iPhone Duo ship dates slipped past the holidays in minutes, and scalpers pounced

iPhone Duo pre-orders opened today (October 16), and within just minutes the launch-day delivery date of October 23 was gone. Half an hour into the pre-order window, new orders on Apple's US store slipped all the way into 2027. The iPhone Duo is Apple's second smartphone launch this fall, following the iPhone 18 Pro Max.

How fast the iPhone Duo ship dates slipped

Apple opened the doors to its online store officially at 8am ET/5am PT, but a report says some buyers weren't able to get in until about 7 minutes later, costing them precious time. Within moments, all available ship dates had slipped to November and further.



Some reports put orders placed around 8:21am ET getting ship dates of December 15-22, and some placed at 8:30am ET getting dates for January 25 for all configurations and colors available. One outlet said this is the furthest it has ever seen an iPhone pre-order slip.

Scalpers, eBay and the Galaxy Z Fold 8

As predicted by Bloomberg's lead Apple reporter Mark Gurman in his Power On newsletter, the iPhone Duo became a scalper target because of the very low supply. Many listings have already been spotted in places like eBay where people are asking for roughly $2,800 to $5,200 for a phone whose starting price is $1,999, and some promising October 23 ship dates.



Some buyers did have success with securing a device for launch day, such as @GGKymmi, who was able to get an October 23 ship date for a 256GB unit. However, some unfortunately found that choosing in-store pickup was a no-go with the device listed as unavailable for pickup at a nearby store. For some, choosing to pick up at a store actually was a better choice, as was the case with @Eccentech, who missed out by switching to shipping.



If you're a Galaxy Z Fold 8 or Pixel 11 Pro Fold owner, this doesn't affect you. In fact, for Z Fold 8 owners it probably validates your choice as Samsung has had the passport-shaped foldable on sale since August 7.

The Z Fold 8 cost $1,899 at launch, $100 less than the iPhone Duo. We also found in our iPhone Duo vs Z Fold 8 comparison that the Z Fold 8 wins on size, weight and price.

Options if you still want an iPhone Duo sooner

The iPhone Duo isn't only available through Apple's online store. In fact, some wireless carriers were reported to quote earlier ship dates this morning. T-Mobile was quoting late October, AT&T was estimating November 9, and Verizon was showing November 14. Some buyers reported that they were still getting October 23 ship dates through their carrier, but they had to open a new line.



Another option is Apple's physical stores on October 23. Walk-in stock will surely be limited, so if you are going that route, make sure you go early. I am foreseeing some Apple Store camp-outs, like in the old days.

My iPhone Duo pre-order won't arrive until November

I personally struggled to get a launch-day ship date when I placed my pre-order this morning. I wanted in-store pickup since I had a trade-in I wanted a credit for right away, but that didn't work out as planned.

There was no stock at any store near me, and in the seconds it took for me to switch to shipping, the dates had slipped to November 16 to 23. It's not ideal, but not too bad considering the 2027 dates I'm seeing people getting now.

If you missed the early morning window, you can still pre-order, but be prepared to see ridiculous ship dates, unless you're willing to pay ridiculous prices instead by buying one through a reseller. A report claims that production will increase, which hopefully means stock will improve and my ship date gets moved up.

More on the iPhone Duo launch:

• Carrier deals that cut the iPhone Duo's price
• Everything we know about the iPhone Duo
• Apple iPhone Duo

• Follow me on X and Threads

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