Credit where credit is due, the iPhone Duo launch was a breeze in Apple stores

When the The iPhone Duo became available for pre-order, it was a mess. Erased Scalpers Apple is running out of stock incredibly quickly and shipping dates for normal customers have been pushed back to next year.

There were early reports that Apple was telling its physical stores to turn away walk-in customers unless they had a pre-order. iPhone Duo. Credit where credit is due, this clearly wasn’t the case.

Apple optimized the launch as best it could

Some early reports claimed that there would be no stock of the iPhone Duo for walk-in customers. | Image from PhoneArena

As Apple insider Mark Gurman points out in his Power On newsletter today, stores actually had a decent number of iPhone Duo units in stock for walk-in customers on launch day. This may not have been the case everywhere, but it was certainly true in many places around the world.

With such limited stock, it’s almost a miracle

iPhone Duo stock is relatively limited, which is why pre-order shipping dates have reached January 2027. This is also why Apple is asking its suppliers to speed up component production to meet demand. For the company to still have managed to stock its physical stores in so many locations, regardless of inventory shortages, is a pretty impressive logistical feat. In fact, walk-in availability was so much higher than expected that some people started cancel their pre-orders to get a iPhone Duo in a store instead.

Ironically, canceling the pre-order got customers an iPhone Duo faster. | Image from Reddit

The iPhone Duo launch also had its problems

A broken iPhone Duo model at a Toronto Apple Store. | Image from Reddit

However, it hasn’t all been sunshine and rainbows. THE iPhone Duo apparently has a critical design flaw that affects a number of units.

Any iPhone Duo Models with this defect break just a few hours after use, cracking all the way to the middle of the internal screen, where the hinge is located. The problem is widespread enough that some people have started canceling their pre-orders out of fear.

It’s good to see but there are more urgent things

If you have an intact iPhone Duo, consider yourself one of the lucky ones. | Image from PhoneArena

I was pleasantly surprised to see so many iPhone Duo units sold to walk-in customers on launch day. Clearly, fears of running out of inventory for physical stores have been exaggerated.

However, right now, Apple has much more pressing issues to deal with. The company is apparently shipping broken Duos to California to study what went wrong. All I can say is that I warned you to stay away from a first generation product.