iPhone to ship on June 29th at 6pm

Those of you that already have your calendars marked for the big day can now set your watches as well, as Steve himself not only reiterated the iPhone's launch date during his Jobsnote, but let loose the actual time it'll ship as well: 6:00pm. What's not so clear, however, is if that's 6pm Pacific, or 6pm in each location, which'd give folks on the east coast a few precious hours of bragging rights while their buddies in less-fortunate time zones are still waiting in line.

[Alfred @ Jun 11th 2007 2:35PM]

are they gonna ship it at 6pm? or gonna start selling it at 6pm??

[tyler @ Jun 11th 2007 2:38PM]

haha true.

how much is it gonna be again?

is cingular gonna offer any rebates like sign up for a 2 yr contract and get $200 off?

[Todd Long @ Jun 11th 2007 2:39PM]

No way will there be $100 or $200 off.

[Johnny @ Jun 11th 2007 2:39PM]

Yeah AT & T already clued us in to that little nugget guy. I know you love being the one to drop the bomb on shipping dates, but it looks like all you did this time was drop the ball.

I wonder if complaints from California, Washington, and NYC businesses prompted the decision to hold off on releasing the iPhone until 6pm, as I'd imagine many people were considering skipping work on June 29th so they could line up outside the stores in the hopes they might get their hands on the first shipment. I can't see any other reason for the delay other then the hopes that releasing in the evening instead of the early morning will prevent the sort of chaos we see everytime a major console is released.

[Jumbie @ Jun 11th 2007 3:14PM]

"as I'd imagine many people were considering skipping work on June 29th so they could line up outside the stores in the hopes they might get their hands on the first shipment"

Gotta love that work ethic.

[Johnny @ Jun 11th 2007 3:21PM]

Eh, these are probably the same people who called in sick he morning after the 2004 elections. Some people just stay up late or get up extra early in the hopes that some reason to skip work and not feel bad about it.

Considering the nature of my job, plus the load of college courses I take on the side, I generally have to be able to list three good reasons to do so before I call in, as the workload for the rest of the week is usually doubled when I do go back in.

Vomiting alone isn't enough. Vomiting + fever isn't enough, but vomiting + fever + can't even walk/must crawl from bed to toilet is usually my limit. It's not that I have some great work ethic, I just hate having to work extra hard to make up for the time I missed.

[cs0875 @ Jun 11th 2007 4:03PM]

I think it is a at&t thing. They don't want the iPhone to interfere with their regular business. Could you see all the people trying to get an iPhone in those little stores with other customers trying to get their upgrades, new sim cards, cancel accounts ect. It would probably be hurt their normal business. This way they can get their regular customers done and then do the iPhone.

[TVGenius @ Jun 11th 2007 4:07PM]

So instead of coming in a couple hours late, they'll now be taking the entire day off to sit in line, since I doubt leaving work at 5pm is going to result in you getting an iPhone an hour later. I may be wrong, but then again I did get a Wii at midnight... :)

[Don @ Jun 12th 2007 11:24AM]

"Vomiting alone isn't enough. Vomiting + fever isn't enough, but vomiting + fever + can't even walk/must crawl from bed to toilet is usually my limit. It's not that I have some great work ethic, I just hate having to work extra hard to make up for the time I missed."

I'm sure your coworkers are extremely happy with your decision to come in when you're vomitting and feverish, thusly exposing your entire workforce to pathogens. Way to go, typhoid Johnny! :rolleyes:

When I see someone sick at work, I personally treat them like the diseased that they are and tell them to GO HOME.

[bluemonq @ Jun 12th 2007 2:53PM]

@cs0875 - Except, unless they have police/security keeping people away from the stores until 6pm, there's going to be massive lines clogging up the area.

[Johnny @ Jun 12th 2007 10:45PM]

I work on my own in an office far removed from my coworkers. I think I see maybe three a day or so, and that's only in the break room, unless they come to see me.

I'm sure my computer and plants really give a flying f*ck either way though.

[Pierce @ Jun 11th 2007 2:46PM]

Apple website update!!!

[Oscar5453 @ Jun 11th 2007 2:49PM]

So I don't get it.....Will this Ship on the 29th or will they be ready to buy on the 29th?

[Todd Long @ Jun 11th 2007 2:52PM]

I assume they'll be available June 29th though at this point who knows.

[CharlieX @ Jun 11th 2007 2:51PM]

And thousands of Cingular/ATT stores employees groan... so much for your Friday night.

[trvs @ Jun 11th 2007 2:51PM]

this is kinda sketchy...

ship date or instore date? and why 6pm? do they want to give the press plenty of time to photograph nerds lined up?

i have a feeling there are gonna be a lot of disapointed fanboys june 29th.

[Clint @ Jun 11th 2007 3:41PM]

no kidding. This feels like a complete publicity stunt.

"I'm standing here in front of the local Apple store where mac enthusiasts are lined up around the block to be the first to get their hands on Apple's newest device, the iPhone."

[christ @ Jun 11th 2007 5:42PM]

i completely agree. theyre planning on people making huge lines to get one. and it being all over the news.

but after thinking about it.. logistically, it probably makes sense to do it at the end of the day instead of the beginning. most people will wait in line for a few hours... maybe 12 at the most, if theyre crazy. having people start lining up at 9pm on the 28th to get it the following morning is dangerous. not to mention the liability for the companies selling the iphone if someone gets hurt in front of their store at 2 in the morning....

if they sell it at 6pm, most of the nuts will start lining up during the working hours of the at&t or apple store. they can control the lines and make sure no one is butting or anything like that.

[McGinley @ Jun 11th 2007 2:51PM]

What I don't get is why engadget didnt just have a WWDC roundup instead of posting 4 or 5 articles.

[Todd Long @ Jun 11th 2007 2:54PM]

Probably a slow day with other stories.

[Oscar5453 @ Jun 11th 2007 2:52PM]

NOpe there will be NOOO discounts......even if you signed up for 6 years it don't matter. So what I am wondering is ........Why can't we sign up for one year then instead of 2 years if there is no incentive. If we can't sign up for one year thats going to be bullcrap and very unfair on AT&T's part.

[Markcus Dunn @ Jun 11th 2007 2:55PM]

They should just let people pre-order so they can avoid having people camp out. Hopefully no one will get shot like when the PS3 was released.

[Oscar5453 @ Jun 11th 2007 2:56PM]

Well I heard there will be 3 million Units available at launch which is insane!! Considering that there were only about 400K XBOX 360's available at launch and a similiar # for thr sony playstation 3.

Can anyone confirm this?

[allen Gragg @ Jun 11th 2007 3:07PM]

I think my cingular....er.....ATT store closes at 6 or 7pm ????

[christ @ Jun 11th 2007 3:25PM]

um... yeah us eastcoast folks are getting it at 6:00pm eastern standard time. if we were getting it at 6 pacific time, what is that? 8, 9 o'clock? most stores are closing around then, and if a store has 100 iphones to give out, with a 100 people in line to get them, that could be a couple of hours of signing contracts with at&t... i don't think they want to stay open till midninght just to make the westcoasters feel better...

[Jean-Michel Decombe @ Jun 11th 2007 3:34PM]

This is horrible news! Do you know how HOT it's gotta get inside that sleeping bag in the middle of the day? I had hoped it would open in the early morning.

[Jimmy @ Jun 11th 2007 4:33PM]

Does it ship at 6pm or sell at 6pm?

[Shmoe @ Jun 11th 2007 5:02PM]

Apple fan boys can shove it now after all that flak they gave MS about Vista shipping at the end of January. This is no different. And 6 p.m.? WTF?

[Mike @ Jun 11th 2007 5:30PM]

For all Verizon Wireless customers that wanna switch over for the iPhone now but have a contract, check this out:

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/01/12/verizon-increases-sms-rates-customers-now-free-of-their-contr/

[Constable Odo @ Jun 11th 2007 6:03PM]

What makes anyone think there will be any lines at all? I hope the iPhones do sell, but you people are making it sound like all the iPhones will sell out in one day. Is that likely? Maybe in large cities, but 100 people waiting in line in sleeping bags seems a little farfetched. If I had a need for one, I'd buy it in a flash, but it's hard to imagine so many people locking in to two-year contracts without giving it a second thought. I mean, this ain't no game machine. Of course, there'll be the eBay crowd buying a few to resell. Well, we'll see.

[abyd m @ Jun 11th 2007 7:00PM]

okay so this might be a dumb question
but i live in canada
if i bought the phone without contract and then got it unlocked it would work with rogers here right
just that new voicemail feature wouldn't right?

[Art @ Jun 12th 2007 1:25AM]

Can't buy it without a contract.

[mattypop @ Jun 11th 2007 7:01PM]

6pm (in your local timezone) has always been the "launch time" for an event at an apple retail store..... the 6pm time was also used for tiger and panther launches, iPod launches, etc. etc.

[DLO @ Jun 11th 2007 7:14PM]

Please clear this up for me. Available at AT&T and Apple stores? What about Apple.com?

[Frank P @ Jun 11th 2007 7:39PM]

seriously i hope this means they will open the line at 6 to start selling them i know its probably obvious that this is gonna happen but then why say shipping at 6. I dont know i think(hope) its just a poor choice of words, beacause now there are people (me) freakin out about it.

[mike @ Jun 11th 2007 8:10PM]

This is completely consistent with the way Apple generally rolls out new versions of Mac OS -- they pick a Friday evening, close down the store at 4 in the afternoon, choreograph a big line-up with security, people handing out flyers and promo deals, and then open the store at 6pm, controlling the number of people who enter until the line dies down. They typically keep the mall venue open later than usual for that evening, too.

They also typically schedule a large number of blackshirts for the event, and give somewhat of a pep talk to the staff before opening the doors.

Really, folks, it's no big surprise, and may also be a good chance to get a deal on other hardware in the store. When I bought Panther, they were offering 10% off all CPUs, just for the event. They've done this for new iPods and other product rollouts as well, and it's just a variation of their store opening protocol.

This is old hat at the Apple stores, but I do wonder how well the AT&T stores are going to fare.

[Bad Apples @ Jun 11th 2007 9:17PM]

WHO CARES ABOUT THIS STUPID PHONE! APPLE CAN SUCKS MY APPLES. WASTE OF MONEY.

[Bryan T @ Jun 11th 2007 10:28PM]

Um, I think he may have been joking about this. He said "Um, 6PM" as a reference to how his products are normally released. I would think that the phone will be released when the store opens, becuase God forbid some angry customer comes to the store at 5PM only to see the store is closed for the iPhone's release.

[M Burke @ Jun 12th 2007 12:02AM]

June 29th? Are you sure?

[Trik @ Jun 12th 2007 1:41AM]

Whatever happened to the "18 months of free service" for buying the iPhone? This was the only rumor/subsidy I ever heard that had somewhat of proof to it.

[drole.homme @ Jun 13th 2007 11:41AM]

TARDS!!!!! Please use some commensense. The iPhone will be available to buy June 29th @ 6pm. Obviously 6pm at each location b/c it would be midnight on the east coast before Hawaii can get their paws in this sucker. Duh. Or it would be noon their and that would defeat the purpose of Apple's usual 6pm launch. Lastly, if you haven't noticed, I;m 99% sure that when d-day comes, you will fork of 500 and that is all, no contract, no contract renewal, nothing. Since they took off the 2-year contract thing, they probably aren't doing that to soften the blow of the price. Anyways, the phone is locked for 5 years for it's not like you can take it anywhere. Please people, think before you open your mouths.

[derek @ Jun 13th 2007 4:14PM]

In the new iphone letter they sent out through apple and at&t. The iphone shows the ical app. and the notes at the bottoms say 6pm: Pick up iphone
& 7pm: call mom. So I'm guessing SJ is serious?

[gary @ Jun 13th 2007 9:16PM]

I talk with multilple Att/cingular stores in the area and the all state they will be selling the phone right when the store opens on the 29th at 10am not 6pm...I asked if they have heard about the 6pm ship date and they said agian be assured we will be selling the phone when the store opens!