Some iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro pre-orders are shipping but don't get excited

Apple Iphone 12 Color Green (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

Some people have had their new iPhones ship already.
But that doesn't mean they'll get their iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro before the rest of us.
Apple often ships devices early and has them held at local depots.

Ahead of going on sale this coming Friday, a number of people have noticed that their iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro orders have already started to ship. Even better, some tracking details claim that delivery will take place before Friday.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news – those people probably won't get their iPhones any earlier than the rest of us.

UPS My Choice users: your iPhones may be listed now. Ours are.

Curiously they’re tentatively listed for Wednesday, but I’m quite sure that’s going to change. 😆UPS My Choice users: your iPhones may be listed now. Ours are.

Curiously they’re tentatively listed for Wednesday, but I’m quite sure that’s going to change. 😆— Casey Liss (@caseyliss) October 18, 2020 October 18, 2020

As is the case every year, Apple ships its new iPhones out well ahead of time to make sure they're ready to go come launch day. Apple usually has local delivery depots or hubs hold all iPhone orders until the big day to avoid any unforeseen hiccups. That's what is happening here. That expected delivery date of October 21? That is very unlikely to happen, just as Casey Liss suggests in his tweet. Sorry!

That isn't the case with iPhone accessories, however. We've seen tons of people share images and videos of everything from MagSafe Chargers to cases. Accessories are already available in-store, too.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.