Apple's online storefront, now integrated into product pages, went down just before 6 p.m. Pacific as the company prepares for what is expected to be an onslaught of iPhone 6s preorders.
As with every new product launch, Apple's online store went down for maintenance ahead of Saturday's iPhone 6s preorder kickoff. New for 2015, however, is a revamped away message that has been changed from the terse "We'll be back" to "We can't wait to show you what we have in store."
Apple's iPhone 6s and 6s Plus will go up for preorder in just a few hours, bringing with it one of the biggest "s" updates in Apple's history. The upcoming smartphone not only includes CPU enhancements and camera buffs, but a completely new form of pressure-sensitive input in 3D Touch and Taptic Engine feedback. Other additions include a chassis made from 7000 series aluminum, a faster Touch ID system, support for LTE Advanced, 802.11ac with MIMO, Bluetooth 4.2 and more. Apple also introduced a new rose gold color option.
In preparation of iPhone 6s, AppleInsider created a handy preorder guide to make sure buyers are ready when Apple's system goes live at 12:01 a.m. Pacific.
Update: It appears Apple's entire consumer-facing website is suffering from issues potentially related to tonight's iPhone 6s sales debut, as Apple.com is returning an access denied error.