iPhone 4S Launch to Double AT&T's Record for Activations in One Day

att1Following Sprint's announcement of record sales, AT&T also announced a very busy sales day. AT&T didn't break out sales totals for the iPhone, but reports it is seeing record activations.

As of 4:30 pm ET today, AT&T had already activated a record number of iPhones on our network – and is on-track to double our previous record for activations on a single day. These record volumes may produce slower activations for some customers, though our systems continue to run at record levels.

AT&T was Apple's launch partner in 2007, and the exclusive partner until Apple launched the Verizon iPhone earlier this year.

AT&T hit this record despite their activation servers having difficulties handling the unprecedented demand. iPhone 4S owners reportedly had difficulties with activations on multiple carriers, and not just AT&T.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
ios 26 1 slide to stop

iOS 26.1 Brings Back 2007 Feature in New Way

Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important. Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped. The new ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
M5 MacBook Pro

Waiting for New Macs? Apple Just Shared Bad News

Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year. Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
Coffee Burgundy and Purple iPhone 18 Pro Mock 1

Leaker Outlines Potential New Colors for iPhone 18 Pro

Friday October 31, 2025 8:28 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models could be available in new rich and warm color option, according to a known leaker. The Weibo user known as "Instant Digital" today suggested that next-year's iPhone 18 Pro models will be available in at least one of the following color options: Coffee, purple, and burgundy. The iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Pro were all available in ...
apple tv hd

Apple Launched Its Big New Vision for TV 10 Years Ago Today

Thursday October 30, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple launched the Apple TV HD, the Siri Remote, tvOS, and their accompanying App Store a decade ago today, marking a major overhaul of the device. The new vision for the Apple TV was unveiled on September 9, 2015 during Apple's "Hey Siri" event in San Francisco, where CEO Tim Cook introduced the device with the statement, "The future of TV is apps." The announcement represented a major...

Top Rated Comments

mrsir2009 Avatar
183 months ago
...And people said the iPhone 4S was a flop...
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PeterQVenkman Avatar
183 months ago
But wait, according to these forums, the iPhone 4s was a huge fail? Imagine that. It's successful as hell on every carrier.

Hmmm.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gorgeousninja Avatar
183 months ago
OPEN LETTER TO PHIL SCHILLER:

Apple is no longer a toy company with ten customers. It's a major player. People depend on the products and services provided by Apple and pay very goo money for them. Stop with the same day mega-launches which cause everything to crash. Order on Friday, get it on Friday. Order on Monday, get it on Monday. Get it. That stretches the buzz without causing everything to fail.
Open letter to you. You are not one of only ten customers now, you are one among millions. No matter how much care and preparation is taken, the overwhelming popularity of the products continues to swamp the servers. Either dont buy on launch day or realize that this is how it will be and relax.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Routerninja Avatar
183 months ago
Same here. SO FRUSTRATED! Calling corporate for a credit to my account. It's BS. :mad:

Do you call the department of transportation and demand money when the roads are congested too? Yay for our overdeveloped sense of entitlement!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zincous Avatar
183 months ago
It's not like the phone doesn't work in the meantime for all its other functions.

The 4s can't do anything else until it's activated.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
inkswamp Avatar
183 months ago
Given that there are two other carriers to choose from, and given four solid years of complaints from iPhone user's about AT&T's service, why the hell are people still choosing AT&T?

I understand that there are a relatively small amount of people out there who only get AT&T service at their home and/or workplace, and I understand if those kind of people choose AT&T. But it seems that the majority of people buying the iPhone 4S with AT&T are not those kind of people. Could someone please explain why?
Because all the whining you hear around the Internet about AT&T's service being vastly inferior to that of Verizon is coming from a very vocal minority in large cities (SF and NY, to name a couple) where that happens to be the case. Nobody is going out to the countless smaller cities, like where I live about 80 miles north of Seattle, where AT&T's service is impeccable and blows the competition out of the water (in 3 years, I can count on one hand the number of dropped calls I've had with my iPhone3G... no joke.) I suspect that's the case in lots of other places too but reporting on reliable service in a city of 200K isn't an interesting story so the tech press skews in favor of all the bellyaching in more densely populated locations.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)