Best way to buy iPhone 5s Sept 20?

[descovy]

What is the best way to buy an iPhone 5s and have it in hand Sept 20? I have never ordered anything Apple "the day of."

I am thinking I can order it online at midnight PST Sept 20, and pick it up at the local Apple Store at 1pm. Waiting in line isn't an option for me, but I'll be off work by noon that day (yay Fridays!)!

Other option is to walk in to ATT store (but at noon) What are my odds?

Any other ideas?

 

[wenrob]

What is the best way to buy an iPhone 5s and have it in hand Sept 20? I have never ordered anything Apple "the day of."

I am thinking I can order it online at midnight PST Sept 20, and pick it up at the local Apple Store at 1pm. Waiting in line isn't an option for me, but I'll be off work by noon that day (yay Fridays!)!

Other option is to walk in to ATT store (but at noon) What are my odds?

Any other ideas?

To the best of my knowledge you won't be able to order for pick up. It's order online and have delivered or go to an Apple or Carrier the day of. If you are allowed to order for store pick up (everything I'm reading/hearing says that's unlikely) you will still have to wait in line with everyone else to pick it up. I have walked into an AT&T store a day or two after launch and picked up a phone no problem. It's really hard to say how it will go though. People are excited about this phone but not half as excited if it were the 6. S phones are usually minor upgrades. To sum up: your guess is as good as mine.

 

[tinkgirl1984]

I agree with the pp that its really anybody's guess at this point. I don't think you'll be allowed to order for pickup though. From personal experience when I got my 4s, the AT&T store was a nightmare. And totally sold out of the model I wanted by the time I got there at 12:30. I went to the Apple store when I got off work around 5:30-6:00, they had plenty of stock, and I was in and upgraded in 1/2 an hour at the most. I would very much like to be able to pick one up at Target on the 20th so that I can use my red card discount, but am fully planning to go to the Apple store again if Target is sold out.

 

[descovy]

UPDATE:

I was tipped off that Target Mobile is taking "reservations" for the 5s. Not full out pre-orders, and no money/financial info is exchanged.

They believe they will have a few on Sept 20. I called my local store and was told I was the 1st to ask for At&t, so my odds are pretty good. All I gave was name and contact info.

They will call me when the phones arrive (ie if the phones show up in the 19th) to schedule an appointment. If I choose not to buy there, no loss, no harm, no foul. Someone else will buy it.

Some blogs are talking about it, but it hasn't been widely publicized. So if someone else out there is interested, it is certainly a viable option.

(and yes 5% off if you use your Target Card)

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We have AT&T and still have old dumbphones. We'd like to get iphones for the 2 of us and possibly 1 ds for Christmas. In casual conversation, I got from my older ds that he'd prefer the Samsung Galaxy.

We don't need them until Christmas. Will it be hard to find them during the holidays? Dh was thinking we should buy early in case it's hard to find phones during holiday shopping times.
I'm leaning toward buying later, like Christmas Eve or the 23rd in case we have to activate them at the time of purchase. Can we buy early but wait until Christmas day to activate them?
I don't know how to pull this off as a surprise gift. Part of me thinks I should cut out a picture of what phone I think they'd like and wrap that up in a box but actually take them to the store on the 26th and let them pick out one that for sure they would like.
We're not obligated to AT&T; we've been past our contract obligation for a while.

I'd appreciate ANY advice.

 

[descovy]

If you are buying them subsidized (cheaper with a 2 year contract) you will need to activate them (start billing) as soon as they are bought. So maybe a week before would be fine.

Otherwise you could present them with something creative, like give them the case and promise to take them to the store the next day.

I dont think they will be hard to find at Christmas. You can purchase phones through your carrier, or secondary stores like Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Radio Shack, etc., etc.,

 

[Fire14]

We have AT&T and still have old dumbphones. We'd like to get iphones for the 2 of us and possibly 1 ds for Christmas. In casual conversation, I got from my older ds that he'd prefer the Samsung Galaxy.

We don't need them until Christmas. Will it be hard to find them during the holidays? Dh was thinking we should buy early in case it's hard to find phones during holiday shopping times.
I'm leaning toward buying later, like Christmas Eve or the 23rd in case we have to activate them at the time of purchase. Can we buy early but wait until Christmas day to activate them?
I don't know how to pull this off as a surprise gift. Part of me thinks I should cut out a picture of what phone I think they'd like and wrap that up in a box but actually take them to the store on the 26th and let them pick out one that for sure they would like.
We're not obligated to AT&T; we've been past our contract obligation for a while.

I'd appreciate ANY advice.

I know in past Verzion had some sort of deal with activating phone later. I also know I got a really good deal by waiting to "upgrade" my phone until Dec. I also seem to recall a lot of places target, best buy, and Verzion had Black fri./cyber Monday deals for phones.
I know I got a coupon for store when I had Ipad bought for me few years back I just turned around and used coupon for case, etc.