iPhone X Pre Order: How To Win October 27
If you're planning to pre-order the iPhone X on October 27th, you might want some tricks up your sleeve. The latest iPhone goes on sale for pre-orders on Thursday morning, 12:01 am PT (just after midnight) and 3:00 am ET. Setting your alarm may not be enough in this case, with iPhone X shortages already being reported. This is going to be Apple's most expensive device: starting at $999 before you add in any extras like more storage or Apple Care. Here are the best ways — and what Apple says is actually the quickest — to try and game pre orders for the $1,000 iPhone X in hopes of being one of the first to get your device when they start to shop on November 3.
1. Quickest: Order via the Apple Store iOS app
If you have the Apple Store app on your iPhone already — and if you don't you can download that here — you can order the newest iPhone X through the app. That should take just a few clicks to get you paid and back to sleep that morning.
Why is this the best option? Apple itself has said this is the quickest way to order your next iPhone — because all your details are already keyed into the app, and you can check out just with Touch ID. In fact, more than half of orders for iPhones in the past have come this way, through the app, Apple has said in the past.
To get prepared, get on the app before 12:01 am PT and go through the process of picking your options: finish, storage and carrier and then wait until the option to buy comes up and just use Touch ID to check out.
2. Upgrade Program
If you're part of the Apple Upgrade Program, you can put your loan paperwork in now — which means you can set up a payment system for the iPhone X, and be pre-approved before you put your order in on October 27. That option went live starting today, and presumably will give anyone who goes through this process spots at the top of the line as long as they've already made 12 monthly payments. A good way to know is to check your eligibility, easy to do here with your Apple ID, or your iPhone's serial number and the last four digits of the smartphone's IMEI number. (You can find those by going to Settings, then General, then About.)
Haven't signed up for the Upgrade Program? That can be done through Apple's web site or through the Apple iOS app if you have an iOS device. Note: you need to know which carrier you currently use and all of those account details, and also personal information to run a credit check. So get your Social Security number, birth date, a credit card number plus two other pieces of identification like a driver's license, utility bill and a passport. But if your not part of the Upgrade Program already, it's likely too late to use this to jump the line for October 27.
2. Order on Apple's web site
This is likely the path most people will take — it seems like the easiest and the most well-known. To even make an attempt to buy the iPhone X on the Apple web site Friday morning, get online, go to the iPhone X main page,. You can already run through the options online, choosing the finish you want — space gray or silver — the storage capacity (64 GB or 256 GB) and whether you want to pay in full or create a monthly installment plan either through the Apple Upgrade Plan or through your carrier's Installment Plan. The Upgrade Plan is the more expensive option because of the ability to upgrade the iPhone each year when a new model comes out. That starts at $56.16 for the 256 GB option. (Your carrier is likely going to be less.)
After running through those options, you'll see that the blue "Select" button is grayed out: presumably that button will go live at 12:01 am. So keep refreshing the buy page until you see the order option appear on the site. Apple's web site has been notoriously glitchy in the past. So while this seems like the obvious way to go, there are other options to consider.
4. Go through your carrier: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon
In the past, some carriers have had access to new iPhone launches ahead of time — some haven't. In this case, we're not hearing that certain carriers have an advantage over others. So whether you use AT&T, Sprint, Verizon or T-Mobile, consider going into their site that morning and placing the order there.
One tip: Before 12:01 am PT, sign into your account on your carrier and make sure you are eligible to actually buy the iPhone through them. There may be credit requirements from the carriers, and if your phone bill isn't paid up, that could create some wrinkles as well.
5. Target or Best Buy
Yes, Target is getting the iPhone X according to its web site, and also allowing for pre-orders on October 27. Whether the site will open for pre-orders at 6 am PT isn't detailed — and Target's site seems to indicate only the space gray color is available, and the silver color is not. Best Buy is also listing the iPhone X with options for silver and space gray — but there is nothing on the site that shows you'll be able to pre-order starting that morning.
Here's hoping one of these options will help get the coveted iPhone X in your hands when they ship November 3.
