On early Friday morning, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus preorders began. Apple released a statement this morning saying they sold four million iPhones with preorders. They said the response was incredible and set a new record in iPhone history.
Introducing the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
An AT&T executive commented about the demand for the iPhones and said it was better then the two previous generations of iPhones. Sprint said the response was strong and T-Mobile apologized on Twitter for the problems in the preordering process. Apple’s website went down for a few hours during the preorder period as well.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus delivery dates have slipped on the Apple website, AT&T, Verizon and Sprint websites. On Apple.com, the iPhone 6 will be shipping in seven to ten business days and the iPhone 6 Plus in three to four weeks. On the AT&T website, it could take up to thirty-five days for the iPhone 6 to ship and the iPhone 6 Plus won’t ship until November 9th to 27th. It was rumored that Apple would have a much smaller supply of the larger iPhone.
If you are interested in purchasing an iPhone, you can head to your closest Apple Store and pick one up on launch day on Friday. You’ll have to wait in line but it may be worth it if you prefer to have an iPhone 6 now versus next month (or worse, late November).
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were officially announced this past week at Apple’s special media event in Cupertino. The iPhone 6, which has a 4.7″ display, is nearly identical to the iPhone 6 Plus, which has a 5.5″ display, except for a few features. Besides the obvious screen size different, the larger phone has optical image stabilization in the camera, a lot more pixels per inch (401 versus 326), better battery life and a higher price tag. Both phones go on preorder tonight at 12:01am PST online and at first light at many brick-and-mortars stores.
iPhone 6 Plus (left) next to the iPhone 6 (right)
Customers who preorder the phone tonight will receive them on the first date of sale, Friday, September 19th. Due to the high demand for the iPhone, businesses will likely sell out within minutes and the phones will be immediately backordered. Your best bet is to secure your iPhone 6 the closest to 12:01am (or when your favorite store opens in the morning.)
If you are interested in preordering the phone online, the following stores will allow preorders starting at 12:01am PST:
Apple Store (app or website)
AT&T
Verizon
Sprint
T-Mobile
If you are interested in preordering the phone in-store, like at Best Buy and Walmart, you should call ahead to find out what time they are opening tomorrow. I would also suggest getting out your tent and sleeping bag to start forming a line tonight.
The iPhone 6 starts at $199 for 16GB, then $299 for 64GB and $399 for 128GB (subsidized). The iPhone 6 Plus starts at $299 for 16GB, $399 for 64GB and $499 for 128GB (subsidized). If you have AT&T Next or Verizon Edge, you could get the phone for free and just pay taxes when you preorder. For more information about these plans, check out their respective websites (by clicking on each of the names.)
Apple’s special media event just finished and they introduced a ton of new products. We expected the iPhone 6, smart watch and new mobile payment plan, but we got so more much. Apple introduced us to the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Pay and Apple Watch in addition to giving away U2’s new album for free to every iTunes user.
The iPhone 6 is the eight-generation smartphone and is the successor to the iPhone 5s. This new phone has a plethora of new features, a brand new design and comes in a 4.7″ display size (iPhone 6) and 5.5″ display size (iPhone 6 Plus). For internal tech specs, it has the A8 processor (second-generation 64-bit architecture) with the M8 co-processor, NFC, advanced LTE and Wireless connectivity, a new Retina HD display and rear 8MP iSight camera.
Introducing the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available for preorder on September 12th and released on September 19th. The iPhone 6 starts at $199 for 16GB, $299 for 64GB and $399 for 128GB. The iPhone 6 Plus is $299 for 16GB, $399 for 64GB and $499 for 128GB.
Although we were pretty sure Apple would call its smart watch, the “iWatch”, they decided on a different name. The smart watch si simply called “Apple Watch.” The watch face comes in two sizes: 38mm (1.5″) and 42mm (1.65″) and three different materials: stainless steel, aluminum and 18-Karat gold. In addition, there are six different bands: leather loop, classic buckle, modern buckle, link bracelet, sport band and Milanese loop. To go even further, Apple designed three different collections to please everyone. The regular Apple Watch is be the traditional smart watch. The fitness-oriented Apple Watch Sport is designed for the active and people who like to move. Finally, the elegantly-designed Apple Watch Edition is the higher-end smart watch that comes in a gold case.
The new smart watch comes in three new collections: Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition.
The iPhone works in conjunction with the Apple Watch so you can easily read notifications, send messages, call friends and use Digital Touch. Digital Touch is a new feature that allows two people with watches to connect by using drawings, taps, their heartbeat and voice versus regular text messaging. Other apps are designed to work on the watch too: Maps, Passbook, Music, Apple TV and iTunes remote, Weather, Siri and more. In addition, third-party developers can create their own apps for the smart watch.
The iPhone 6 and Apple Watch both come with the NFC chip so you can now use them to pay for purchases at brick-and-mortar stores. Instead of pulling out a credit card for your purchase, just hold the iPhone near the terminal with your finger on Touch ID. The phone will wirelessly transmit a one-time use code and your unique Device Account Number that will process your payment.
Apple Pay works with iPhone 6 and Apple Watch.
The new Apple Pay system will work with major credit card companies, like MasterCard and VISA, large banks, like Capital One and Chase, and is accepted in stores, like McDonald’s and Walgreens. The system works from the Passbook app.
Apple Pay also works in apps so you can purchase goods without entering in your billing address, contact information and credit card number. When you are ready to make a purchase, select “Apple Pay” and press your finger on Touch ID. The app knows to charge the card and send your purchase to the information on file.
Other Announcements
In addition to the amazing products that Apple announced above, the new album by U2 will be available for free to all iTunes users. The album, which is title “Songs of Innocence”, is free to download. Click on this link on your iPhone, iPad or iPod to get the album.
The newest operating system, iOS 8, for iPhone, iPad and iPod will be available for download on September 17th.
Finally, 9to5Mac has noticed that Apple has removed the iPod Classic from its store. Apple has also redesigned their website to be iOS 7-like.
Get a $100 gift card with the purchase of a Mac and a $50 gift card with the purchase of an iPad or iPhone.
Although Summer has just started, Apple is ready for school with their annual Back to School promotion. Like last year, any students, faculty members or staff members will get a $100 Apple Store Gift Card with the purchase of a Mac or a $50 card with the purchase of an iPad or iPhone. In addition, the Apple Education Store sells Macs and iPads at a discount to students, faculty and staff. You can also trade in your current Mac, iPad and iPhone to receive a second discount on your new device.
There’s a few things that you need to know before you consider taking advantage of this promotion. The iPhone 4S and the Mac mini don’t qualify so no gift cards come with them. All purchases must be through the Apple Store website, retail store or over the phone. For example, Walmart is selling the iPhone 5c for $29; while Apple is selling it for $99. You could save extra money by going to Walmart, but you won’t get the gift card. Also, the gift card is for use in the Apple Store only, not the iTunes Store. You can use it towards the purchase of a case for the iPad, the Apple TV, an AirPrint printer, a case for the MacBook, etc. This promotion is aimed towards students; however, if you have recently graduated you can still take an opportunity to use this offer.
The promotion started July 1, 2014 and ends September 9, 2014.
Walk into any Apple Retail Store and you’ll immediately see photo panels on the walls displaying Apple products. Whether it be an few iPads lined up (like the picture above) or several iPhones; you are presented with Apple showing off their products. However, this is starting to change. Like their television commercials, Apple is focusing less on the actual product and more on how their customers use them. The new photo panels will show customers using their devices in real life situations, like multiple children gathering around to use Maps on an iPad Air or someone taking pictures of lanterns with their iPad.
After, credit: 9to5Mac
The changeover happened in a few Apple Stores when the company changed the front panels to promote the Back to School promotion. It is unclear if this redesign is limited to select stores or if every store will be seeing the new photo panels. Check out your local Apple Store to see if yours is focusing more on the product or on the customer.
Apple has finally held their first major event of the year and announced some new software for both iOS and the Mac. Here is a quick summary of what Apple announced today (detailed reports of major features will be coming in the next few days):
Apple’s Current State
there are over 9 million registered developers
83% of iPhone 5s users have a passcode/Touch ID to protect their device
The Times of India reported a few weeks ago that Apple would begin selling the 8GB iPhone 5c in India to replace the discontinued iPhone 4. The iPhone 5c, which features 4G LTE and an 8MP camera, was introduced alongside the iPhone 5s in September of 2013 whereas the iPhone 4 was announced at WWDC in June 2010. The iPhone 4 can only connect up to 3G and includes a 5MP camera. The 8GB iPhone 5c is available in India for Rs 37,500 with a discount of Rs 4,000. With the discount, the final price of the phone is Rs 33,500 ($574). For a limited time, Apple is also including a case for free with the phone, which is worth about Rs 2,000. The 16GB version is also discounted and available for Rs 39,800 ($716). Both phones require a wireless contract.
If you have the iPhone 4S or earlier, but you aren’t interested in purchasing the 4.7″ iPhone 6, then Apple’s rumored upgrade event is for you. The iPhone 5s and 5c are both excellent phones and the iPhone 5s even tied the Samsung Galaxy S5 in a recent showdown(don’t forget, the iPhone is 8 months old). New York Timesalso called the iPhone 5s the better smartphone when compared to the Galaxy S5. Starting May 8, any iPhone upgrade eligible customers can go to the Apple Retail Store and upgrade their device to either the iPhone 5s or iPhone 5c and get a discount when they exchange in their current iPhone.
2013 has been an excellent year for iDevices. We started out the year with the newly released iPad with Retina (iPad 4) and iPad mini, iPhone 5, redesigned iPod touch and iPod nano, iOS 6 and more. This year, Apple, planned to show they are still innovating by releasing improved products and a new one too. Here is the summary of what Apple has released for iDevices over this past year.
May, June: Until Autumn, Apple had a small presence in iDevices over the year. In May, they released the fifth generation iPod touch with 16GB of storage. This iPod is a less expensive version of the colorful iPod touch that lacks the back iSight camera, iPod touch loop and back flash. It would only be available in silver, but has the same size screen as the larger storage iPods (32GB and 64GB models). At WWDC, Apple introduced the new operating system for iDevices. The redesigned OS came straight from the mind of Jonathan Ive, SVP of Design. iOS 7 eliminated the felt and leather we were used to since the start of iPhone. It added new colors, redesigned apps, many features, more multitouch/gesture control and increased accessibility to allow more people to use it.
5th generation iPod touch 16GB with iOS 7
September: In September, Apple announced the iPhones. The iPhone 4S was still a major competitor for $0 with a new two-year contract and 8GB of storage. The iPhone 5 was being replaced by the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. This iPhone 5s was expected to be announced this year. It came with a fingerprint scanner, 64-bit A7 processor, motion-tracking M7 co-processor, dual-LED flash and a slow-motion HD camera. The iPhone 5s is available in space gray/black, silver/white and gold/white, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models and starting at $199 with a new two-year contract. The iPhone 5c, a mid-range less expensive iPhone, comes in multiple colors with similar specifications to the iPhone 5s. In addition, iOS 7 was released. We also saw a new case for the iPhone 5s and 5c.
iPhone line-up at Apple’s September Media Event
October: Apple announced the next generation to the iPad line-up. The fifth generation iPad, as expected, was announced, but it came as “iPad Air” instead of “iPad 5” or the “new iPad”. This iPad came with a redesigned form factor, with less weight and similar bezels to the iPad mini, new 64-bit A7 chip with the M7 co-processor, advanced wireless and dual microphones. Apple retained the iPad 2 and replaced the iPad 3/4 with the new iPad air. The iPad mini was debated all year to either include a Retina display or to not include one. In the end, Apple went with the Retina display at 326ppi, 64-bit A7 chip and advanced wireless. Apple retained the iPad 2 and iPad mini (1st generation) to sell alongside the iPad air and iPad mini with Retina. We also saw new smart covers and smart cases.
2013 was an excellent year for Apple products. We saw many next generation products and a couple new, unexpected products. As expected, we saw a second generation iPad mini (although it was unsure whether it would have a Retina display or not), the fifth generation iPad with the redesign, the iPhone 5s (with a similar design to the iPhone 5) and iOS 7 with an announcement at WWDC and release in Autumn. We saw (and were not expecting) the iPhone 5c and fifth generation iPod touch 16GB.
Tim Cook has reflected on 2013 to Apple’s employees in a memo recently and has cited “big plans” for 2014. Each year seems to improve for Apple and we are mostly beyond what Steve Jobs has helped develop before his death. Here are the expectations for iDevices in 2014 (many are a given):
1. iPhone 6 (or iPhone air)
The iPhone 6 will feature a redesign with better internal components then the iPhone 5s, a larger display (possibly 4.8 to 5 inches) and may be released in May.
2. iPhone 6c
Apple may release the next generation device to the iPhone 5c or they may stick with an update every other year. They have never released a less expensive iPhone so this one is up in the air. I am anticipating a similarly designed iPhone 6c with updated colors. The iPhone 5c will likely become free with a new two-year contract.
3. iPad air (2nd generation)
The next generation iPad air should feature a similar design with updated internal components (A8 chip, M8 chip, etc.) It will likely come with Touch ID, a higher resolution display (Retina HD?) and be released in Autumn.
4. iPad mini with Retina (3rd generation)
This new iPad mini would theoretically be redesigned (based on Apple’s past history). It will also likely feature Touch ID and also be released in Autumn.
A larger iPad has been rumored for the education market with a screen display around 12.9 inches. It would be a hybrid device between the iPad air and MacBook Air. The iPad pro could be considered a substitute to the MacBook air.
6. iWatch
The iWatch may be seen in 2014, since Samsung released their Galaxy gear this past year. Apple has interest in the wearable technology market, but may be holding out for the right moment. If they are going to release a wearable device, they want to do it right.
7. iOS 8
The next generation operating system is a given and will likely be announced at WWDC and released in the Fall (unless the iPhone 6 is released in May like rumored to be). It should feature more gesture/multitouch controls, the same design with many bugs fixed and a lot of new features. I am still hoping for widgets.
8. iPods
Apple released new iPods in 2012 and we should see updated models this year. The iPods should roughly stay the same, but include better internal components. I doubt Apple would kill off the iPod classic (unless they updated it) because there still is a market for 160GB of music.
9. Innovative Technology
Although not completely rumored, Tim Cook did hint at something in 2013. I expect we will see a new product, unforeseen. You may argue I expect this every year, and that is true. The past year, the unexpected product was the iPhone 5c.
Wishlist for 2014:
iCar- the next generation of cars featuring smarter technology
more integration between iDevices and Mac (i.e. wireless charging for iPhone within 1 foot of iMac or something)
The featured image of the iPhone 6 is from TechFaster and created by Jared DiPane.
