Neil Hughes
Both the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will be available to purchase at Apple retail stores, carrier stores, and select authorized resellers starting this Friday, Apple has announced.
Walk-in customers who hope to get the iPhone 6s lineup should arrive at a store early for Friday's launch, the company said in a press release on Monday. In the U.S., both the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will be available from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless.
"Customer response to the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus has been incredibly positive, we can't wait to get our most advanced iPhones ever into customers' hands starting this Friday," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
Apple noted that the new iPhones will be available by reservation only in China, Hong Kong, Japan, and U.S. stores located in tax-free states. Stores will begin selling the phone at 8 a.m. local time.
In addition, starting this Saturday, customers will be able to visit Apple.com to reserve their iPhone for pick-up at their local Apple Store, based on availability. Most Apple stores will also have iPhone available for walk-in customers each day, the company said.
Apple is launching iPhone 6s and 6s Plus this Friday in 12 countries, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the U.K., and the U.S. That's larger than the iPhone 6 launch, which debuted in 9 countries and did not include China.
It was announced last week that the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are already on track to exceed last year's record setting iPhone 6 launch. A year ago, the iPhone 6 series debuted to sales of 10 million units in their first weekend — a record this year's refresh appears poised to break.
The larger iPhone 6s Plus may be in short supply this weekend, thanks to alleged backlight component bottlenecks, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities.
Though the iPhone 6s series looks largely identical to the iPhone 6 externally, the handset has a number of internal upgrades, most notably the addition of the new 3D Touch pressure sensing input. This is paired with the company's Taptic Engine, providing haptic feedback to give a feeling of depth when interacting with the device's display, akin to Force Touch on the Apple Watch and latest MacBook trackpads.
The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus also feature upgraded 12-megapixel cameras capable of capturing 4K video. And the devices feature an improved A9 processor sporting 2-gigabytes of RAM, faster performance, and the ability to respond to "Hey Siri" prompts without external power.
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15 Comments
But wait, I thought Angela and Jony were killing lines and in store sales and forcing everyone to buy online?
[quote name="Rogifan" url="/t/188403/apple-says-iphone-6s-units-will-be-available-for-walk-in-purchases-at-stores-this-friday#post_2779681"]But wait, I thought Angela and Jony were killing lines and in store sales and forcing everyone to buy online?[/quote] They didn't say how many would be available. ;):D Seriously though, the store I was at last year got all of three Plus units, which sold to the first three customers.
[quote name="TheWhiteFalcon" url="/t/188403/apple-says-iphone-6s-units-will-be-available-for-walk-in-purchases-at-stores-this-friday#post_2779694"] They didn't say how many would be available. ;):D Seriously though, the store I was at last year got all of three Plus units, which sold to the first three customers.[/quote] My guess is that issue won't exist this year. But then of course the media will spin it as Apple is Doomed™ because you can walk in a store and buy one.
Last year, I went from a 4S that served me perfectly for three years to a 6. Since I skipped over the 5/5S, even the 6 seemed absolutely gargantuan by comparison. I strongly felt the 6 Plus was simply too large for a "phone". That, combined with the almost non-existent initial availability of the 6 Plus steered me towards a 6. I've been very pleased with the 6, but now that I've gotten used to its size I think I can handle the 6S Plus now.
I don't like buying something I can't see and touch first, so I'm not a "pre-order" type of person - even though Apple has never disappointed in this regard. Apple's new upgrade program is appealing with its 0% financing rate, the closest Apple store to me is 4-hour round trip and I'd rather just pay for the phone outright to avoid paperwork and a hard credit inquiry. So, I'll probably wait until a 6S Plus 64GB becomes available at a local Best Buy or AT&T store. Since I'm also not a "camp-out" person, they'll almost certainly sell through their initial stock quickly. If this year is anything like last, it'll be about a month and a half before there is sufficient stock at non-Apple retailers at which time I'll buy.
If this year is anything like last, it'll be about a month and a half before there is sufficient stock at non-Apple retailers at which time I'll buy.
Trying to think back a year or so - weren't the iPhone 6 Plus devices supply constrained in some way - was it mainly the display? I needed to wait the month and a half you mentioned to snag one, this time I think it may be somewhat smoother