It’s hard to not just be dumbfounded by the rapid rise of the iPhone. 2007 wasn’t that long ago, and it’s nuts to look back to when the iPhone was the $500 phone Steve Ballmer famously laughed at to causing a predictable yearly fervor where everyone has to have one. If you set your alarm for 12:01 Pacific last night hoping to easily preorder the new iPhone and then go back to bed, you’d be in for a surprise.
Like previous preorder situations, the Apple Store App (Free) turned out to be the way to go. For whatever reason, Apple historically has turned on access to the Apple Store via the app way before the actual proper browser-based Apple Store goes back online. Last night, that meant if you were waiting for the Apple Store to come up on your computer, you already missed the first wave of iPhone shipments.
An important tip for the future which I always seem to forget is before you dive down the Apple Store app rabbit hole, make sure you’re logged in to the right iTunes account in your device setting. I would’ve easily been able to order as soon as the app side of the Apple Store went online, but I was logged in to the wrong Apple ID. Logging out clears your cart, and kicks you back to the beginning. It’s sort of irrelevant now, but something worth mentally bookmarking for the next time this happens.
Our sister site MacRumors is reporting on both Apple and AT&t mentioning the crazy demand with, in Apple’s words, “a record number of preorders overnight." If you decided to wait until today to order, you’re going to be waiting a few weeks for your device to arrive. Of course, there’s always waiting in line next Friday morning…
In the end, this has been even more reassuring signs of how awesome the world of iOS is. Say what you will about trends on the App Store, the rise of free to play, and whatever else, but when the hardware the platform is based on drives this level of excitement that can only mean good things. Additionally, as each new hardware refresh hits, the older devices start to fall off from what developers will need to support- Instead assuming most people have hardware that can handle more advanced things than the (now comparatively ancient) iPhone 4 family.
