iPhone activation servers crumble under iOS7 demand

While iFans around the globe were yesterday celebrating the arrival of iOS 7 on their devices, many were left waiting as Apple’s iPhone activation servers battled with the weight of demand for the new operating system.

According to TechCrunch, the activation servers were either down or slow to download, rendering a number of phones useless and stuck on the install screen.

Apple Insider meanwhile reports that the situation was so bad at one stage that Apple issued a high priority alert to its support staff. There were also believed to be other, undisclosed, “internal issues” compounding the problem.

At this stage, it looks like Apple’s set to get its servers completely in line by Friday, by which stage there’ll be an even bigger back-log of people waiting to update their phones.

It’s unclear how many users have been affected by the server hiccoughs, and it should also be noted that some people have actually managed to make the upgrade.

The problem is interesting, because upgrading to iOS 7 shouldn’t really require activation unless the install process fails and you’re forced to restore the factory settings.