The iPhone X, unsurprisingly, sold out of its pre-orders within ten minutes. Or, at least, the preorders it allocated to its website. Likely preorders are also sold out at its retail operations at this point, too, but the good news is, you may still be able to get an iPhone X for Christmas. Or before Christmas, if just getting your hands on one soon is all that matters to you.
The good news for gift-givers is that while Apple’s infamous shipping delays have kicked in, as the Verge reports, they’re not nearly as bad as Apple fans who didn’t hear their alarm go off might have thought. Currently, the X is looking at a five-to-six-week shipping delay, so if this is a Christmas gift, just get your preorder in and wait. The general online consensus, if you poke around the internet, is that Apple’s shipping estimates generally err on the side of too long, and your phone will show up earlier than expected. So, while it may not be at the door right away, if you want an iPhone X under the tree for someone, Apple should be able to make that happen for you.
The bad news for Apple is now everybody is speculating about whether it’s soft demand for the iPhone X or if Apple has managed to turn around its manufacturing process and get more iPhones out the door. There have already been rumors, which Apple specifically denied, that Face ID was stepped back from its original ambitions in order to meet production targets. Of the two scenarios, Apple whipping its production chain into shape honestly seems the more likely, as the hype surrounding this phone has been intense for months and, well, let’s be realistic here, there aren’t a lot of people rolling out of bed at 2:55 am to load up an app and buy the latest Motorola. Even if demand is ‘soft,’ Apple is still going to move numbers only its closest rival Samsung can even dream of matching. That said, we will be curious to see how the teeny Kinect crammed atop the iPhone sells, but we won’t know that until Apple’s next sales call a few months from now.
(via The Guardian and The Verge)