The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max will be nearly impossible to find this Black Friday - Macworld

We knew things were atrocious erstwhile Apple issued a warning earlier this period that iPhone 14 Pro accumulation was being affected by Covid-related restrictions. But we didn’t cognize it would beryllium this bad: If you buy an iPhone 14 Pro oregon iPhone 14 Pro Max connected Apple.com close present it won’t get until aft Christmas.

Depending connected wherever you live, Apple’s online ordering strategy quotes December 29 for delivery. On Verizon, each exemplary is backordered until December 16. T-Mobile estimates mid to precocious December for astir models. At AT&T, it mightiness not get until adjacent year. And portion you mightiness beryllium capable to find immoderate banal astatine Apple and bearer stores, galore models are already unavailable. And Black Friday isn’t until adjacent week.

Apple hasn’t issued an update to the informing it sent retired connected November 6 informing of “lower iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments than we antecedently anticipated” with customers experiencing “longer hold times to person their caller products,” though it does accidental stores volition person banal daily. But transportation times person gradually ticked up arsenic Black Friday nears, and what would usually beryllium a immense seller volition apt beryllium a non-factor this year. Apple volition evidently effort its champion to get arsenic galore phones to radical arsenic it can—and shipping times volition alteration depending connected wherever you live—but it’s decidedly going to beryllium tougher to find an iPhone Pro than it has successful anterior years.

It’s not wide whether the shipping concern volition ease, but with conscionable six weeks until Christmas, things are going to request to alteration soon successful bid to person an interaction connected sales. Once the Black Friday unreserved begins, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max volition go the hardest-to-find Christmas acquisition this broadside of Tickle Me Elmo. Stock of the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus are inactive plentiful, which could beryllium a boost to those phones. And Apple is offering $50 acquisition cards with purchases of the iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and iPhone 13 mini arsenic portion of its Black Friday sale.

There are worse problems for a $2 trillion company, of course, but arsenic the all-important vacation 4th chugs along, it won’t beryllium agelong earlier transportation times gaffe into 2023. 

Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor