iPhone 5 Release Date: iPhone 4S Pre-Orders Off to Rocky Start
Apple was expected to begin taking pre-orders for the new iPhone 4S at 12:01a.m. PT, but due to complications the company was not able to start on time.
Thanks to intermittent errors shortly after that deadline, it took an extra 45 minutes for customers to begin reserving Apple’s next generation smartphone on its online store.
AT&T also experienced delays longer than Apple’s, and Sprint customers had to wait nearly two hours before they could pre-order the new handset.
Both AT&T and Apple’s websites displayed error messages for customers attempting to upgrade their device.
Eventually Apple switched from its pre-order mechanism to a reservation system to let buyers reserve a device and fill out eligibility and billing information at a later date.
After switching the system, Apple promised that the iPhone 4S would still ship on the original release date.
The release of the iPhone 4S was announced on Tuesday at Apple’s “Let’s Talk iPhone” event which took place in Cupertino, California.
The smartphone is available for pre-order and will be carried by AT&T, Verizon and Sprint.
It will ship on Oct. 14 and will come in both black and white with three different memory capacities including 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions.
News of the iPhone 4S’s release came just before the passing of co-founder and former CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, the visionary behind the iPhone.
The iPhone 4S was the first of Apple’s smartphones to not be introduced by Jobs.
Some customers were disappointed with the release of the iPhone 4S since they were expecting a re-designed iPhone 5.
That, combined with Jobs passing, and now complications with pre-orders on the device, Apple seems to be having one of its worst weeks ever.
