I got to the computer bright and early this morning to order a new iPhone4. First thing I noticed was an email from AT&T (time-stamped 7:09 am) inviting me to pre-order. So I clicked through, found that I was eligible for an upgrade (with an upgrade fee of $18) but no indication of a purchase price.
Curious about the cost, I clicked through the upgrade page at 7:24 am and got the online equivalent of a busy signal.
After a number of retries, resulting in the same error message, I got a gateway timeout. This site must be hopping!
Unfortunately, it gave me time to think: do I really need a new iPhone? I know it's got a front-facing camera, and a gyroscope, and it's not plastic. The longer battery life would be nice, too.
But I like my original iPhone. I've got a couple of iPhone covers that I feel comfortable using (including the Bandshell for speakerphone enhancement). It's got a John Lennon skin, even. So do I want to throw all that out the window for the sake of The New?
With the virtual line remaining busy for a full hour now, and the workday about to begin, I think I'm going to have to give a second thought...
I experienced the same thing
I experienced the same thing this morning. By the way the customer care number is useless - when you talk with them, they say you have to pre-order on-line.
After about an hour of trying, I was finally able to place my order online. However, there were two gotchas.
First, I was not able to transfer a number from an existing service. The system just didn't accept the number. (No message, just the same screen prompting for old number. I will have to call later).
Secondly, and this was most annoying, the default plan was the $45 tethering option. I don't need to pay an extra $15 a month for tethering -- that's why I ordered an iPad 3G. However, I couldn't figure out how to change the option. When I hit change, the option would disappear, only to reappear again in a later screen.
One would think by this time AT&T would be prepared for the predictable traffic crunch.
Early morning connections with Apple/AT&T
Maybe it's due to my East Coast location. I went on at 5:30 a.m. local time and had no problems. I connected with both Apple and then AT&T and the process went smoothly. I did wonder about the $18 fee, when I don't have an existing contact, but this was no time to quibble... and to whom could I quibble anyway?
The only "strange" thing that happened was that at the beginning of the process on the Apple site, I clicked that I wanted the new iPhone mailed to my home, but by the time I'd finished up and was back at the Apple confirmation page, I was offered my choice of Apple Stores from which to pick up the new phone! (There was no longer a mail-to-home option.)
Good luck and enjoy your new iPhones!
Lucky East Coaster!
I should have gotten online earlier, Michael. I was up at 4:30 am, but not at my computer. (That's when I have an extremely early walk down the middle of my village streets, just the birds and me...)
Tried back this morning and I now see that sales are suspended. Maybe the question of whether to upgrade to the iPhone 4 was decided for me -- at least for the time being.
Report back on your experience of picking it up at the Apple store.