Mikey Campbell
Apple has initiated an internal high priority alert to support staff indicating that activation server problems and other issues are preventing a large number of customers from activating their iPhones.
According to a reliable source, Apple has sent out an internal P1 (high priority) alert notifying employees of server issues that are preventing customers from activating their iPhones, whether the device is brand new or recently restored. Compounding the problem are "other internal issues," though the exact nature of these complications is unknown at this time.
Since iOS 7 launched on Wednesday, Apple's servers have been bombarded with a deluge of users looking to update to the latest operating system, with many finding the activation service unavailable or otherwise unresponsive.
The alert failed to offer the exact number of users affected and did not give an estimate as to how long the activation server would be down.
Apple's System Status webpage shows all services are up and running as of this writing, though AppleInsider has received numerous reports that appear to corroborate the backend problems.
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
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72 Comments
A few years ago it was worse - Apple launched the new iOS and the new iPhone on the same day and everything came to a screeching halt. Hopefully this download surge will have subsided a bit by Friday to make room for iPhone 5s/c activations.
For once I didn't have any issues. It took about 16 minutes for me this evening downloading thru iTunes. My downloads are capped at 10mb or so - otherwise I'm sure it could have been quicker.
No shit, sherlock. Anyone with an ounce of sense would wait, oh I dunno, maybe ONE DAY before updating, to avoid 99% of the traffic and potential issues? Otherwise, you have no right to complain. No, everyone needs iOS7 THIS SECOND, after waiting for months. You will live if you go another day with iOS6.
I spoke with a support rep at Apple about 20 minutes ago about my activation issues after the iOS 7 update and she said the servers were overloaded - I just now got my phone activated after about 100 tries over the last 4 hours.
A few years ago it was worse - Apple launched the new iOS and the new iPhone on the same day and everything came to a screeching halt. Hopefully this download surge will have subsided a bit by Friday to make room for iPhone 5s/c activations.
I wonder what version of iOS 7 is on the phones since the GM was only released September 10 to developers. They must have some earlier build on those millions of 5c and 5s phones, so they will probably need to update their software as well as activate it.