November 2, then November 13, then the end of the month. Those were the first delivery dates Matt Talks Tech saw for an iPhone Duo when UK pre-orders opened at 1 p.m. on October 16, with Apple Store pickup already greyed out two minutes in. By the 40-minute mark the estimate read January 25.
Matt Talks Tech still expects a Duo on October 23, possibly two. A 512 GB white order through Currys, the UK chain the video likens to Best Buy, came back with an October 23 ship date by email. Then a refresh in the Apple Store app turned up a 256 GB midnight blue unit for collection at the nearest store, and the video shows it booked as a backup. Within minutes that option was gone again.
Ten years of launch mornings give Matt Talks Tech its yardstick. With the iPhone 18 Pro Max, the video says, launch-day slots lasted around 15 minutes, and a month to six weeks of slip built up over the whole first day. Its explanation is both halves at once: more demand than Apple planned for, and fewer units than the earlier production reports suggested.
A queue to January on day one is how I expect first-generation Apple hardware to go: early adopters first, everyone else after production catches up. iPhoners still hoping for launch day should keep checking other storage sizes and in-store collection in the Apple Store app, which is where the backup in the video appeared.
