From Apple’s press release:
Apple today announced it has sold more than 13 million new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus models, a new record, just three days after launch. iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will be available in more than 40 additional countries beginning October 9 including Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain and Taiwan. The new iPhones will be available in over 130 countries by the end of the year.
That’s a hell of an opening weekend and a quick move internationally.
The only fly I see in the ointment is the implementation of the Apple Upgrade Program. Potential buyers who were not able to reserve their phone of choice in the first few minutes of availability had no way to order their phone via the Upgrade Program as it requires an in store purchase, and those reservations sold out quickly. As of this writing, inventory of most models is extremely limited (practically zero if you want anything beyond 16 GB or any model of 6s Plus).
In essence, Apple is pushing buyers to make the purchase on-line (at least 3 to 4 week shipping on most models). The in-store reservation system does not allow you to reserve a phone far into the future. If the store does not have stock, you still cannot get in the Apple Upgrade Program queue.
To test this for yourself, go to the Apple Store iPhone page, then scroll down to the second page and click the link that says “Reserve iPhone 6s to buy in store”. Notice that the State popup menu only has 20 options (most states have zero inventory). And of the available states, most states only offer iPhone 6s inventory. Very few offer the iPhone 6s Plus, and those that do offer a 16 GB model in only one color.
The Apple Upgrade Program is a terrific idea, but it is certainly not an easy get.
The upgrade program is a tough get even if you did secure an in-store reservation. Many denials. I have an 820+ credit score, lots of room on my credit cards, and was denied on two different cards on who-knows-what technicalities, and now I have a hard pull on my credit. Very disappointed. Since I went into the purchase keen on separating the device from the carrier, I ended up paying in full. I’m hoping to see some reporting or a statement from Apple on what was going on.
That’s not the only problem. I had a reservation for a 64 gig Space Gray 6s. But when I got there, and told them I wanted to port my AT&T number to T-Mobile, they told me it was too hard to do. That I had to take my 5s to T-Mobile, port my number and come back.
But that wasn’t the end of it. When I got to T-Mobile there were other complications. So I took advantage of their new aggressive promotion. I now have on order a 128 gig 6s that I will be paying $27 a month to lease for 18 months. Then I can buy it outright for $200. It was $200 down, so it will end up costing just about as much as the Apple program, or buying it outright, but in the end I will own it and I could spread out the cost over 18 months.
Pretty dang good deal if you ask me. But Apple was not ready for the issues that were going to come up over now having their own lease program apparently. And they did not do a good job of helping me. So they lost a sale on their own program. Which I’ll probably join in two years. But until then, I’ll have my own unlocked photo I can switch to other carriers if I ever want to.
My wife and I are in the same boat as you. 830+ credit scores, way below the 50% credit use to limit ratio and denied. Was told I could get an answer in 24 hours. Gee, thanks. Very disappointed.
I was actually a little concerned with qualifying having around a 640 score, several recent inquiries and a fairly high utilization but I was approved with no problem. I had a reservation on Friday morning for my iPhone 6s Plus 128gb Gold and walked out with it on the upgrade program about a half hour later.
Strange. My credit isn’t nearly that good and I had no problem at all.
I was denied, too. It’s the first time that I have been truly pissed off at Apple. I’m also really surprised that nobody is writing about this, especially Loop, Fireball and iMore. This is the Bend-Gate of this cycle. They need to fix the glitch, if it is a glitch, and let people do it online. The stores are zoos.