Apple has reportedly told its retail employees to turn away hopeful walk-in buyers on the launch day of the iPhone Duo, the company’s first-ever foldable, dual-screen iPhone, as preorder demand pushes delivery estimates weeks — and in some cases years — past the Oct. 23 release date.
According to MacRumors, Apple Store employees said they have been advised that there will likely be no iPhone Duo stock available for walk-in purchases on launch day. Staff have been instructed to discourage customers without pre-orders from coming in expecting to buy the device, warning that they will be disappointed. That guidance appears to conflict, at least in part, with Apple’s own website, which promotes its stores as a place to buy or order the phone, promising personalized support from Apple Specialists, financing options, carrier deals, AppleCare+ protection, and in-store pickup.
A test order placed on Apple’s website at 12:25 p.m. on Oct. 18 for a Night Sky, 256GB iPhone Duo returned a Jan. 25 delivery estimate, along with an in-store pickup note reading: “Check back for availability on 10.24.” The message does not confirm whether stores will have walk-in inventory on launch day, but it suggests customers should check pickup availability before making the trip.
Timelines vary by retailer. Apple’s carrier partners, including AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, hold their own inventory allocations, and demand may differ across sellers. One T-Mobile customer who ordered the device on Oct. 17, one day after preorders opened, received a Dec. 5 delivery estimate — well ahead of Apple’s website but still more than a month after launch. Media reports indicate some consumers have been quoted delivery windows stretching into 2027.
While back-ordered iPhones are not unusual, delivery dates pushed more than two months past launch have been rare. Apple told CNBC that preorder demand was “nothing short of extraordinary,” adding, “We are working hard to get this revolutionary new product into customers’ hands as quickly as possible, and we will continue accepting orders online.”
The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 and climbs past $3,000 for the 2TB storage tier. Supply constraints may be partly to blame: Nikkei Asia reported that production slowed in September to just “a few hundred a day,” attributed mainly to Apple’s extremely high quality-control standards.
Analysts view the long waits as a sign of overwhelming demand. “This is a clear sign that demand at a $1,999 entry price is running well ahead of what anyone expected,” Yorkville Ives analysts wrote in a note to the Wall Street Journal, adding that it “reinforces our view that the Duo is the first major new hardware innovation out of Cupertino since the AirPods a decade ago.”
Not everyone is convinced the shortage is accidental. Some see it as calculated marketing. “Produce something in limited quantity for a few reasons… if it does sell well they can say SEE! We sold out!” commenter R Harris wrote on an Engadget story. The long estimates suggest demand may have exceeded Apple’s expectations, but they don’t establish whether the company underestimated orders or faced production limits.
Original Source: https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-own-employees-warn-iphone-202300432.html
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Publish Date: 2026-10-19 01:53:00
