I have some really bad news if you were hoping to get an iPhone Duo this year: you’re going to have to either wait in line at an Apple Store and pray there’s stock or wait until 2027.
Apple opened pre-orders for its first foldable iPhone this morning at 8 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. PT and delivery times for all color and storage configurations quickly slipped from launch day on Oct. 23 to mid-November in under five minutes. At 8:15 a.m. ET, the Apple Store app showed dates between Dec. 8 and Dec. 15 for the earliest deliveries. By 8:30 a.m. ET, the app showed a delivery date for Jan. 25.
iPhone Duo delivery dates are now January 25
Next year
2027 pic.twitter.com/6GiZyPz2bi
— Ray Wong (@raywongy) October 16, 2026
The pre-order experience didn’t go smoothly for everyone. On Monday, Apple allowed consumers to “Get Ready” for this morning’s pre-order by pre-selecting their configuration and payment so that checkout would be a quicker process. Many consumers, including myself, saw the Apple Store didn’t load properly even several minutes after 8 a.m. ET. By the time it did load, pre-order delivery dates had already slipped to mid-November.
It’s clear that demand for the iPhone Duo is off the charts. It also might be true that Apple isn’t able to produce enough supply for the device. Foldable phones, with their complex hinges and delicate bendable screens, are notoriously hard to manufacture. Yield rates are often much lower than traditional smartphone slabs that don’t fold. Apple reportedly increased iPhone Duo production by 30%, according to China’s Securities Times (Google Translated), with an estimated 10 million devices being produced for 2026.
Analysts were already expecting the iPhone Duo to be in short supply at launch, but with deliveries having already slipped into 2027, it looks like demand will far outstrip supply for a while.
One hour after pre-orders opened, the Apple Store app still showed the earliest delivery date for Jan. 25. The in-store pick-up option was unavailable earlier, but it now shows “Check back for availability on 10.24.”
iPhone Duo deliveries still show January 25 delivery day but now shows “Check back for availability on 10.24” for order now and pick-up in store pic.twitter.com/ugzOEHtYs3
— Ray Wong (@raywongy) October 16, 2026
Like I said earlier, your best bet to get an iPhone Duo on launch day or possibly this year if you weren’t able to successfully pre-order one this morning will be to wait in line at an Apple Store, and don’t expect those queues to be short. You may also have better luck buying an iPhone Duo this year through a wireless carrier. With demand through the roof, I can already see the resellers scheming to buy and flip iPhone Duos for much higher than their $1,999 starting MSRP.
