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Apple iPhone 4S pre-orders sold out, currently at 1-2 week shipping

By | October 8, 2011, 9:29am PDT

Summary: I knew the iPhone 4S would be popular even given that the tech crowd did not seem that excited. I was surprised though that the first batch of pre-orders already sold out.

Like millions of other folks I pre-ordered my iPhone 4S early Friday morning. And also just like we saw in the past the pre-orders apparently sold out (all carriers, colors, and capacities at the Apple Store online) and the shipping estimate has now been extended to 1-2 weeks. You may still find some available for the 14 October date via carrier websites so check there if you still want to pre-order. Like the iPad previously, it took 4 months to get back in stock, we will likely see this next move to 3-4 weeks and later, which pretty much guarantees we are going to see lines outside Apple stores, wireless carrier stores, and places like Wal-Mart, Radio Shack, and Best Buy next Friday when the iPhone 4S appears in retail locations.

There are a few key decisions one has to make when purchasing an iPhone 4S and I ended up going with the Verizon white 32GB model. I like my white iPad 2 and since I have so many black phones I wanted something that stood out a bit from the rest. I thought of the 16GB model with the iCloud support, but then thought I would be taking many more photos and videos with the new camera so went with the 32GB model. I am very curious what readers are buying so take a second to vote in my poll below. I am not including the carrier options in this poll or it would be way too big and since carrier choice is primarily driven by what carrier works best in your geographic area I just want to see what you chose between white, black, and capacities.

Poll

What iPhone 4S model are you buying?

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Topics

Matthew Miller started using a Pilot 1000 in 1997 and has been writing news, reviews, and opinion pieces ever since.

Disclosure

Matthew Miller

Matthew is a professional naval architect by day and a mobile gadget freak at all other times. He purchases his own devices and then sells them on eBay or Craigslist to buy more. Many other devices are sent for review on a 30-day loaner basis and then returned to the carrier or manufacturer. If any are provided as “long term loaner units” this will be clearly disclosed in his reviews.

Biography

Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller started using a mobile devices in 1997 and has been writing news, reviews, and opinion pieces ever since. He is a co-host with GigaOM's Kevin Tofel on the MobileTechRoundup podcast and an author of three Wiley Companion series books. Matthew started using mobile devices with a US Robotics Pilot 1000 and has owned over 125 different devices running Palm, Linux, Symbian, Newton, BlackBerry, iOS, Android, webOS, Windows Mobile, and Windows Phone operating systems. His current collection includes an HTC Radar 4G, Dell Venue Pro, Apple iPad 2, HTC Flyer, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Nokia N9, Apple iPhone 4S, MacBook Pro, and many more, along with tons of accessories and classic devices like the Apple Newton MessagePad 2100 and Sony CLIE UX50. Matthew can be found on various discussion forums under the user name of "palmsolo".

Talkback Most Recent of 52 Talkback(s)

  • Poll excludes 4S?
    Hey, great "voting poll" with your 4S article!
    You forgot to include ANY iPhone4S at all.
    (ZdNet just gets worse and worse.)
    ZDNet Gravatar
    CathyCC
    8th Oct
  • ZDNet Blogger

    Oops, that was poll 35, switched to poll 36
    @CathyCC Sorry, I copied the poll html format code and forgot to update the poll number. It is updated now and I guess that's what happens when I get up too early on Saturday morning. Thanks for your support sad
    ZDNet Gravatar
    palmsolo (aka Matthew Miller)
    8th Oct
  • RE: Apple iPhone 4S pre-orders sold out, currently at 1-2 week shipping
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    http://www.dealmelody.com/rsim-rgknse-unlock-sim-card-for-iphone-4s-ios-50-501-version_p6332.html
    ZDNet Gravatar
    yamatchy001
    1 day ago
  • Remember
    The iPhone 4S is horrible, and it will flop. That's what I've been reading from just about every article, on here and elsewhere. Fans are going to be angry at Apple for delivering less than the media hyped they would, they'll swarm to *insert OS* for the true freedom that only it can provide.

    Wait, what? That isn't true?

    >_>
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Michael Alan Goff
    8th Oct
  • LTE phones prove 5-12 Mbps download speeds, so 14 Mbps for AT&T iPhone 4S
    @Michael Alan Goff: ... is on par.

    For now, iPhone 4S is times faster in graphics and many times faster in vector/multimedia floating point calculations than any other smartphone currently on sale.

    The camera is by far the best too (with additional lens, with IR filter, with image signal processor, times quicker operation, hardware based/gyroscope video stabilization) among any smartphone (though dedicated cameraphones may compete).

    The display is times more sharp than the likes of Samsung Galaxy S 2, and the battery life is better.

    Siri, Airplay, iCloud, the largest media and applications library.

    And the phone is not a huge brick, still can be used conveniently for actual phone part of "smartphone" concept, and it is not plasticky.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    DeRSSS
    8th Oct
  • RE: Apple iPhone 4S pre-orders sold out, currently at 1-2 week shipping
    @DeRSSS The camera may be better we'll have to see. If Siri works better than the app did it will be awesome, if it works like the app I can't see using it much. I hope the battery life is better but what make you think it will be Better? They claim the 4 is better than the 3GS and I haven't noticed any improvement and I don't understand how the standby time can drop by 1/3 and give longer life when using. I love the screen on the 4 but side by side with the galaxy 2 I don't notice anything but the bigger screen. But having said that, I don't mind the smaller screen and I'm learning to like iOS. I'll wait on the reviews and as long as it works well I'll get one. Guess my point is I hate hearing how great a phone is that no one has actually used.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Delmalgeri
    8th Oct
  • RE: Apple iPhone 4S pre-orders sold out, currently at 1-2 week shipping
    @DeRSSS Do research and ignore DeRSSS, he is spouting old information and doesn't have a clue. Heck, some of his info cannot even be verified.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Peter Perry
    8th Oct
  • I wasn't actually being serious
    I personally see the 4S as a great phone, though the emphasis is more on refinement. That is a great idea, putting in things that provide an optimal experience without getting far behind.

    I don't see 4G as being something that a majority of people actually use, either.

    All in all, I was just making fun of the fact that the phone that is a "failure" has been pre-ordered to the point where there is a wait. I bet all companies wish they could have such a failure.

    Don't you?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Michael Alan Goff
    8th Oct
  • @Peter Perry
    No different than many of your posts.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Bruizer
    8th Oct
  • RE: Apple iPhone 4S pre-orders sold out, currently at 1-2 week shipping
    Matt, a lot of your colleagues will be eating crow. It will be cool to see how they spin it.

    How could this phone not sell? Faster processor, better battery, better camera, faster network, Siri, iOS 5, it's beautiful...no plastic. How could anyone not be impressed?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    CowLauncher
    8th Oct
  • RE: Apple iPhone 4S pre-orders sold out, currently at 1-2 week shipping
    @CowLauncher the biggest complaint will either be it does not come with Android, or a Windows Mobile OS on it. It does not matter if it is faster then the competition, it will fall short of the rumors, on the internet.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Rick_Kl
    8th Oct
  • ZDNet Gravatar
    Michael Alan Goff
    8th Oct
  • RE: Apple iPhone 4S pre-orders sold out, currently at 1-2 week shipping
    @James Quinn There absolutely is, I am sure Apple is happy with the growth of the product but I guarantee you they want to keep pace with the Android Phones and that just isn't happening.

    You know what the real problem is, you can get GHz Android Phones for Free but all you can get is the antiquated 3Gs for free with iOS which just doesn't stand up well.

    Also, $99 for an 8 Gig iPhone 4 on Sprint and yet you can get the EVO 4G for free. Do you see the problem here?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Peter Perry
    8th Oct
  • Again with the double market share crap
    @Peter Perry Android has a number problem and it is pretty much artificially inflated by the fact that Android is the OS of MOSTLY CRAPWARE. Android is installed in every crapware there is today and people like you count those numbers as positive ... when in reality they are not.

    While the Android OS may have a large number when combined, the truth is that iOS has real market share because the OS is actually making money. On the other hand, Android OEMs are mostly a group scavengers fighting for the little bit of leftovers at the bottom of the barrel. That is not a healthy business environment. When the OS is selected because "we need to have something out today" it degrades the quality of the product.

    The funny part is that iOS may have about 50% less in numbers than Android OS .... but 3rd party developers are making MILLIONS on iOS and barely nothing on Android .... forcing them to resort to an adware supported environment that pretty much destroys any decent user experience, tarnishing the brand and product.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    wackoae
    8th Oct
  • RE: Apple iPhone 4S pre-orders sold out, currently at 1-2 week shipping
    @Michael Alan Goff hype. or speculation? If the rumors came from Apple, then it is hype. If the rumors came from the web, then it is speculation. Only time will tell the true value of these phones. Personally, if the buyer is happy with the phone then it is worth the asking price
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Rick_Kl
    8th Oct

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