Did you order online at 3am ET on the 14th? Because I ordered mine at 7am that day, and it is sti saying 2 weeks. Looking at Oct 5.
I assume this is a rhetorical question?
If not, the answer is that they are idiots.
Midnight PT on the 14th via Apple. I understand that you could still get one on launch day if you ordered through one of the carriers for several hours after that.
Your first instinct was correct.
We already have some drop test videos.
One site kept dropping it from higher and higher and it still kept working. They finally had to slam it to the ground to get it to break.
The other was from an Android fan boy site comparing the iPhone 5 to an S3. The S3 failed badly and they had to concede that the iPhone came through with flying colors.
That’s not surprising. All iPhones, as far as I’m aware, have had exceedingly good frame design. So it looks like the iPhone 5 isn’t an exception. Has Apple done anything to improve the design since the last generation, though?
And yeah, the S3 is by all accounts incredibly delicate. Part of that is by design (from what I’ve read, you can pop off the plastic guard on the back to replace the battery or insert an SD card, for example) and part of it is Samsung trying to make a large, lightweight phone without investing in quality material and craftsmanship.
In one of the drop tests, the back panel came off of the S3 which the guy, correctly, said wasn’t a big deal because it was designed to pop off.
This new iPhone has a glass front and a metal back. The 4 and 4S has glass on both the front and back. From these two sets of tests shown in my link above, which are very preliminary, this is a much more durable model than the last one.
Not to excuse poor design, but wouldn’t you invest in a cover to avoid having your expensive phone break when you drop it?
I know the first thing I do is buy an Otterbox for whatever device I have, even if it’s as well build as the iPhone.
I couldn’t imagine having to shell out $300 to replace the screen of a new phone.
It depends, really. If I plan to resell the device eventually, it sure makes sense to preserve it as much as possible. In the case of devices like the iPhone, where they maintain good resale value, it does make sense to protect the “investment”. But for other people I know, they typically just buy a new device and let the previous one collect dust.
That said, I know a few people who prefer to carry their phone naked and use it as designed. I see the validity in that stance, too, since some cases can make the phone more bulky, defeating the original design intention.
In the end, to each their own.
Those drop tests are hardly scientific. The angle of impact makes a big difference and it’s pretty much random. If you enjoy these things hereis one of the Galaxy S2 and iPhone 4S where the iPhone suffers from horrendous damage to the screen much worse than the GS3 in that video.
It’s totally obvious that a sample size of two isn’t scientific and that these are preliminary tests. The 4S is a completely different design so that isn’t relevant.
The 4S is a different design but if you believed that video, it’s a piece of crap compared to the GS2 which barely got scratched. Yet most people seem to think it’s of decent build quality. The point is that these “tests” are really just a gimmick which don’t tell us much about the build quality of the phones.
I totally forgot the iPhone 5 was coming out today and went to the AT&T store to get a Galaxy S3. They weren’t crowded- I was the only one in the store-, but the network was so slammed that the clerk couldn’t process my sale.
Just got home to get my new iPeen. Backing up my old one which will take a few minutes. Lighter and thinner and feels great in the hand as advertised. I love the new connector. More later.
No. I put my phone in my pocket. These devices are already too big and bulky, to be honest. Putting a case on it just makes it that much worse. I kept my iPhone 3G in a case, but never really liked it that way, and from the 4 on I have gone caseless, as I am with my 5. For the way I use the phone, the case is a hindrance, so it’s like having a plastic cover on your sofa - it might make it look better in a few years, but is that really worth it if you don’t get to enjoy it in the mean time?
I did break an iPhone 4 once. Apple replaced the screen for free. Even when you have to pay to have the screen replaced, it’s not $300. I’m willing to take the risk of having to buy a new screen if I break it, in exchange for having the phone be as small and sleek as possible. Then again, I don’t tend to drop my electronics much. I know people who drop them all the time, and this strategy probably doesn’t make much sense for them. Also, my wife keeps hers in her purse, so the bulk of a case doesn’t matter as much, which I can understand.
The Dope stretched out with the longer screen in landscape is so much easier to read. I am a happy nerd so far.
You think that’s bad? I saw a news report last night that showed people who had been waiting in line for EIGHT days. Though, to be fair, they mentioned that people treat it like tailgating, where the whole draw is to hang out with like (addled) minded people.
Due to a shipping mix-up (long story), the delivery guy brought it to me at my door but couldn’t physically hand it to me because the machine he had said that I had to pick it up at the facility. We called the UPS office, talked to them there, and despite me being the person who ordered and paid for the package, they were unable to release it to me for any reason unless I pick it up at the facility. He left with it and I have to pick it up tomorrow morning.
Apparently many of them were using that as an opportunity to promote their business. Well we all have one thing in common. We are among the first … four million people to have an iPhone 5 today.
I have mine now. The line at the Alpharetta, GA Apple store near my office had a wait of 45 minutes. This thing is much faster than the 4.
Every AT&T store in Georgia was out of the 16GB iPhone by about 11:00. They were ghost towns after that.