iPhone Duo wait times — latest updates and how to beat Apple’s January delay

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If you're hoping to pick up an iPhone Duo of your very own, you're going to have to wait. Apple opened pre-orders for the phone last Friday at 8 a.m. ET, and an hour later delivery estimates had already been pushed back into January for some. At the time of writing, it doesn't actually matter which iPhone Duo variant you want — they're all equally (albeit temporarily) sold out.

The bad news is that the iPhone Duo is out of stock pretty much everywhere, but the good news is that you don't necessarily have to wait until 2027 to pick up one of your own. I don't mean getting gouged for a scalped unit, that's a complete waste of money. I mean shopping around at different retailers and carriers to see what options are available.

You won't be able to magically pick up an iPhone Duo on release day, but at the time of writing some units will be available in mid-to-late November — or over two months before Apple is due to get a resupply.

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As you can see, Apple is completely out of iPhone Duo units and isn't expecting to start shipping more until late January. What's more, it's now confirmed that Apple has implemented a two device limit on all Duo pre-orders. It's not entirely clear whether this has always been the case, or if Apple realized this was necessary after the fact. Which should help avoid pre-order waits getting too extreme.

Apple is pretty much your only option when it comes to buying an unlocked iPhone Duos for the time being. However, if you are willing to lock your device down to a specific carrier, you can pick one up a lot earlier.

Both AT&T and Verizon currently promise some iPhone Duo units will be available in early December, while T-Mobile is expected to have stock available from late November and throughout December. Best Buy is also expecting to deliver 512GB models in mid-November, but other storage variants won't be available until over a month later. You are forced to lock your phone to AT&T or Verizon, though.

Sadly, Walmart is totally out of stock at the time of writing, with no mention of when iPhone Duo units might be available to ship.

iPhone Duo availability in the U.K. is pretty dire, and it's not looking good for those of you that will want to get your hands on one. A pre-Christmas delivery is going to be borderline impossible, especially since Apple is out of units until January 22, while both Argos and Currys are completely sold out.

Carphone Warehouse is promising some supply of 256GB units on November 12, but everything else is out of stock until January 7.

When it comes to mobile networks, Three and Vodafone have made it clear they won't be getting more iPhone Duos until January 14 and 15, respectively. Meanwhile EE and O2 have been far less helpful, giving very vague details about how deliveries will happen more than 4 weeks into the future. This could mean anything from late November to this time next year for all we know.

Credit: Agoes Rudianto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

There has been some speculation about whether or not users will be able to camp out at their local Apple Store, and grab an iPhone Duo on release day without going through the arduous process of pre-ordering and waiting. Sadly, it sounds like such attempts may be futile.

MacRumors claims to have been in touch with Apple Store employees that made it clear they will not be getting any iPhone Duo units for walk-in purchases on launch day. Apparently staff have been told to discourage anyone without a valid pre-order from showing up on October 23 if they want to avoid disappointment.

Customers are also apparently being told to check back on October 24 for pickup availability, though this does not guarantee that iPhone Duo stock will be available.

It isn't clear whether this advice is universal, or if it only applies to a few Apple Stores. So this isn't to say you shouldn't try your luck at getting a Duo on Friday, but it sounds like your odds of successfully getting one are slim to none. In other words, you may just have to wait your turn.

The good news is that those of you that have picked up iPhone Duo pre-orders from Apple may have noticed that your delivery estimate has actually decreased over the past day. This has been particularly noticeable in Japan, and while it's unclear whether it will be a global change the fact that Apple is adjusting its delivery estimates does bode well.

One thing you should also note is that Apple operates a two-week return policy. It's possible that some of the Duo units that are shipped to customers on October 23 will be returned, either because someone decided they didn't want it anymore or because they were purchased by resellers who couldn't sell their stock.

That could lead to a trickle of Duo units being recirculated from the returns department and back out to other customers — especially if they're unopened. We can't predict how much of an impact this will have on wait times, though, and it will likely differ from region to region.

The last thing you should do is resort to buying from scalpers and resellers, regardless of where they may be selling. You'll end up paying an overinflated price for a phone that will be back in stock in the near future, and all you'll gain is a few extra months of time. Apple wants to get these to you as soon as possible, so don't waste your money.

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