Apple lets iPhone Duo buyers save their order details before pre-orders open October 16

Take two buyers at 5 a.m. Pacific on October 16, when pre-orders open ^[2]. One has saved a configuration and checks out in a couple of taps ^[6]. The other is still entering a shipping address and picking an AppleCare+ plan ^[4]. That difference in typing is what Get Ready changes.

MacRumors pitches it as a better chance of getting a phone on launch day ^[9]. It wrote that pre-orders "really could sell out within minutes" ^[12] and that users who finish Get Ready "will be able to submit orders faster" ^[8]. What the feature does is store details. According to 9to5Mac, buyers must return at 5 a.m. PT or 8 a.m. ET on October 16 to finalize the order ^[7], so nothing is ordered until then.

The supply warning is MacRumors's. It cites "multiple reports of production issues" without naming them ^[12], and it calls the Duo Apple's debut foldable ^[13]. Neither article quotes Apple on supply or says that finishing early changes who gets a phone.

The two articles also disagree on a date. 9to5Mac says the option will likely run through much of the day on Friday, October 15, then gives Friday, October 16 for finalizing the order ^[11]. MacRumors gives October 16 ^[2]. We'd calendar the 16th.

For anyone placing orders on other people's behalf, we'd sort each request on two questions: is the configuration settled, and does the person need the phone at launch on October 23 ^[3]?

Settled and needed at launch is the one cell where Get Ready matters, if MacRumors is right about supply. Finish it early and be at the screen at 5 a.m. Pacific. Unsettled and needed means the open choice is the delay, so color, capacity, carrier and payment method each need an owner before the 16th. Settled and flexible can save the details and sleep through the start. Unsettled and flexible can wait. A buyer who cannot state color, capacity, carrier and payment method in one sentence the day before belongs in the unsettled half.