The new iPhone X is a high-end model, more expensive than any iPhone sold in the past. It includes lots of features that Apple couldn't afford to put in the more mass market version of the iPhone, and I expect initial sales to go mostly to true iPhone enthusiasts. I am one of them, and I know that many folks who read iPhone J.D. are as well, so I suspect that many of you were up late Thursday night (or very early Friday morning, depending upon how you look at it) to place an order. From what I could tell myself and what I heard from others, the online store officially opened around 12:05 a.m. Pacific / 3:05 a.m. Eastern, and for about 10 minutes you could place an order with a delivery date of this Friday November 3. Then it switched to a 2-3 week wait for about 15 minutes or so, and then it slipped to a 5-6 week wait.
From what I could tell from the comments on Twitter, podcasts, etc., most folks who stayed up late to order had a good experience ordering online (especially if you used the Apple Store app on the iPhone, which continues to be the best way to order from Apple when time is of the essence), but a few folks had hiccups. For example, one part of the buying process is for a carrier to confirm order eligibility, and for most (like me) that occurred quickly. But for others, there was a delay, and some received a note saying that an iPhone X was reserved but that Apple would have to wait for the carrier to come back and confirm eligibility. Florida attorney Katie Floyd had that experience:
I got “we couldn’t reach your carrier” but we reserved a phone for you. (Verizon) so I have to come back later to finish.
— Katie (@KatieFloyd) October 27, 2017
(Fortunately, even with that delay, Katie will still get her iPhone this Friday.)
Before last Friday, many folks were predicting that Apple would have very few iPhone X models available for pre-order, and that shipping dates would quickly slip into 2018. Thus, I was surprised and happy to see that once shipping slipped to 5-6 weeks Friday morning, it stayed there the rest of the day and over the weekend too. It is still not too late to get an iPhone X before the holidays. I suppose one possible explanation is that after the early morning Friday sales, very few additional folks decided to buy one. But I suspect that Apple deserves the credit here for making far more devices than folks had predicted would be possible. There was a time when Apple used to proudly announce the iPhone sales when new models were introduced, but they haven't done that in a while now. Apple did tell iMore: "We can see from the initial response, customer demand is off the charts." Apple didn't indicate what number was at the top of those referenced charts.
If you did order an iPhone X and your delivery date is this Friday, there is a good chance that it is already shipping from China. Apple hasn't yet sent out official emails with tracking numbers, but I learned from a tweet from Mark Gurman of Bloomberg that you might be able to figure out your own tracking number. Here's how. First, get your Apple Order number, which you saw when you placed your order and which is also in the email from Apple confirming the order. (Mine is W followed by nine numbers.)
Then, go to this UPS website on an iPad or your computer. (I couldn't get it to work on an iPhone.) By default, that webpage offers to track by UPS tracking number, but if you look down the left side you will see an option for Track by Reference — click that. Then, enter the Apple Order number but leave off the last two numbers. Then click search. That will bring you to a page with the full tracking history (including the UPS tracking number). For my order, I can see that as of early October 30, my iPhone X is currently in ZhenZhou, China:
If you didn't pre-order an iPhone X in time to get one delivered to you this Friday, it is still possible to get one this Friday because there will be limited quantities at Apple Stores starting at 8am. Of course, if you choose that route, I'm sure you will have to get in line early to get one.
And finally, if you are still deciding if the iPhone X is right for you, here is Apple's introduction video which shows it off: