Apple started taking orders for the phone last Friday, which becomes available this Friday, October 14 at 245 Apple store locations in the U.S.
“The first day preorders for iPhone 4S have been the most for any new product that Apple has ever launched,” said Marketing VP Phil Schiller, adding that the company was “blown away” by the response to the new phone.
Perhaps not as blown away as the numerous tech pundits that panned last week’s introduction of the 4S. Although the 4S features significant hardware upgrades, iOS 5 and the Siri voice assistant, many were expecting something more following months of speculation that a radically re-designed iPhone 5 was imminent.
Reports of people staking out their space in front of Apple stores in London and New York to be at the front of the line for the new iPhone began cropping up after the unveiling last week. One man has been loitering around the front of the London store to be ready since August.
As more iPhone 4S orders came in Friday, would-be owners soon saw the delivery dates for their new phones being pushed back. Expected delivery could now take as long as two weeks.
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