple's discount it'd be less, so:

195,000 iPhones = $12 savings per iphone = almost $2.3m less in shipping. Say $100k to fly the stuff over (which is high) and they save $2.2m.

 

[CPx]

I'm wondering if russians/ukrainians would have been destroyed that plane what would have happened ?

That would be some drop test.

 

[Arran]

That would be some drop test.

Accompanied by 195,000 sighs.

 

[robbyclark]

Title should be from cargo pilot to taxi driver!

This guy won't have his job for long.
Nice of him to give any crooks wanting to do a job on a shipment details of where the plane will be landing next......wasn't it no so long ago 1.5million worth of iPad mini's went in a airport heist at JFK?

twit.

 

[ChiliBlue]

Oh dear, I think someone's a wee bit jealous.
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[/COLOR]

He said in an earlier post he'd signed no NDA - so I'll go with his judgement on this one.

You don't understand. It isn't about NDA with his company. There are rules put in place by the TSA and every person who comes into contact with any air cargo must follow those rules. It's called the Indirect Air Carrier program. His company is supposed to make sure their employees understand and comply with those rules. Failure to follow those rules can result in fines and/or arrest (depending on the severity of the infraction).

Seeing as I deal with IAC everyday I'm confidant of my information. I've seen people get fired and companies fined for far less.

 

[StyxMaker]

This isn't news, and it isn't a rumor. We know the iPhone 6 is shipping. We know it's coming. A picture of cargo that could be, for all we know, twenty-five tons of fish, really isn't very exciting.



As someone who's frequented Mac rumor sites for over 12 years, this is probably the worst I've ever seen.



What interest do you honestly get out of this?

I haven't even ordered one (yet) and I enjoy these stories about the shipping. Don't click on them if you don't like them.

 

[powerstrokin]

This guy won't have his job for long.
Nice of him to give any crooks wanting to do a job on a shipment details of where the plane will be landing next......wasn't it no so long ago 1.5million worth of iPad mini's went in a airport heist at JFK?

twit.

*sigh* I disagree. You're blowing this way out of proportion.

 

[Thunderhawks]

I think it's time to step away from the keyboard.

You guys are way over thinking this. I think we can take this pilot's word that this is an acceptable thing to do over your speculation. He is, after all, the professional here. Surely he knows what he is or isn't allowed to do.

And no, it's unlikely to see the same thing happen for a load of underwear because who cares about underwear? Listen to yourself. Really.

Okay, you do not want to see the point.

Let me try again:

When I (Apple) pay for the transportation of my goods, I do not want ANYBODY
to know about it for a variety of reasons.

Security, Press, Competitors etc.etc.

How does this pilot have the right to publish confidential information?

And, again why doesn't/didn't he do this with all the freight he is/has been
flying?

Apple = headlines comes to mind.

On a personal note, I do not care to know when these phones come into the country and where and when they get distributed.

I am from a generation that knows how to wait and doesn't need the latest gadget or my life ends.
(See some of the entitlement posts in other threads)

As always, I'll wait for ample supplies in the stores, will hold one in my hand to decide 4.7 or 5.5 and will also wait for the first report of "ISSUES" as these only settle after about 3 months.

The entire frenzy is silly in my book.

 

[Arran]

Seeing as I deal with IAC everyday I'm confidant of my information.

Can you point me to the appropriate section?

 

[kupkakez]

I dunno. If by "giving it a little extra gas" he broke some sort of rule (gas consumption, speed limits, unexpected acceleration without warning air traffic controllers etc.), he actually could get in trouble. I'm only speculating.

I'd assume he was joking.

 

[jtrenthacker]

Pfffff.....Samsung was shipping their phones by 777 way before Apple. Where's the innovation Apple?

 

[AppleChic76]

This has gone too far.

LOL. It's a little precious, I agree.

 

[TsunamiTheClown]

Just keep the LG employees away from this plane.

 

[Arran]

I am from a generation that knows how to wait and doesn't need the latest gadget or my life ends.

As am I.

The entire frenzy is silly in my book.

So why are you here? No-fun-police, or something?

 

[powerstrokin]

Okay, you do not want to see the point.

Let me try again:

When I (Apple) pay for the transportation of my goods, I do not want ANYBODY
to know about it for a variety of reasons.

Security, Press, Competitors etc.etc.

How does this pilot have the right to publish confidential information?

And, again why doesn't/didn't he do this with all the freight he is/has been
flying?

Apple = headlines comes to mind.

On a personal note, I do not care to know when these phones come into the country and where and when they get distributed.

I am from a generation that knows how to wait and doesn't need the latest gadget or my life ends.
(See some of the entitlement posts in other threads)

As always, I'll wait for ample supplies in the stores, will hold one in my hand to decide 4.7 or 5.5 and will also wait for the first report of "ISSUES" as these only settle after about 3 months.

The entire frenzy is silly in my book.

To the first highlighted part- you are ASSUMING this is somehow 'confidential' information. I trust that the pilot knows what he is or is not allowed to show, as this is HIS JOB.

To the second part- Good for you. I don't particularly care about these details either, but I find the discussion interesting enough from a logistics standpoint about the HOW's involved. A lot of people don't know what happens behind the scenes. I do, but I enjoy seeing the progression of discussion regarding it. If you don't care about any of this, then surely you can simply avoid posting in this thread and save yourself some headache.

Good day to you.

 

[anarche]

Does Apple publish the carbon footprint of the iPhone? It should be relatively straightforward to calculate given the information here in terms of volume of iphones in a single shipment and the carbon footprint of the 747 from China-US or elsewhere.

 

[yellowtruck]

Samsung

Meanwhile, dusty pallets of Samsung devices sit in the dark to the sound of crickets ….* sound of a few crickets***

 

[rGiskard]

Will we get photos of FedEx drivers delivering iPhones?

 

[rickdollar]

He looks drunk in that first picture. And someone is being squashed between two pallets on the left.

 

[Arran]

Meanwhile, dusty pallets of Samsung devices sit in the dark to the sound of crickets ….* sound of a few crickets***

Hey, that's confidential!