Availability of the iPhone X seems to be better than expected. While the phone was predicted to sell out almost instantly, there seems to be a good supply at some Apple stores.
The big flagship store in San Francisco’s Union Square appears to have plenty of phones still in stock, according to Traci Dauphin, my wife, who just left the store.
Photo: Traci Dauphin/Cult of Mac
“There seems to be no shortages of phones,” she said. “The lines are much shorter now and they think they will have enough phones left for another few hours today.”
She spoke to Apple staff at the store, and to shoppers in the long line snaking around the block, who had been assured they weren’t waiting in vain.
iPhone X available in other cities, too
In addition, we’re seeing scattered reports of iPhone X available in other cities. Twitter user Jarin Udom said the 256GB iPhone X is still in stock at Fashion Valley Apple Store in San Diego (as of 1:10 p.m. Pacific).
https://twitter.com/jarin/status/926542386766868481
And there seems to be supply at the big flagship store in Chicago on Michigan Avenue.
“The Chicago Michigan Ave store seems to have good stock of iPhone X (X’s?). They did a reservation for me right in line,” reported another Twitter user, Micah Maziar, at about 11 a.m. Pacfic.
https://twitter.com/micahatc/status/926512796052967426
“Apple Store in Roseville has iPhone X in stock!” reported @Campyonlyguy on Twitter. “They reserved one for me — I go back later this afternoon to pick up and activate it. #dayone.”
Apple Store in Roseville has iPhone X in stock! They reserved one for me—I go back later this afternoon to pick up and activate it. #dayone
— CampyOnlyGuy (@Campyonlyguy) November 3, 2017
iPhone X shipping dates improve
There have been many reports of preorders with accelerated shipping schedules. Phones scheduled to arrive at the middle of the month are now scheduled to arrive in a week, and some today. Also, online shipping times have improved, going from five to six weeks to three to four weeks.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said during Apple’s quarterly earnings call Thursday that production of the phone is improving “week by week.” Apple expects to see record-setting holiday sales, indicating that the company excepts to largely meet iPhone X demand.
According to my wife, the current wait time for those in line at the Union Square store is about two to three hours.
The store also expects a fresh batch of iPhone Xs on Saturday.
“The Apple guy I talked with said that they will probably have more phones tomorrow, so they are probably getting a new shipment tonight,” she said.
Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac.
Leander is a longtime technology reporter and the author of six acclaimed books about Apple, including two New York Times bestsellers: Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products and Inside Steve’s Brain, a biography of Steve Jobs.
He’s also written a top-selling biography of Apple CEO Tim Cook and authored Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, which both won prestigious design awards. Most recently, he was co-author of Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition.
Leander has been reporting about Apple and technology for nearly 30 years.
Before founding Cult of Mac as an independent publication, Leander was news editor at Wired.com, where he was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Wired.com website. He headed up a team of six section editors, a dozen reporters and a large pool of freelancers. Together the team produced a daily digest of stories about the impact of science and technology, and won several awards, including several Webby Awards, 2X Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism and the 2010 MIN (Magazine Industry Newsletter) award for best blog, among others.
Before being promoted to news editor, Leander was Wired.com’s senior reporter, primarily covering Apple. During that time, Leander published a ton of scoops, including the first in-depth report about the development of the iPod. Leander attended almost every keynote speech and special product launch presented by Steve Jobs, including the historic launches of the iPhone and iPad. He also reported from almost every Macworld Expo in the late ’90s and early ‘2000s, including, sadly, the last shows in Boston, San Francisco and Tokyo. His reporting for Wired.com formed the basis of the first Cult of Mac book, and subsequently this website.
Before joining Wired, Leander was a senior reporter at the legendary MacWeek, the storied and long-running weekly that documented Apple and its community in the 1980s and ’90s.
Leander has written for Wired magazine (including the Issue 16.04 cover story about Steve Jobs’ leadership at Apple, entitled Evil/Genius), Scientific American, The Guardian, The Observer, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications.
Leander is an expert on:
Apple and Apple history
Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, Tim Cook and Apple leadership
Apple community
iPhone and iOS
iPad and iPadOS
Mac and macOS
Apple Watch and watchOS
Apple TV and tvOS
AirPods
Leander has a postgrad diploma in artificial intelligence from the University of Aberdeen, and a BSc (Hons) in experimental psychology from the University of Sussex.
He has a diploma in journalism from the UK’s National Council for the Training of Journalists.
Leander lives in San Francisco, California, and is married with four children. He’s an avid biker and has ridden in many long-distance bike events, including California’s legendary Death Ride.
You can find out more about Leander on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can follow him on X at @lkahney or Instagram.
