AppleInsider Staff
Apple's online storefront went down for maintenance late Wednesday in preparation of a start to preorders for the iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro, two new devices announced at a special event on Monday.
Customers visiting Apple's online store are being presented with a splash screen reading, "We can't wait to show you what we have in store," a familiar notice the company uses prior to opening sales for a new product. In this case, Apple is expected to start sales of the new 4-inch iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro, which were unveiled onstage at the "Let us loop you in" event earlier this week.
A reworking of the iPhone 5s, iPhone SE is an amalgamation of internal components borrowed from iPhone 6 and 6s handsets. From the flagship 6s line comes an A9 system-on-chip with embedded M9 motion coprocessor and a 12-megapixel iSight camera with support for HD video capture at 4K resolutions. The SE snags its Touch ID module from the iPhone 6 which, alongside an NFC chip, enables Apple Pay payments.
As Apple's most affordable iPhone ever, iPhone SE starts at just $399 for a 16-gigabyte model, while a 64-gigabyte upgrade comes in at $499. Color options include silver, Space Gray, gold and rose gold.
Apple's 9.7-inch iPad Pro is very much a shrunken down version of the 12.9-inch Pro model launched last year. The tablet sports support for Apple Pencil, a Smart Connector port for a specially designed Smart Keyboard, quad-speaker audio and an impressive communications suite. Improvements over the 12.9-inch version include a True Tone display that automatically adjusts brightness and color temperature for a "paper-white" viewing experience, as well as an upgraded 12MP rear-facing camera with True Tone flash.
The new iPad Pro variant comes in at $599 for a 32GB version with Wi-Fi. A 128GB model runs $749, while a new 256GB configuration goes for $899. Wi-Fi + Cellular models are priced at $729, $879 and $1029 for 32GB, 128GB and 256GB, respectively.
Like the iPhone SE, Apple is offering the 9.7-inch iPad Pro in a new rose gold color variation, joining the usual space grey, gold and silver options.
Shipments for iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro orders placed on Thursday are scheduled to go out on March 31.
For those thinking about making a purchase, AppleInsider was on location at Monday's event and had a chance to go hands-on with Apple's latest iPhone and iPad Pro models.
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Christine McKee
9 Comments
Seems like Apple's taking down of the store is part necessity, part effect ("OMG! The Apple Store is down! They must be about to release something!!"). I just don't see why it's technically necessary. All other modern online e-commerce sites (Amazon, Besy Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us) don't have to shut down access to their entire storefronts just to add some products. :neutral:
From an ordering standpoint its easier because you don't have to keep reloading the product page. When it goes down and comes back up you know its ready for ordering. Just think how much of a pain in the butt it would be to order something if they don't. You'd have to continuously configure your product over and over again with hopes that the Continue button is available.
Looks like it's happening worldwide. The online Australian Apple Store is down.
Apple may be great in designing iPhones and iPads, but bringing down an online store to add a few products is ridiculously unprofessional. Apple should be ashamed.