iPad 2 Lines Are Long At Most Apple Stores, But Non-Existent At Many Third Party Retailers

John Brownlee (9:33 am PDT, Mar 11 2011)

iPad 2 Lines Are Long At Most Apple Stores, But Non-Existent At Many Third Party Retailers

In a few short hours, the iPad 2 will go on sale at Apple Stores and approved retailers across the country, and if you’re anything like us, you’re probably discouraged by the up to three week wait times on online orders. Maybe you’re even considering dropping by an Apple Store after work and seeing if you can’t pick up an iPad 2 then. What are the lines like, though?

Short answer: it’s all over the place, but in front of most Apple Stores, there are lines, often substantial ones. New York’s Apple Store lines are reportedly crazy, and even at lesser known Apple Store locations like this one in Indianapolis, people have been reportedly lining up since 4am.

Where there don’t seem to be as many lines is at the big box retailers selling iPads: Wal-Marts, Best Buys, AT&T Stores and the like. Searching Twitter, it appears that at a lot of big box retailers, there are no lines at all… even where a line waiting area has been set up for the iPad 2.

All of this is anecdotal though. What about you guys? Where are you seeing lines for the iPad 2, and how long are they? Please drop us a comment if you’ve seen a line (or a conspicuous lack of one). At the very least, you might be able to help a fellow Apple fan out.

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64 comments »

  • Khooiveld

    going to Buffalo tonight for Ipad2 – any reports of lines there yet?

  • Guest

    Just came back from a Super Target and they told me they only received 5. All are 63 GB and black

  • Buddyro7

    just called best buy to see if there was a line forming yet…was told there wasn’t and that if i left my name and model i wanted that would reserve a ticket for me. i’m not putting too much faith in best buys procedures but here is to hoping the guy knew what he was talking about.

    • http://ObamaPacman.com ObamaPacman

      Best Buy here says they do not do reservations.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tyler-Hojberg/100001569622239 Tyler Hojberg

    Anyone know about the line length in Buffalo, NY?

  • Anonymous

    I love my Apple products, but I have never understood people who go and stand in lines for this stuff. 2-3 weeks is not that long of a time to wait for an online purchase and if you just wait a day or two the lines will be gone…they will most likely be gone tomorrow. Of course, I guess the iPads could be gone tomorrow also, but there would be more in a few days. This just seems really crazy to me.

  • http://twitter.com/Mattlike Matthew T.

    I just ordered online at 1:00. If I don’t get it until a week fro today, then so bet it.

  • NC1986

    I did like another person here mentioned and called Target here in Charlotte, NC…they said no line but they only have 5 iPads. Checked with Best Buy and no lines as of yet, I’m planning on heading to Best Buy around 3pm, hoping they have a larger amount of iPads in stock, the employee told me they haven’t been told how many they have available.

    • Smeegle06

      I’m in Charlotte as well. I’ve been calling around all morning. All Walmarts and Targets will only have 2 of each model (not sure about colors). Every Best Buy told me they’ll have a substantial amount, probably around 100. The Apple store in South Park has had a ridiculous line since 9AM. I’m going out to the middle of the country (Lincolnton, Hickory, etc.) to get one for myself and the wife.

  • http://twitter.com/Being_SunnyR Sunny Rohra

    Went by to a Walmart in downtown, Atlanta, GA .There were two people in a line. My friend has been outside apple store since 4 am and says there are more than 1000 people..

    • Rob Hamilton

      I left an Apple store in Atlanta after they ran out before they got to us that far back in the line… there were easily 1000 people there… I drove out to WalMart above Alpharetta and they were out too. Went to AT&T store and they didn’t have any.

  • Freckles

    Yikes. I was planning to go after work today in New York City. I don’t mind waiting in line for hours, but do you think I have a change to get the model I want? Lines don’t bother me, but I’m scared of them running out of stock. I have to think the 5th Avenue location would have a LOT on hand…right?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tyler-Hojberg/100001569622239 Tyler Hojberg

    Just heard word from my friend in the Buffalo apple store line, it’s CRAZY there.

  • Korey

    I’m in line at the Freehold Mall, NJ. At 1:15 pm there is about 35-40 people in line.

    • Jack Ash

      And you didn’t go to a BestBuy, Walmart or Target because???

    • Designgirl14

      Hey Korey give us an update of Freehold mall now

  • Anonymous

    Went by two Best Buys this morning, no line. Went by two Targets, no line. Went by the Pasadena Apple Store and there were 40 people in line (9:45am).

  • Anonymous

    Best Buy told me they have roughly 100 iPad WiFi 16GB models. No clue whether they are all black or a mix of black/white.

    • NC1986

      Do you know if they have anything other than the 16GB?

  • NC1986

    I think a lot of people aren’t thinking of the other places that the iPads can be purchased, until last night I was thinking they would only be available through the Apple store and online today..

  • Camarorae

    OK, here is a long shot.. anyone at BB Transit rd, E. Amherst NY… trying to avoid crazy line at the mall.

  • Ashapiro75

    New Lincoln Park (Chicago) Apple Store had no line last time I drove by it. That was at 9 am.

  • pubbw

    About 20+ here at Woodcliff Lake, NJ (1:30PM)

  • Ss

    Nice , Thank you for the updates, anyone around warren/edison/NJ ?

  • Smeegle06

    Just an FYI…Walmart stores are only getting 2 of each iPad model. Target seems to be about the same. Best Buys are getting substantial shipments and most are giving tickets starting around 4:30.

  • RS923

    anyone in west Los Angeles? Beverly Center/The Grove/Century City Mall?

    • Mark

      Beverly Center has about 30 people, the grove around the same or a bit more. I don’t know about Century City. I’m stuck at work until 4. BTW the guy from the beverly center told me they don’t have a big inventory.

      • RS923

        Thanks, I’ll let you know the status of Century City. I’m stuck at work until 4:30 but plan on going to century city mall @ lunch to assess the situation.

      • biggies

        About 100 people in line @ century city mall. Decided to just wait a few days.

  • Cglewis03

    anyone at roseville, ca – galleria?

  • zookeeper

    yeah, went to best buy and they couldn’t tell me how many or what version or anything. couldn’t tell me their procedure for vouchers, sid they probably would just give out vouchers at 5. so, now I’m waiting in at the apple store. just seems more likely to get what I want

  • IndyAppleFan

    that photo was not taken outside of the Indianapolis Apple Store. The indianapolis Apple store is in the Keystone at the Crossing mall – a ONE STORY mall. The only mall in Indianapolis that has two stories (as depicted in the photo) is downtown and it DOES NOT have an Apple Store. Besides, look at the people in that line. Do you really see many grey haired grandmothers in the iPad 2 lines, these people have hours left to wait and are just standing there too. (a) not the Indianapolis Apple Store; (b) doesn’t even make sense that this would be an Apple line – no ropes, nothing, grandmothers and these people are WEARING SHORTS! Last I checked it was pretty cold here this morning. not summer folks.

    • Majkenii

      It looks kinda like the Mall in Sherman Oaks, Ca.
      And Yes, today it’s in the 70′s here.

  • Bab3yblu3

    Ordered mine at 12:57am this morning, the shipping estimate was 3-5 business day. Guess they extended shipment for all other orders afterwards…that sucks

    • Shainasunstar

      Did the same. Crazy to stand in line for a few days wait.

  • BBazyl

    Small line at Best Buy in NYC on Fifth Ave and 43rd…

  • Eddie

    I work at a Target in Texas and we haven’t received our shipment as of 1pm. We kept hearing we may get 2 to maybe 4 but not to expect much. Also, I haven’t noticed anyone really lining up. We kept getting calls asking about it, but no one, as of yet, has formed a line. On a side note, I called Best Buy here in town and I was told she couldn’t “release the number” of those available but a line was being made outside, but no one was really in it.

  • Gaussianblur

    does anyone know the length of the line at the keystone apple store?

  • PlanoAppleReport

    Best Buy in Plano, TX has 100. Mix of Black & White all models. Line was 4 people at 12:30pm. Grown to 30 by 2:00pm

  • Jott81

    Everyone must know that the third party retailers don’t have much stock. The local Best Buy told me they only have 100 total.

  • Solongjoe

    No lines at Target in Rancho Cordova. Ipads in display case, but sign says sale starts at 5:00 PM

  • Mxctrl19

    Long line at apple store at Valley Fair maill at Santa Clara, CA

  • tim

    Easily over 100 people in line at 86th St Best Buy in NYC. The newish Best Buy in Fort Greene has about 50 people in line, I am told.

  • Big Thinker

    I can wait. People crave what they can’t have or is perceived to be hard to get.

  • Big Thinker

    The SXSW store Apple set up the curtains are about to open we think….

  • Alex

    Here in Tampa the situation is disappointing. Only Super Walmarts got any stock. The target store I visited only had 32GB Wifi White. The only AT&T store that had any stock was the one in the south area of the city. All others have direct fulfillment of 21 days. Same goes for Verizon stores. BestBuys and Apple stores have stock but long lines. These product launches get more and more frustrating each time.

  • Scott

    That was the line at Montgomery Mall in Maryland. I’d recognize that Mall anywhere!

  • http://www.themacuniverse.com TMU-Kelly

    I went to the Indianapolis Apple store at around 1PM and it was wall to wall lines. The fashion mall was completely packed full of people waiting. I went to the target store up the road, they only had 10 iPad 2′s in total, 5 black wifi and 5 black and white 3g models. There were only two guys in line at the time. I was just going to wait in line and buy a black one, but I want the white model.

    I went to the bestbuy, it was lined up as well. I went to another best buy, they were handing out tickets, they had a good 80 person line as well, they got to the 5th person in front of me and then ran out of tickets. I called another target, they didn’t receive their shipment, walmart sold theirs out in a couple minutes. Fry’s had black 64 gig wifi in stock. That was it.

    I left everywhere empty handed. All day hunt and didn’t find any white ones. There were more people than iPads at the Indianapolis Apple store.

    • http://www.createdfor.me miSolutions Boston

      Hey man,
      Sorry to hear you had so much trouble getting one! If you’re interested, please give some serious thought to getting one from http://www.createdfor.me (miSolutions Boston)…we’ve got a huge selection (had over 50 different people waiting for us in lines today!) and we’ll ship it the day you order. Thanks for your consideration!
      Best,
      Edwin Ewing
      Founder and CEO, miSolutions Boston
      (855) MAK-IT-MI x5

  • http://twitter.com/KateDVeg Kate DeGroot

    Our Target only had 5 iPads… all 16 WiFi Lame

  • applegirl

    Does anyone know how long the line is at Century City Mall in Los Angeles right now?

  • DW

    Frustrated that after waiting at a Target for 3.5 hours, the ipad never arrived.

  • Paulhu54

    Apple store in Alpharetta, GA (Northpoint Mall). I heard that lines started forming around 9:00 am EST. When I arrived around 4:45 pm EST, there were at least 300+ people in line. Store opened at 5:00 pm EST for iPad 2 purchase. At around 5:30 pm, we were informed that the 64GB 3G models were all sold out. We were also told that plenty of Wi-Fi only models available. I bought my black iPad 2 32GB Wi-Fi only at 6:45 pm EST. Starbuck was giving away FREE iced coffee and iced tea, compliments of Apple store all afternoon. Purchase time, less than 3 minutes. Overall experience, very organized and satisfied.

    • Rob Hamilton

      Were they sold out completely when you left? I was at the Apple store in Perimeter Mall and they sold out of everything with hundreds still left in line… please advise, I’ll gladly run up to Alpharetta in the morning.

    • Jim

      that’s when it ended at Perimeter – they ran out at around 7PM. No free coffee. other stores in Atlanta had maybe 6 at most- no 64G.s

  • PasadenaEmptyHanded

    Yup…from Pasadena. Target here had about 15 people in line at 5 for about a dozen iPads… all wifi only. AT&T store had no line, and no iPads. Apple Store had a multi-block line at 4:30. I can’t imagine the store has 500 or 1000 in stock… no bueno. It’s a created scarcity. At midnight Apple.com had everything available. Later -every- model exactly changed to 2-3 weeks. Last thing Apple buzz department would want to do is to satisfy everyone on Day 1. Bummer.

  • Anonymous

    My mall had literally hundreds of people lined up. I waited in line for four hours to get mine. I’m talking about 500+ people.

  • Daddysswthrt16

    I went to the only best buy in fayetteville, NC and they had to have had well over 250 iPads. I honestly don’t even know when they ran out. I went to Wal-mart and they only had 5 in stock. One 32g black and four 64g – 1 white and 3 black. I thought that was insane so I got in line at best buy at about 3 and was probably #35-50 and had mine and was out the door by 6pm. I was very pleased with my experience and plan on handling all of my technology business at best buy from now on. Wal-mart pissed me off. I’m just glad they had the decency to tell me they only had 5 in stock.

  • quiquiste

    I’m very disappointed with how Apple handled the distribution for the iPad2.

    • Eguess

      Why?

  • Guest

    what are the lines like at freehold mall today?

  • Anonymous

    I went to target the day of the launch, i was there at about 4pm, just an hour before before they went on sale. A hand full of people arrived to get an ipad but when a target associate told them they only had 64g wifi only people just left. So i was relieved that i was the only one there left so i bought 2 of them. I paid $748.00 each and resold one for $1,000 and that brought the cost of my ipad2 to $496, so it worked out great. I just love impatient people who just need the ipad now, and will pay anything for it.

    • APPLECARES?

      Thanks a lot Dick… Its people like you who ruin peoples christmas… only thinks about himself…

  • Bobbybowden

    lol…owned!

About the author

John BrownleeJohn Brownlee is news editor here at Cult of Mac, and has also written about a lot of things for a lot of different places, including Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Lifehacker, AMC, Geek and the Consumerist. He lives in Cambridge with his charming inamorata and a tiny budgerigar punningly christened after Nabokov's most famous pervert. You can follow him here on Twitter.

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