Apparently people want bigger iPhones. Apple says it received more than 4 million pre-orders for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the first 24 hours after the devices went on sale.

The first units will be delivered to customers on Friday September 19th, while some additional units will be available in Apple Stores.

But Apple says demand has outpaced supply and some folks who’ve ordered new iPhones won’t get theirs until October.

iphone 6 and plus

According to Apple, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus set new records for the most pre-orders of a new phone from the company in the first 24 hours.

As TechCrunch reminds us, Apple told us it received about 2 million pre-orders for the iPhone 5 after that device was announced in 2012. The company didn’t release similar figures for the launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c in 2013.

The Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have a number of new features include a new Apple A8 processor, thinner cases, 802.11ac WiFi, support for Voice over LTE networks and WiFi calling, NFC and support for Apple Pay’s wireless payment system, and improved cameras.

But the biggest difference between these iPhones and earlier models is that they’re bigger. While Android phones have been available in a range of sizes for years, Samsung and other companies have been selling an awful lot of phones with screen sizes running from 5 to 6 inches.

Up until now Apple’s phones have only been available with 3.5 inch or 4 inch screens. The iPhone 6 has a 4.7 inch display while the iPhone 6 Plus has a 5.5 inch screen.

Sadly that means folks who prefer smaller screens might have to stick with an older device like an iPhone 5s or iPhone 5c… but the good news is that Apple is lowering the prices of those older models.

The pre-order figures seem to suggest hat a lot of people seemed to be waiting for  Apple to launch bigger phones… or at least newer iPhones.

It’s not clear at this point what percentage of the people ordering new iPhones are existing Apple customers who just wanted a bigger model or if folks are switching from other platforms such as Android or Windows Phone to Apple now that Apple has some big-screened options.

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,547 other subscribers

12 replies on “Apple: 4-million pre-orders for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in 24 hours”

  1. im glad it happened only because it allowed me to get the 5s for very cheap, and i almost settled for the 4s *phew* and by the time my 2 year contract is up there will be the iphone 8. so the iphone 7 will be as cheap then as my 5s was now haha

  2. My brother just bought two 128GB 6+’s for himself and his wife. On Sprint, that was $499 apiece + 24 months of $50/month unlimited everything. They were iPhone 5 users, and were looking for phones with larger displays.

    A couple of things: Even at its high (comparative) pricing, the iPhone is well within reach of a majority of American budgets given the subsidized pricing available. For people who don’t breathe tech, both the iPhone and Apple are golden standard for brands, and it’s a solid rationale to buy something you know is good, even if you have to pay more. All of us would do the same for something we don’t know much about.

    Second, because of competitive pressures, and carrier’s desire to gain iPhone users–who tend to spend more money–the subsidized pricing is actually fairly competitive these days. The 128GB 6+ is $949, so Sprint’s $450 (~$18.75/month) subsidy, for essentially $31.25 unlimited everything, is a very good deal. That excludes the perk of carriers paying off any ETF for you.

    Yes, for tech users, the Moto X’s $499 unlocked price, or the Xiaomi’s 1+1 are likely better deals. But the iPhone itself isn’t a bad deal when you crunch the numbers. The handset’s cost is only part of the TCO, and service cost as above can actually be less for iPhone users. That, along with iOS’ richer ecosystem along with better ease-of-use, are important. I’m not in the Apple sphere, but iPhones would be on my short list to recommend to others.

    1. I agree with you, but Xiaomi did not release the OnePlus One. “OnePlus” is the company, “One” is the phone.

      There is more than one great company in China that’s dishing out great phones at actually sane prices. I recommend you look into Oppo, OnePlus, XiaoMi, HuaWei, and ZTE. They are actually expanding rapidly since they are in an emerging market.

      I read that Gionee currently has the world’s thinnest smartphone, and they will be breaking their own record with their next release.

      Xiaomi’s tablets are currently one of the fastest tablets available, with the Nvidia Tegra K1 processor.

      OnePlus has a premium device that comes $350 unlocked with 64GB, Snapdragon 801, 3GB Ram, 1080P, (offscreen gestures, Cyanogenmod, other firmware related pluses). I currently have this phone.

      Samsung is about to release it’s Note Edge, first phone in the U.S. market to feature the Snapdragon 805

      I know the average person will not know these, and this list of “top whatever” will be outdated within a few months, but I would never recommend apple to anyone. “simple to use” is one thing, but at that price, it should at least have the hardware to back it.

        1. Just because it is 32-bit, it does not mean it is “1979 technology”. I assume you call IPS LED “1980s technology?”. and before you say anything, all iPhone displays are IPS LED

  3. No active digitizer, same old tired non-customizable UI,
    walled garden ecosystem, no external storage card. I’ll pass.

    1. A what? And what? The huh? Eh?
      Most people that buy iPhones only care about the logo and impressing their friends with the status symbol. It’s a luxury goods brand.
      Sad, but true.

      1. Agreed. I’m glad their products are so expensive, it prevented me from ever getting trapped in that ecosystem.

      2. True! I talked to a friend (who was more than happy to say he currently has a 5s and is upgrading to the 6 Plus), and he could not even recognize my device. First he asked if it was an Galaxy S5, then asked if it was an HTC One M8. My phone is a OnePlus One. I understand if he didn’t recognize the OPO, but the Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8 are both very iconic devices (M8 has front speakers, 5S is one of the few flagships with a home button).

        To top it all off, his last words were “Oh, I don’t like those devices”, which over generalizes the hundreds of none-Apple phones when he has no knowledge of the specs. I bet he wouldn’t even recognize a windows phone if I showed him xD

        1. i kind of wanted a windows phone, especially with their new Cortana feature.. looks pretty nifty

  4. As a round opened in the classic computer game Lemmings… “Let’s go!”

Comments are closed.