It’s iPad 2 Release Day! Did You Beat the Queues and Get Yours?
March 11, 2011 | Andy Boxall
Today marked the US release of the Apple iPad 2, announced a few short weeks ago at a special Apple event held in San Francisco. The iPad 2 is the successor to the iPad, a device many initially didn’t understand, but went on to sell 15 million units in just nine months! Now, even before their competitors have released their debut tablet, Apple have stocked the shelves with their second.
The iPad 2 is available to buy in stores across the country and from the Apple Store online, but as with all new Apple product launches, whichever way you chose to buy it was fraught with problems. Well, we say problems, but they’re only problems in the eyes of those who need their iPad 2 now rather than in a week or two!
If you ordered online, and were quick enough, your iPad 2 was likely given a 3-5 day delivery time, which quickly raised to a couple of weeks after their initial stock ran dry. If you decided to brave an Apple store, then you had to be prepared to queue.
We’ve got some pictures from the 5th Avenue Apple Store in New York City, and it looks like you needed some patience to be there!
What about you? Did you order online, or were you in a queue like this somewhere in the country? Let us know you iPad 2 experiences in the comments!
(Thanks for the pictures Chris!)
I was 18th in line in Santa Barbara, CA (got in line at 12:00 PST today). Apple folks came out at 5:45 p.m. to take some pre-orders for the new iPad2. When they got to the customer behind me, the customer was told by the reps "sorry, we've run out of 16GB White 3G, and 16GB Black 3G AND AND AND 32GB White in 3G. Well, hello that was customer #19 in line AND the line behind her was going around a long city block with people waiting for their options. What? How was that possible. AT&T? Apple? I could understand it if we were 100th or so in line? Was Apple depending on AT&T to supply the 3G WiFi plan phones?
Was about 90th in line in Spokane,WA. 3 1/2 hour wait and well worth it. Lots of fun and antics from Apple staff and free coffee to keep us warm. Came away with a 64GB wifi in white, but all models still in ample supply at that point. Probably 400-500 total people lined up.
Awesome day.
Proud owner of 2 too many iPad2's; ok problem to have. Verizon sold theirs over the phone 5pm EST – 2 hrs before the retail stores in denver. 5 min later – 2 shipped yesterday for overnight shipping. Not in hand, but no wait in line.
Plan B was my husband went to a Verizon store to wait. At 2pm he was 2nd in line. Buy 5pm there were 14 in line & everyone went home happy.
Is the draw to wait in line at the Apple store for many hours or have a good strategy to get your hands on it asap? I'm happy with my strategy & have 2 extras.
I'll try to get mine on April.
I'm wishing a whit one with the red case
the first and the only ipad wall in the world http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUy–4QBl-g
Nothing spectacular. Just the expected upgrades. Not worth upgrading if you have an original iPad, IMHO. And for first-timers, I believe we'll see much better Android tablets in a few months.