Since it was first launched (even minutes after it became available for pre-ordering), the iPhone 6 Plus has been in rather limited supply. As seen on Apple's official website, the bigger of the two new iPhone devices always displayed a shipping time of 3 to 4 weeks since September.
As we are entering into the holiday season, that 3 to 4 weeks shipping time might not be soon enough, especially for customers who want to get their iPhone 6 Plus devices a little early.
But it appears that the iPhone 6 Plus will be catching up to demand after all. As reported by 9to5Mac, Apple's official website is now listing the 16 gigabyte edition of the iPhone 6 Plus with a shipping time of 7 to 10 business days. Furthermore, a few iPhone 6 Plus editions are also available for same-day in-store pickup from several Apple stores.
As a matter of fact, if you really want to get an iPhone 6 Plus, it might be a good idea to check Apple's in-store pickup first. By far, this option looks like it has the most supply of iPhone 6 Plus, with multiple editions available from select Apple Stores.
While the unlocked edition of the iPhone 6 Plus (labeled T-Mobile) may still be relatively hard to come by at Apple Stores, the carrier-locked edition of the device seems to be readily available now.
However, one might notice that only the least pricey editions available online have refreshed stock. Let us say you want to get the 64 gigabyte edition or the 128 gigabyte edition of the iPhone 6 Plus, you will still have to wait 2 to 3 weeks or 3-4 weeks respectively, and not 7 to 10 business days.
If you check with the major carriers, you would basically get the same thing. A 16 gigabyte edition of the iPhone 6 Plus that is purchased from AT&T will be shipped on the same day it is ordered. It will also likely be readily available in physical stores. But when you talk about getting the large storage editions of the device from any carrier, the availability would probably be limited (except in very select cities in the United States).
Interestingly, reports are suggesting that many customers favor buying the smaller iPhone 6 compared to the larger iPhone 6 Plus. Which begs the question: Are people picking the iPhone 6 over the iPhone 6 Plus because of the latter's limited availability?
Fortunately, that might change soon as Apple's suppliers have been increasing the production of the iPhone 6 Plus. Come Christmas, people should be able to see more of the iPhone 6 Plus (in whatever edition) in stores everywhere. Even Apple CEO Tim Cook expresses confidence that the supply will be alright during the holidays.
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