Apple sells 4m iPhone 6 devices in just 24 hours

15 Sep 2014

Apple reported that some 4m iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices were bought by eager fans in first day pre-orders.

The Californian tech giant said that demand for the new phones exceeded initial pre-order supply.

This means that a significant amount of the devices until October.

The new smartphone goes on sale in the US this Friday and Apple has confirmed that an additional supply will be available for walk-in customers at its store.

The new smartphones – a 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and a 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus – were unveiled last week alongside the new Apple Watch and the new Apple Pay mobile wallet service.

The new phones come with a new A8 processor that is 84 times faster than the processor that was included in the very first iPhone from 2007 and a new M8 accelerometer chip now takes into account elevation.

The devices also come with an 8-megapixel camera with new image stabilisation capabilities and a new ability to create 43-megapixel panoramas that stitch seamlessly together.

Pricing and availabilty

“iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are better in every way, and we are thrilled customers love them as much as we do,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Pre-orders for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus set a new record for Apple, and we can’t wait to get our best iPhones yet into the hands of customers starting this Friday.”

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available in the UK, US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico and Singapore beginning this Friday, September 19 and in more than 20 additional countries beginning on Friday, September 26 including Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Isle of Man, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. 

The new iPhone 6 comes in gold, silver or space grey, and will be available in the UK for a suggested retail price of €699 (€568.29 ex VAT) for the 16GB model, €799 (€649.59 ex VAT) for the 64GB model and, for the first time, a new 128GB model for €899 (€730.89 ex VAT). 

The iPhone 6 Plus also comes in gold, silver or space grey, and will be available in the UK for a suggested retail price of €799 (€649.59 ex VAT) for the 16GB model, €899 (€730.89 ex VAT) for the 64GB model and €999 (€812.20 ex VAT) for the new 128GB model. Both models will be available from the Apple Online Store, select carriers and select Apple Authorised Resellers.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com