By 5:30 a.m. Pacific on pre-order day, Apple's US store showed a January 25 ship date for every iPhone Duo model. Resale listings run about $1,800 over Apple's price.
Update, October 25: US Apple Stores had some walk-in stock on launch day, October 23, and Apple called it “limited.” Lines formed overnight. 9to5Mac counted more than 150 people at Apple Town Square in Las Vegas. Staff told shoppers who missed out to check the Apple Store app on October 24 at 10 a.m. Eastern for in-store inventory. The original report follows.
Apple’s first folding iPhone went on pre-order at 5 a.m. Pacific on October 16. By 5:30 a.m., Apple’s US online store showed a January 25 ship date for all eight configurations, MacRumors reported. Only the orders placed in the first minutes still arrive on launch day, October 23.
Other markets in the same first wave show similar waits. In Portugal, delivery shows January 25, MacMagazine reported.
Apple told the Financial Times that demand was “nothing short of extraordinary.” It has not released order numbers or said how many phones it had for day one.
What is confirmed and what isn’t
Confirmed on Apple’s stores, as reported on October 16:
- US: January 25 ship date for all eight models, two colors in four storage sizes (MacRumors).
- The first pre-orders deliver October 23. Apple’s US store says to check back on Saturday, October 24 for store pickup.
Not confirmed:
- Walk-in stock. Apple hasn’t said whether its stores will have phones to sell on October 23. MacRumors expects very tight inventory.
- The cause. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said supply would be limited, and earlier reports pointed to low production yields. Apple hasn’t commented on yields.
- The dates themselves. At past launches Apple has delivered ahead of its estimates. That is a pattern, and Apple hasn’t promised it here.
Resale prices already beat Apple’s
MacRumors found two eBay listings marked sold on October 16. A 2 TB Night Sky model went for $5,000. A 1 TB Night Sky model, sold as a confirmed pre-order, went for $4,400. Both are about $1,800 over Apple’s US price.
| Storage | Apple US | eBay, sold | Markup |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 TB | $2,599 | $4,400 | $1,801 |
| 2 TB | $3,199 | $5,000 | $1,801 |
US prices are before sales tax. We covered the full price and repair lists in yesterday’s iPhone Duo piece.
What it means if you run a remote team
If an iPhone Duo is on someone’s equipment list, an order placed today ships in about 14 weeks. Plan the purchase for the first quarter of 2027.
Skip the resale market for work phones. The $1,800 premium is more than four times Apple’s $399 one-time AppleCare+ plan, the one cost on this phone that’s worth paying early. If you do get one at launch, buy it from Apple: early owners with cracked inner screens got same-day swaps at Apple Stores and a harder time at carriers (our report). Apple now says affected owners, carrier buyers included, should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
In the US, the only shortcuts are launch-day walk-in stock and the pickup reservations Apple says to check on October 24. Neither is guaranteed. A standard iPhone runs Slack, email and calls today, so give the Duo only to people whose work changes with the bigger screen, and let them wait.