I want an iPhone 4S and I want it as soon as possible.
Ah good, a like minded individual! Unfortunately, you missed out on the first batch of stock via the Apple Online store. That means if you want one on launch day (14th October), you need to get your arse into an Apple store (one of these, not a reseller, an official Apple retail store). They will be opening at 8AM across the country. But get there early - more info about doing the whole Apple store queue thing below.
I pre-ordered off the Apple online store, but it's not arriving until after the launch date. Why?!
You snooze, you lose. There were thousands of Australians constantly refreshing the Apple online store, waiting for the second they could throw their credit card at their computers. You, were not one of them. Apple only has a certain number of iPhones available and one that initial allotment was claimed by those more eager than you, you went into the 2nd batch of orders, which Apple claim will arrive 1-2 weeks after the initial batch (1-2 weeks after the 14th of October). If this is unacceptable to you, cancel your online order and line up outside an Apple store.
Question from FergusB - I was lucky enough to get a "Ships by october 14th" order in — why exactly does this mean for me? Does it leave a warehouse in australia on the 14th? And when can I expect to receive it in a major regional centre?
Ships by October 14th means that the latest it will ship is October 14th. That doesn't mean delivered by, or arrives by, just means that it will leave Apple by the 14th of October at the latest. So going by the language used, you probably won't get it until Monday the 17th, as TNT don't deliver on weekends! However, Apple have said this previously for other pre-orders (Snow Leopard was the last time I pre-ordered something from Apple online) but the items were delivered on the day they said they'll be shipped by and the same day they were in stores. So, yeah, that's not much help, but it's the best you'll get, as Apple is deliberately coy as they don't know what TNT will be up to on that day. All Apple can promise is that on the 14th, they'll leave their hands. Under promise and over deliver..
Regional shipping depends, most of the time, to largish areas (e.g: Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo in VIC), it's the same handling time as metro area. You'd really need to check with Apple as to the form of shipping they use with TNT and then with TNT as to their delivery times to your area, for a proper estimate, as I'm unsure what Apple's shipping method is via TNT.
What deals are the telcos offering?
Vodafone has iPhone 4S pricing up now and you can check if you're eligible for an upgrade via their My Vodafone portal.
Optus havecreated a pre-order page here, where you can nominate which store you want to pick the iPhone 4S up from, or even have it delivered to you. Once you register, you get pricing details. Alternatively, check out this Lifehacker blog post with Optus pricing. If you're an Optus business customer, pricing and pre-orders are on the Optus business website.
Telstra haven't made their pricing available and stated on Twitter that they don't plan to until the 14th of October, ugh.
Are any telcos doing a midnight launch?
As of the writing of this article, no telco has announced a midnight launch, or even early opening. If you want your iPhone from a telco, check the store's normal opening hours.
I have a SIM I wish to use in my iPhone 4S, what's the process to get it swapped to a Micro SIM suitable for the iPhone 4S?
It's relatively painless - the fastest way is to go to a retail outlet for your telco and just ask them for a MicroSIM. They should be able to swap it on the spot for you and you'll leave the store with a working MicroSIM. You can probably do it before the iPhone 4S arrives, as the SIM cards issued these days are universal. Use the regular sized replacement SIM in your current device, then when the iPhone 4S is launched, simply punch the little SIM out of the big SIM you're currently using and pop it in the 4S.
Should I buy an iPhone 4S outright or on a plan?
Do you intend to not buy the next iPhone? Get it on a plan and let the carrier subside your phone, saving a few hundred bucks over the 24 months. If you are an iPhone junkie and must have each new model every year, buy it outright and go on a nice no-phone contract (or pre-paid). That way you don't need to deal with cancelling a contract and paying *more* once you cancel that contract and get the new phone.
What time should I line up at an Apple store in order to get an iPhone 4S on launch day?
As an old school Apple product launch queuer-dude, my advice is to get there as early as you can tolerate waking up. You may think waddling towards an Apple store at 5AM for an 8AM launch is early, but there's weirdoes out there who reckon 4:30AM is a good time to line up. You need to contend with them.
Chances are Apple will have a few hundred iPhones at each store, so if you get there before 100-200 people show up, you'll be fine. Keep an eye on MacTalk/Twitter and see how the lines are forming. Once the truly insane people who get there a day before start lining up and 50 or so join them, leave the house with a fully charged iPad, a bottle of water and some snacks.
Why does Apple keep making it hard to get an iPhone on launch day?
Let me explain to you the vast realities of releasing an in demand, hard to assemble product, across 7 countries simultaneously.
Apple probably only started assembling the iPhone 4S a few weeks ago, so during those few weeks, they've managed to stockpile, say, 7 million devices. Foxconn metaphorically whipped those slaves - I mean, employees - really hard to get so many iPhones made in that short period of time.
The iPhone 4S is only being sold in US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the UK, on the 14th of October. We are blessed, humbled, and not worthy to be included in that first tier of launch countries. Thank you Apple. But that also means that the 7 million (for the purposes of this explanation) iPhones Apple has been hoarding in some warehouse has to be spread across 7 countries, who also really really want the iPhone too. Obviously, due to populations and demand, there's no point giving each country an equal share. Most of the iPhones are going to the USA, then they're rationed out to the other countries - chances are Australia is getting the least, as whilst we punch above our weight and love iPhone, Apple sell shitloads more everywhere else.
Each country receives an initial portion of those 7 million iPhones and then within each country, each retailer is given a portion of that launch day stock based on whatever metrics Apple use to determine such things - I have no idea they are, but I assume they're logical and fair. Retailers in Australia are Apple's physical stores (12 across the country), Apple's online store, Vodafone, Telstra and Optus.
The online store had pre-orders, and they would have had a rule in their system that says "once we reach our initial allocation of stock, change shipping dates to 2 weeks from launch day" - clearly, that limit (let's say it was 25,000 iPhones) was hit. For all online store orders from now on, as soon as the factories in China make em, they will be shipped to you directly. Imagine a fast flow of iPhone 4S boxes falling off a conveyor belt, into a truck, then onto a plane headed to Sydney. That's what's happening (in a Richard Scarry like way - it's much more sophisticated than that in real life).
Apple's physical stores are given some iPhones to sell on launch day as well. Much more than any other physical outlet (aka the telcos), because that's how Apple roll. Then whatever scraps are left over are given to Telstra, Vodafone and Optus. The telcos then give a decent portion of those scraps to their flagship stores (the biggest shopping centres in each city, plus a CBD store) and the rest of the stores get maybe 2 or 3 of each model. At the arse end of the food chain, there are businesses like Telechoice and Allphones, who wish they would be so lucky as to have an iPhone each to sell to the poor souls who have no choice but to shop at such outlets.
Apple try hard to make sure everyone gets an iPhone on launch day, being benevolent enough to give stock to places other than themselves. Apple also work really hard to manufacture enough iPhones within a short period of time to meet this insane demand, for what is a difficult product to manufacture. Sure, Apple could just start hoarding earlier to be better prepared, but there's only so much time between when the iPhone is ready to be made, versus actually releasing the thing - Apple don't want to sit on the latest tech for 3-4 months and stockpile it, they want to sell it!
Apple also don't limit stock intentionally in order to create buzz, that's the most ridiculous conspiracy I've ever heard. If someone wants to give you money for what you're making, why hold off taking it, in order to build demand for it? The demand is already there, the customer is giving you money! The fact is, there's only so many iPhones Apple can make, ship around the world and spread across different retailers within a short period of time.
If you have any questions regarding the iPhone 4S launch in Australia, just ask in the comments and I'll update this post with your question and an answer.
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