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To those of you who were able to place orders @ XX:02, and XX:03, etc...How the HELL do you do it?

F1Fan

F1Fan

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 11, 2011
72
55
Northern Virginia
Now that the phones are out, and some of you already have your phones, I'm wondering if those that got their orders in in the first few minutes can explain to me how to make this happen. Every year, for the iPhone, a few times for the iPad, and for the launch of the Apple Watch, I go online, at least 15 minutes before 12:00 PST, and start trying to get online.

I do it on my laptop through the site, my phone through the Apple Store app, and even the iPad Apple store app, simultaneously with frenzied fingers trying to refresh all 3, and it never fails. Midnight rolls around (I'm on the West Coast) and sure enough, site is down still. I keep trying, and trying, for what seems like eternity, and almost invariably, I don't get online until at least 12:10, or 12:15. EVERY TIME!!! Only to see when I get online that launch day inventory is already a pipe dream. EVERY FREAKING TIME

I know bigger tragedies happen in the world, but I have a few minutes to kill, and thought I would reach out for suggestions.

This is not another post complaining about the shipping date, and if I have to wait a couple of weeks for my iPhone, I'll live. But it is frustrating to constantly do everything right, stay up late, and try to order only to consistently be unable to do it. Yet I see people on here who seem to be able to consistently order w/ in the first 2-3 minutes, and then boast that they deserve the phone on launch day because they woke up/stayed up for it. Well, so did I! So what the hell am I doing wrong? Any tips, or pointers, or is this really dumb luck and it's not in the cards for me to ever get online to Apple's servers in the first few minutes.

Any ideas?
 
Same here.
FYI though, it probably doesn't help trying multiple devices from the same IP address.

I'm also pretty certain that some ISPs behave differently and constrict traffic greatly during these spikes.
 
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I hadn't thought of that - I always wondered though how to actually refresh the app when the store is down. Thanks - I'll try that next time. Probably for the iPhone 8! LOL
 
F1Fan said:
Now that the phones are out, and some of you already have your phones, I'm wondering if those that got their orders in in the first few minutes can explain to me how to make this happen. Every year, for the iPhone, a few times for the iPad, and for the launch of the Apple Watch, I go online, at least 15 minutes before 12:00 PST, and start trying to get online.

I do it on my laptop through the site, my phone through the Apple Store app, and even the iPad Apple store app, simultaneously with frenzied fingers trying to refresh all 3, and it never fails. Midnight rolls around (I'm on the West Coast) and sure enough, site is down still. I keep trying, and trying, for what seems like eternity, and almost invariably, I don't get online until at least 12:10, or 12:15. EVERY TIME!!! Only to see when I get online that launch day inventory is already a pipe dream. EVERY FREAKING TIME

I know bigger tragedies happen in the world, but I have a few minutes to kill, and thought I would reach out for suggestions.

This is not another post complaining about the shipping date, and if I have to wait a couple of weeks for my iPhone, I'll live. But it is frustrating to constantly do everything right, stay up late, and try to order only to consistently be unable to do it. Yet I see people on here who seem to be able to consistently order w/ in the first 2-3 minutes, and then boast that they deserve the phone on launch day because they woke up/stayed up for it. Well, so did I! So what the hell am I doing wrong? Any tips, or pointers, or is this really dumb luck and it's not in the cards for me to ever get online to Apple's servers in the first few minutes.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

#1. On my Apple account which has all my payment information ready to go and verified.
#2. On my iPad Pro Apples servers give Pripority to iOS devices few people know that.
#3. Upload speed is key Verizon FIOS cable internet my speeds are 150MB down and 50MB uploads anything slower will not let you get through with ease you might but very slow.
#4. Here's they key Buy 2 other Things Anything a cable a keyboard headphones anything You must have at least 2 other items even cheap items sold and made by Apple in your Cart that are in stock when the time comes Hit Refresh the iPhone 7 Plus shows up add to your Cart and Go.
#5. Last and Most Critical tip. You get Exactly 1 Chance You must know Exactly what Color and Configuration you Want No Browsing or going back and picking different colors. This is what ruins it for 90% of buyers They had it then left it now it won't come back. You get Exactly one chance.

That's it, Oh and #4. Above you can always never open the items and return them, they are just place holders to keep you live in Apples servers and Give you a leg up.
 
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I'm on T-Mobile so for my phone orders, I call 5-7 minutes before XX:01. For online orders, I time myself going through the upgrade page so I get to it exactly at XX:01.
 
I used the App. My confirmation for Jet-black iPhone 7 came in at 12:03 and for matte black iPhone 7 came in at 12:14. Both delivered today on time at my girlfriend's house and mine.
 
I rotate through force-quitting and refreshing the Apple Store app on my iPhone and iPad, while also loading new incognito windows in my browser to check the web version of the store. Just hitting refresh won't do it, you need to shut down and reopen incognito windows to have it properly reload the store.
 
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Ordered on AT&T's MyATT app at 11:55pm Pacific, done and out by 11:58pm. Didn't order a JB model, and STILL received a shipping window of two weeks. Now, 8 days later I haven't heard a word from ATT. My order has been preparing to ship for over a week. What exactly are they preparing? In ATT World, preparing to ship means, "we got your order and as soon as your phone is built, we'll call ya".
 
penajmz said:
I just kept force quitting the Apple Store app until it went through.
Click to expand...
I did this across 3 devices on a rolling basis and eventually got in at 12.03am.

Haha, no tracking or support profile yet just preparing for shipment.
 
Ronnoco said:
Ordered on AT&T's MyATT app at 11:55pm Pacific, done and out by 11:58pm. Didn't order a JB model, and STILL received a shipping window of two weeks. Now, 8 days later I haven't heard a word from ATT. My order has been preparing to ship for over a week. What exactly are they preparing? In ATT World, preparing to ship means, "we got your order and as soon as your phone is built, we'll call ya".
Click to expand...
You will never get a phone.
 
You know what I do wrong? I wait till like one minute before preorders start before I try refreshing. I've learned my lesson next time start way earlier. :apple:
 
penajmz said:
I just kept force quitting the Apple Store app until it went through.
Click to expand...
+1.

Favourited the phone I wanted the night before and then kept closing and opening the app until the store became live.

I got my confirmation email at 08:03 (uk).
 
Went into Apple Store app and created a favorite of the device I wanted.

Got up 15 minutes before preorder time. As soon as time came I kept trying the Apple Store app and finally got in. Went to my saved device and ordered via Touch ID. I think it went through around 12:07 or so. It was a bit of a head scratcher but I keep checking this forum to see what other people were seeing.

Picked up 7+ 128GB Black this morning.

I think it was a combo of having it saved and just random luck on getting to the server at the right time. I also ordered a T-Mobile version so I am sure threat plays into it a bit as well.
 
2 years ago I ordered through the ATT site since it was up and the Apple site wasn't working for me.

This year, apple was saying 2-3 weeks (3 hours after launch) and verizon was saying sept 23 (2 weeks), so I went with verizon.

In spite of hopes by some that they are always pessimistic, and I could get it today, I didn't. Still too early to know whether optimistic (comes later than the 23rd), pessimistic (comes before the 23rd, just not the 16th), or right on, I don't know.
 
I ordered at around 10:30 AM EST and got my phone today. Figured that the 7 32gb black just isn't that popular.
 
I would've easily been one of them if I had been paying direct on debit or credit instead of trying to join the IUP. I was on my computer at 11:55 with my phone next to me basically CTRL-F5'ing Chrome on apple.com and opening and force closing the Apple Store app on my phone in between. I had also gone in ahead of time and added the phone and case I wanted to my favorites so all I'd have to do was go in, click it and be done. But then good ole' Citizen's Bank had to take their sweet ass time processing my application (more than likely because they were simultaneously inundated with thousands of them). And so I ended up with a 12:15 order confirmation e-mail.

I can tell you though that at 12:44 which was after I got done bitching about the experience on Reddit, Rose Gold and Gold were still available for launch day in every configuration and US carrier, and Silver was in most. Jet and Matte Black went first.

As a former production engineer, that would tell me I need to rejigger my order quantities significantly. You don't see anyone on here complaining they couldn't get a Rose Gold 7+. And as someone who has used a lot of software in a lot of contexts, it tells me that I need to rejigger the point in the process that a device actually becomes assigned to an in-process order (i.e. like how Ticketmaster works once you pick seats but before you've checked out fully).
 
TheRealAlex said:
#1. On my Apple account which has all my payment information ready to go and verified.
#2. On my iPad Pro Apples servers give Pripority to iOS devices few people know that.
#3. Upload speed is key Verizon FIOS cable internet my speeds are 150MB down and 50MB uploads anything slower will not let you get through with ease you might but very slow.
#4. Here's they key Buy 2 other Things Anything a cable a keyboard headphones anything You must have at least 2 other items even cheap items sold and made by Apple in your Cart that are in stock when the time comes Hit Refresh the iPhone 7 Plus shows up add to your Cart and Go.
#5. Last and Most Critical tip. You get Exactly 1 Chance You must know Exactly what Color and Configuration you Want No Browsing or going back and picking different colors. This is what ruins it for 90% of buyers They had it then left it now it won't come back. You get Exactly one chance.

That's it, Oh and #4. Above you can always never open the items and return them, they are just place holders to keep you live in Apples servers and Give you a leg up.
Click to expand...


Well, that's me sorted for the iPhone 8!
 
Thanks for everyone who provided advice. I never thought about force quitting the app, so will definitely try that next year!
 
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