They may be waiting until the last minute, but AT&T finally announced on Thursday that their “retail and business channels” will also be carrying the iPad 2 at 5pm local time on Friday, March 11. Meanwhile, Apple.com will start accepting preorders in the wee hours of Friday morning.
AT&T has finally announced they will be offering the iPad when it debuts at retail on Friday, March 11 at 5pm local time. Rival Verizon Wireless days ago announced the latest Apple tablet would be available in their stores, as well as Apple retail outlets, Best Buy, Walmart and Target stores.
“We are thrilled to offer iPad 2 in our stores and give customers several easy ways to connect to the nation’s fastest mobile broadband network,” said Glenn Lurie, president of Emerging Devices for AT&T Mobility & Consumer Markets.
The telco will start accepting online orders from their website at 1am PST on March 11, which just so happens to be the same time that Apple.com will also begin selling the iPad 2, despite recent rumors that orders would begin at the stroke of midnight. According to AppleInsider, the company’s iMovie and GarageBand apps for the new device will be available from the App Store on Thursday for $4.99 each.
If you’re planning to pick up an AT&T 3G-enabled iPad, you may also be interested to know that the carrier is offering a free month of service for users who activate a new postpaid 2GB, $25 per month plan. Postpaid plans are billed monthly rather than at the time of purchase, like the original iPad prepaid model. However, both plans are the same in terms of data and price, and neither requires a long-term commitment.
Apple’s iPad 2 rollout on March 11 is U.S. only, but the device will be rolling out to Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK on March 25, with others to come in the months ahead.
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Mr. Happypants
March 10, 2011 at 7:05pm
Yeesh, I'm a night owl but there's no way I'll be up THAT late on the East Coast. Guess I'll take my chances & try some time Friday. Hoping to get one for an Anniversary gift for my Wife.
kurrgo
March 10, 2011 at 7:35am
Does anybody have insight on what the wee hours of the morning might mean?
gashtou4
March 10, 2011 at 10:29am
"The telco will start accepting online orders from their website at 1am PST on March 11, which just so happens to be the same time that Apple.com will also begin selling the iPad 2"
