I've Never Wanted To Be At The Front Of The Line Until Now

July 17, 2014 7:04 PM

I hate my awful, auto-dialing, MotoX android with a passion and am counting the days until the introduction and release of iPhone6 in September. Help me come up with a strategy to get one of the early models and not have to wait months until there is a significant amount of product for general distribution. In other words I want to actually have an iPhone 6 in my hands in September. How do I do it?
posted by Xurando to Technology (14 answers total)

I've had good luck ordering online from Apple as soon as they are accepting orders. (Once. When iPhone 4s came out...)
posted by kidbritish at 7:29 PM on July 17, 2014

When the iPhone 5s pre-orders were made available, I ordered through the Apple Store app on my iPhone in the first few minutes after midnight or whenever it was that they started taking orders. I recall that many people who tried to pre-order through the Apple website were unable to do so because of the heavy traffic hitting the site.

Of course, using the Apple Store app requires you to have access to an iDevice of some kind. Maybe you could borrow a friend's?
posted by BurntHombre at 7:29 PM on July 17, 2014

I walked past the huge ridiculous line at the Apple store on opening day of the 5s sales, and into the AT&T store. I walked out 20 minutes later with my new phone. Sometimes it's just where you go.

Think different?
posted by clone boulevard at 7:39 PM on July 17, 2014 [3 favorites]

For my 5 I went to my local AT&T store the morning they were released just a few minutes before they opened. I waited in line about 30 minutes and they had one for me as I wanted the 32GB model and it wasn't as popular as the 16GB model.
posted by sourwookie at 7:41 PM on July 17, 2014

When I picked up my 4S, we walked into the Apple store the day after launch and waited about fifteen minutes, mayyyybe half an hour in line before we got our phones. The AT&T store had no line, but they also didn't have the model/color combos in stock that we were looking for.

Unless you want the phone on *launch day* getting one in the first week or so isn't that big of a deal anymore. Apple knows roughly what demand is going to be, and it doesn't behoove them to leave money on the table.
posted by Andrhia at 7:51 PM on July 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

I, too, bought an iPhone 5 the day they came out at an AT&T store.

However, they did not have stock on hand; they placed an order for me, and I received my phone about three weeks later. Certainly easier than waiting in line for hours, but does not achieve the same results.

I also waited in line, once, as a favor for a friend. If you really, really want your iPhone the first day they're available, it's not the worst.
posted by Sara C. at 8:09 PM on July 17, 2014

If you already have an apple device, or know someone who does who would be willing to help you you out, the Apple Store App will allow you to buy online right when they go on sale, and has been more reliable than the web site itself in the past.

I'm also waiting desperately for the 6 as my 5's battery is barely hanging on, and the App Store App is what I'm planning to use. I'll probably also have the web page up on my laptop as well though, as a back up plan.

I've also done the lineup thing, and I've had considerably better luck with the online channels, if you're ok with waiting for it to be shipped.
posted by cgg at 9:04 PM on July 17, 2014

maybe trying to fix the auto-dialing on the Moto X would be a good way to feel less rushed? I have a Moto X and it never seems to auto dial anyone, which suggests that problem might be solvable.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 9:45 PM on July 17, 2014 [4 favorites]

I bought my 5 the day they came out through AT&T online. Had it in two days.
posted by dogwelder at 10:15 PM on July 17, 2014

Probably best to wait a few months for production problems to be ironed out, or for the general consensus on whether the iPhone 6 is a keeper or a dog of a phone. Apple isn't infallible.

That being said, you have my sympathies for being stuck with an Android phone in the interim.
posted by Yowser at 1:10 AM on July 18, 2014

Hey, I know you hate your Moto X, while I think mine is the best phone I've ever had, by far, including recent iPhones and other top-tier Android models. I'm not trying to convince you to like your phone.

But as a possible useful tangent, did you want to share a little more about your auto-dialing problems? It shouldn't do what that sounds like, and I might be able to help get it a little less frustrating until you can switch to the iPhone.
posted by BlackPebble at 8:33 AM on July 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Here is the auto-dialing problem. Repeated calls to Motorola and Verizon as well this AskMe post have not changed the situation much. The screen still blacks out and auto dials on a random/regular basis. I'm sooooo done with this.
posted by Xurando at 8:58 AM on July 18, 2014

Ah, OK then. That is certainly weird enough that I can't add much, and almost feels like faulty hardware or baseband/firmware, both of which are beyond your ability to troubleshoot. Any chance Verizon would replace the phone with the same model at least to get fresh hardware? If you're able to go to a Verizon storefront you might have better luck than over the phone support.

I do wonder if putting the phone through a factory reset and restore of your apps/settings might help, that does sometimes wipe out freaky inexplicable hardware issues, but it's a bit of a project and not guaranteed to help. Make sure you have a backup of the phone first, of course.
posted by BlackPebble at 9:47 AM on July 18, 2014

All Apple Stores report inventory at 10:00PM. This includes current, on-hand, and expected inventory. At that point you can order for store pickup. The key is to go to the Apple Store and set up an order at your local Apple Store for store pickup shortly after 10:00PM the day before you want it. I have never tried this on an opening day, but was able to get an iPad Mini a few days after release.
posted by Gungho at 10:54 AM on July 18, 2014