Orders for the iPhone Duo opened Friday morning, and buyers who waited just a few hours are already looking at delivery dates in 2027.
Within 25 minutes of Apple opening its online checkout, shipping dates for the company's first folding phone slipped toward late December and early January. Five hours later, every single storage tier — 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB, in both Star White and Night Sky showed delivery promises parked firmly in January 2027.
Buyers hoping for standard flagships did not escape delays either. Orders for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max quickly slipped past launch day, showing delivery windows stretching between late October and the middle of November.
App Stumbles and Carrier Workarounds
The rush brought the familiar friction of Apple preorder mornings. Shoppers reported unresponsiveness inside Apple Store apps, alongside glitches where pre-saved configuration details vanished right when checkout lines went live. Early shoppers who got orders through around 8 AM ET managed dates between mid-November and mid-December, but those windows vanished almost immediately.
Whether the immediate backlog stems from runaway enthusiasm or tight early production runs, manufacturing partner schedules will dictate how fast Apple works through the queue. The situation mirrors past hardware debuts like the iPhone X, where radical design shifts bottlenecked early deliveries for weeks.
Those unwilling to wait until next year might still find faster delivery windows through cellular networks and third-party retailers like Best Buy. Carriers are leaning hard on launch subsidies to tempt upgraders away from the Apple Store backlog.
In the US, Verizon is packaging the iPhone Duo with its Simplicity plan for $72.22 per month without requiring an equipment trade-in. AT&T is dangling trade rebates up to $1,200 on qualifying unlimited plans, adding an extra $200 discount for new online customers. T-Mobile and Xfinity Mobile are each countering with trade credits reaching up to $1,000 on select tiers.
Apple itself is offering trade-in credits up to $885 for unlocked hardware, alongside a two-year leasing program for shoppers who want routine refreshes without paying list price up front. Across the Atlantic, UK carrier Sky Mobile opened orders from £47 per month with a £12 upfront fee.
Barring sudden inventory restocks across third-party channels, direct Apple Store orders placed today will remain grounded until the new year.
MDFiled by The Mobile Desk
Phones from leak to launch to price cut: what was announced, what it costs where, and when it goes on sale. Indian launches and prices included, not appended.
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