Here we go again: iTunes meltdown spoils the iPhone OS 3.0 launch party
It’s summer, the year is 2008. Apple starts selling the iPhone 3G, posts the iPhone OS 2.0, pushes the App Store live and puts forth an updated .Mac online service re-christened as MobileMe - all at the same time.
The new iPhone firmware has once again stretched Apple's iTunes activation servers to their limits.
Within minutes, the ambitious launch turns into a PR nightmare because iTunes servers surrender due to a high volume of activation requests. As a result, numerous existing and new iPhone users have a brick instead of an updated phone.
Needless to say, headlines scream over the failed launch that some tabloids dub the MobileMe(ss). The issue is significant enough to force Apple CEO Steve Jobs to apologize and offer an olive branch to MobileMe users by approving free service extensions to all affected MobileMe subscribers.
The history repeats itself
Fast-forward to present time and history repeats itself as the iTunes activation servers once more fold under the pressure. According to many web reports and individual user accounts, a portion of users are having difficulties applying the iPhone OS 3.0, the newest, highly-anticipated firmware update that went live this morning. Although Apple did learn from past mistakes, making sure not to coincide the release of the latest iPhone firmware with the iPhone 3GS scheduled to launch this coming Friday, the company’s servers still struggled to keep up with activation requests coming from numerous users who all rushed to try out over one hundred new features of the 3.0 firmware.
Some are still unable to proceed with the 3.0 firmware.
The iTunes Store server farm is also feeling the pain, resulting in a sluggish store performance in both desktop and mobile iTunes clients. At the time of this writing, the high load has rendered desktop iTunes and the mobile App Store incapable of downloading iPhone application updates. MobileMe online service has also been briefly affected.
MobileMe(ss) revisited?
The iPhone OS 3.0 packs a new feature dubbed Find my iPhone that lets you remotely locate a lost device or wipe the content stored on a stolen device, using the MobileMe online service. Early attempts to access the Find My iPhone and Remote Wipe capabilities found under the Account tab of the MobileMe web interface yielded poor results.
Find my iPhone has also been briefly unavailable. “MobileMe Account is currently unavailable. We apologize for this service interruption and are working hard to resolve the problem,” warned Apple’s notice. Luckily, the short-lived issue has been quickly fixed so we’re now being able to reach the Find my iPhone feature via the MobileMe web interface without any hiccups.
Updating your device to the iPhone OS 3.0 is another matter, though. Luckily, reported issues appear far less alarming than last year. Problems seem to have affected only a small portion of users and only within the first few hours of posting the 3.0 firmware.
Our own estimates, derived from web reports and personal accounts obtained from several dozens of international users, suggest that Apple has now largely resolved the issue. Nevertheless, we were still receiving complaints from people in several European countries at the time of this writing, including Croatia, Belgium and Italy.
It’d be unfair to bash Apple over this hiccup given that the company simultaneously rolled out the iPhone OS 3.0 worldwide, across 80 countries where the iPhone is being sold. Also, bear in mind that the combined iPhone and iPod touch user base now exceeds 40 million active devices - a high enough number to slow down most servers.
iTunes servers meltdown
The iPhone OS 3.0 is applied exclusively via iTunes. When you connect your device to a desktop, iTunes initiates an optional download of the new firmware. When it extracts the downloaded package, iTunes proceeds with full backup of your entire device and then authorizes your device for the update with iTunes servers in the cloud. If servers are too busy to respond in a timely manner, as was the case early morning, iTunes reports it “could not contact the iPhone update server because you are not connected to the Internet.” Apple’s knowledge base article offers little help beyond suggesting you tweak the machine so that it automatically detects Internet settings.
iTunes activation servers struggled to deliver the iPhone OS 3.0.
Upon successful verification of your device in the cloud, iTunes starts copying the new software to the device, a procedure that may take some time. Your device will restart after the copying process has been completed. Although iTunes might panic while the device restarts, reporting that the SIM card can’t be found, wait patiently until the “Slide to unlock” screen appears on the device. You may also need to plug the device out and back in so that it re-appears in the iTunes’ Devices section on the left. The final phase has iTunes re-activating your device with Apple’s servers for normal use.
If the cloud is too busy to respond at this point, you could end up with a bricked device. Should that happen, simply wait until servers become more responsive. Don’t panic: The inability of iTunes to apply the update or re-activate the device won’t in any way harm the content stored on your device. In fact, full iTunes backups performed prior to the firmware installation will allow you to restore all content on your device should anything go wrong.
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