iPhone 6 and 6 Plus preorders have already started selling out around the world and the shipping dates are slipping.
Spokes people for Apple say that they’re seeing an unprecedented demand for the new phones already, and carriers like AT&T are getting crushed by the unfathomable number of customers looking for an upgrade.
“Demand for the new iPhones is higher than that seen in either of the past two years,” a carrier spokesperson told Recode. Shipping estimates for the larger 6 Plus slipped to 3-4 weeks within hours of preorders becoming available last night. Most 4.7-inch iPhone 6 models haven’t been delayed yet.
AT&T’s Ralph de la Vega told Fierce Wireless that the carrier saw “hundreds of thousands” of preorders within the first few hours of availability.
“It’s amazing to see the volume,” he said, adding that the “systems are rocking” and “everything is going well.” He said demand for the new phones is “better than last year and they’re better than the prior year [before that].”
“Every time there is a change in [iPhone] design, there’s an uptake,” he said. “I think this design is particularly good.”
Apple also issued a statement saying, “Response to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus has been incredible with a record number of preorders overnight.” No specific numbers were provided.
To deal with demand, Apple has been giving out reservation numbers to preorder customers that are redeemable when initial orders are ready to process. The company is currently emailing instructions with steps to complete purchases that were started through its website.
Alex Heath is a journalist who works for Tech Insider. He’s the former co-host of The CultCast. He has been quoted by the likes of the BBC, KRON 4 News, and books like “ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation.” He lives in Lexington, Kentucky. If you want to pitch a story, share a tip, or just get in touch, additional contact information is available on his personal site. Follow him on Twitter.
42 responses to “iPhone 6 Plus shipping dates slip as Apple reports ‘record number of preorders’”
I preordered my iPhone 6 Plus through AT&T at midnight and the time-frame for delivery was already 14-21 days. The iPhone 6 was guaranteed to deliver next Friday. Did anybody who ordered the iPhone 6 Plus get guaranteed delivery on the 19th?
I got through at around 12:20 and was told it would be 14-21 days. Now my status shows end of October into November for shipping.
mine did the same exact thing.
Same thing happened to me; the original confirmation email made it sound like it was set in stone; now I check the website and it’s saying Oct 31- Nov 11th… no follow up email with changes. I’m probably just going to drive around town next Friday to see if I can spot an att store that has a decent line, and see if I can cancel the pre-order and walk out with one that day. It would be suprising, but I don’t care… it’s just a damn phone and I already have one
I ordered a 64 GB iPhone 6+ through the Apple Store app. After many errors, hang-ups, and “Unavailable” listings, I was able to place the order at 3:25 AM EST. It was listed for delivery on 9/19 when I placed the order, and it’s still providing that date for the time being. Hopefully it sticks!
I got one coming on the 19th. The website was down but I was able to get through in the Apple Store app. Placed my order without so much as a hiccup.
I preordered mine at 1:42AM CST through AT&T & the time frame was already 14-21 days…
I ordered my 6 plus through att right as the orders went online which my order states 1:55am CST and it is 14-21 days
Got my 128GB Plus through the App Store app at 3:32am EST with shipping for the 19th.
Sounds like the Apple Store was the way to go if you could get through. I will try the local corporate AT&T store next Friday and see if I have better luck.
Good luck man. I feel the roll-out last night shafted some people from getting first dibs. Hopefully your better at the store.
Ordered my 6+ through AT&T by 12:10 pacific. They didn’t send a confirmation email until about 4:30 and my tracking number now shows it shipping between 10/31 and 11/11. Want to ask me if I’m happy?
Mine says the same thing now….
That’s it! I”m buying a Galaxy Note! No, I’m going back to my RAZR V3. It’s in my kid’s toy box somewhere…
LOL! I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic, or if you actually mean that because you couldn’t get a new iPhone model on day ONE you’re abandoning the platform. That sounds like the sort of ridiculous fake argument an Android fanboy would make… but I’m going to assume you’re just being sarcastic.
I too ordered from AT&T because Apple’s site was down at 3:20am Eastern time. AT&T site still had 9/19 as the delivery date when my ordered was placed. Received my confirmation email at 4:47am saying 14-21 days to ship, received a 2nd email at 8:06am saying expected shipment dates are 10/13-10/22….I am furious!!!!
Well I was FINISHED PAYING at 2 minutes after AT&T opened (2am central) and I have a ship date for Nov 7-22nd. I’m am ABSOLUTELY furious.
I think they just put that shipping date for every order. Mine said the same and now it says October 12. My friend said they did the same thing the past two iphone releases and she got both of them on the release date. Hopefully this is true for the customers who placed early orders!
I got my order in through the Apple Store app on my iPhone. I still have 09/19 as a deliver by date.
I had both the Apple website and AT&T websites open – AT&T went live not long after midnight. However, all the 6 Plus models showed 14-21 days delivery, so I kept waiting for the Apple website. Finally, 12:35 got through on the Apple Store app on my phone to order the 128 GB 6 Plus to be delivered on 9/19.
12:00 PDT is 2AM my time. No patience and at 2am I wasn’t doing well at reading fine print. Which is part of the reason I wanted the bigger phone…
I got 21-28 days for the Plus through AT&T.
Got mine right off the bat with a 12:02 Confirmation e-mail for 14-21 Days. Now ATT is showing me 10/13 – 10/22 Shipdate…
Annoyed at AT&T, should have gone through apple.
The problem is AT&T never prepares their site to handle the traffic. I pre-ordered my 5 through them and got on 10 minutes early. It still took forever to order because of failing pages that had to be refreshed, etc. By the time I got it done I was like a month out getting my phone. I cancelled with them and moved over to a better priced plan and faster internet with Verizon. This time, when I ordered through Verizon, it took me about 10 minutes to order and I will get my phone on the 19th.
@ew29fan:disqus Same deal for me with my 6+ order.
“AT&T has seen more demand for the new phones than for Apple’s last two models”
I think Apple’s website melting down might have had a little bit to do with that. I never go through ATT but that’s what I did last night just to get an order in.
this is RIDICULOUS. i ordered at 3:30am EST through AT&T website, the website said 14-21 days. I got an email confirmation 4 hours later stating 21-28 days. I now check the status online and it says ships between 10/31 and 11/11, which now makes it 49 to 58 days!!!!!!!!!!! Apple website still says 3-4 weeks, but I can’t pre-order through them anymore because my eligibility must be locked up with the ATT order, i get an error message that I need to call AT&T. I don’t want to cancel the ATT order for fear that it will put me back even further!!!!
You can cancel your pre-order and regain your eligibility back. It is faster to call in to cancel and have them push it through than to do it online.
I just called and cancelled through AT&T, wasn’t even placed on hold I got right through. Gained the eligibility back instantly and went to the apple website which still shows 3-4 weeks for a 6+, and placed my order without any problems. Confirmation says it delivers 10/14-10/21 (which is a little longer than 3-4 weeks, but still better than AT&T 10/31-11/11). I stop and think why did I bother getting up at 3am Friday morning to order it……
that is EXACTLY the situation for me. smh
I had preordered a 64gb iphone 6 (4.7inch) last night through AT&T and they had told me est. shipping would be on or around Friday 9/19. As of an hour ago, my expected ship date has slipped to mid-end of Oct. Man, I hopped on this preorder early too!
Ordered my silver 6 plus this morning at 7:30am pacific time. I got an email confirmation but it just says pending!!! No delivery dates were even given! Maybe I’ll have it by Xmas lol
I was able to place an order on apple.com around 3am PST, and was given a 3-4 week turntime for a silver 6 plus 64gb with AT&T. I got my confirmation email, but the order doesn’t work when I try to check the status of it. I keep getting an “Oooops something happened error message.”
I tried desktop internet Apple site, nope. ATT was buggy – also gave me an immediate shipping date for the 6 Plus “4-6 weeks”, then the site wouldn’t load at all, gave me “Coming Soon” (that was at 3:02am ET) Seemed like the Apple Store app was the only option that worked – somewhat. I was able to chug along the pre-order process, even got the Sept 19 delivery date – or pick up at Apple Store which is 1/2 mile from me – pretty psyched. Then the app”could not process order, gave me the Reservation #” I finalized the purchase at 6am. The 9/19 date was gone – local Store read ‘Not Available’, it states “Shipping 7-10 days…but with a delivery date of Oct 1-5” Well it’s better than a month I guess, I just HOPE that is the case and they don’t throw some last second “Backordered” email at me. First time I did the preordered thing.
Damn, I forgot about the Apple Store App. But I was able to get what I wanted. I am not a believer in the giant phone, so the 4.7 is big enough for me. I actually was happy with the size of the 4S, the most beautiful phone ever made by humans on the planet Earth. But since I am getting older, I am hoping that the larger 6 has larger type on it. One day, but not any time soon, Apple is going to have a rollout for their phones where everyone is happy at the end of that day.
How do other cell phone manufacturers feel about this happening almost every year? They could have much better phones than Apple (I have no idea, Android’s interface confuses me) and they never run out of phones. The Amazon Fire hasn’t even been out a month and it is already on sale for 99¢, what is that about? Samsung can make all the fun they want to about Apple’s customers, but they have to be mad as hell when they read the numbers.
I think the Apple Store app was DEFINITELY the way to go! I got both mine AND my wives through it. Hiccups of course but thats what makes the win so sweet! We’ll see you on the 19th iPhones!
ATT just screwed me – ordered within 10 minutes of 1200 am and they just changed my shipping date to Oct 31.
i ordered the 64 gb Iphone 6 plus (Gold) and checked out at 12:03 pst and received a email that say Expected Ship Date: 10/31/2014 To 11/11/2014 Please tell me how is that Posiible
So the rumors before the launch were true. IPhone 6Plus will be a later release
Ordered a 128GB Iphone 6 Plus within 5 minutes of opening on AT&T site and my email says shipping date of 10/13 – 10/22.. Yeah, not happy about that should have gone through the Apple APP on the phone. That’s what I get for thinking my carrier would have things together.
Pre-ordered my iPhone 6 64gb gold through Apple Store. Gonna here next Friday!
I got one of the Complete Your iPhone Order emails you showed above, complete with reservation number. After hours of pressing the Complete Order button and getting no response, I finally got through, but then after confirming my phone and data plans, the session “expired” and that’s been it. I haven’t been able to get to that screen since then. When I try to use the Reservation Number to log into the online Apple Store, it says “Can’t find your reservation”. So I’m giving up and waiting a few months. I will live, and someday be able to just wander into my local Apple Store and buy a new phone with no stress at all, probably the week before the iPhone 6S comes out or something. I’ve had it with pre-orders. Never again.
I ordered my ATT 64G IPHONE 6 PLUS AT 255AM on the ATT website got email confirmation at 305am. then i got shipment notification of 10/13 to 10/22. i logged on today to check status and it said preparing to ship with ship date of 10/02 to 10/13. I really hopes it updated to delivery date of 9/19