Hi
Has anyone here ever bought an apple product on release day in Japan? What was it like? The 15 is releasing on Friday and I’m wondering if I have a chance of getting what I want if I go there and get in line at like 6am? Or do you need to camp out the night before?
Thanks for any input.
14 comments
Just preorder online, no?
If we are talking Tokyo or other major cities there are probably going to be long lines. Lining up and waiting is a national pastime.
At the Apple Store, scoring one unreserved on release is probably difficult. But at the carrier shops and electronic stores you probably have a good shot.
If you want to buy on release day, you will have better luck buying them at an the electronics stores. I know some are taking reservations now why not check there?
Not myself but I’ve heard from some people that if they go to small or out of the way shops they have better luck getting an iPhone when it releases.
I preordered my iPhone 15 pro max on the 15th an hour after it was available to pre order and Apple Store is sending it out between Oct 12-18th. My wife pre ordered hers 2 hours after the available time and hers is being sent in November lol chin up.
[https://economical.co.jp/smartphone/apple-store-non-reserve/](https://economical.co.jp/smartphone/apple-store-non-reserve/)
warning: the page is super slow and heavy, takes like a minute on desktop
Buy one from carrier or electronic shops. On release day, there’s bound to be long lines for it on any apple stores. On major cities its quite a bit hard also to get one. Try the out of the way electronic shops outside major cities. There’s also a chance you get one from there.
I have just completed the application for a new iPhone 15 from the Docomo online store. It’s a truly awful website and I needed the help of my Japanese wife to thread my way through its complexities. (I do speak and read Japanese and was a translator for most of my life in Japan until I retired about 12 years ago.) not to discourage you, however. It is definitely worth the effort. The price you will be quoted is cheaper than what you would pay in a Docomo store. I found this out the last time I tried to buy direct via the online store. This was when I gave up on the complexities of the website when upgrading from at I phone 8 to 11. The assistant was quite ignorant and caused several problems AND we found the price was much higher. So worth persevering. Do note that you will not be able to preorder an exchange for your previously purchased model. You can only order the new model (if you are applying before it is on sale). You have to wait for notification that you can go ahead with your purchase and THEN register your old model and negotiate the trade in price within the four days before they cancel your initial order for lack of immediate confirmation. You have been warned. I’ll post again if there are any further problems at the next stage. I’m pretty sure there will be. Incidentally you can only change from a normal usage plant to one on the “bargain” plans via the Internet shop. So sweat it out!
I feel like my question is relatively similar to yours & I hope someone might help me:
If I want to buy the new iPhone in October during my Japan vacation – do you think I’ll be able to do that inside the shops or would you recommend preordering? Thank you!
The chances are almost none, the Chinese already have an organized network of people that keep on lining up on the stores all over Japan getting those devices tax-free to ship to China.Even the guys working at the stores seem to know them and they do shit about it. Tried twice (iPhone 11 and 14). Still best of luck and kindly send them my warm regards.
Yes of course if you just go to the store without prep you will not get anything.
What no one seems to mention is that you still have a chance to order one for pick up at store on Friday. Currently that is not possible but on Friday morning 8am (I think, better look that up again) local time the stock data should be updated and then if you are lucky you could order one for pick up at the store.
John, from Only in Japan youtube tried to get his hand on an iphone 14 on launch day last year at one apple store in Tokyo, he made a video about it. The short version is : it’s a pain, it’s complicated, it’s not worth it and chances are high you wont get one.
Much better to order one online or via the big companies.
Not a troll question, but why the hurry to get a newly released phone? The iPhone models don’t change that much year to year these days