iPhone 15 preorder chaos sees users locked out of Apple.com for up to 20 minutes

Apple's iPhone 15 preorders are live, but problems accessing the site online and through Apple's Apple Store app have seen many users forced to wait up to 30 minutes to make their preorder purchases. 

While Apple's preorders never go live exactly on the hour, this year felt like a particularly egregious and slow experience. Users were reporting seeing the "We can't wait either" screen on the Apple Store website more than ten minutes after preorders should have gone live. Personally, it took me more than 20 minutes to get onto Apple.com. Even when users were able to access the store, many (ourselves included) were met with error popups when trying to add a phone to their shopping basket. 

While some people have joked that Apple's routine of taking the Apple Store down ahead of a launch event is performative and unnecessary, today's antics suggest that Apple's store infrastructure maybe really just can't handle the demand. 

iPhone 15 preorder pandemonium 

"No idea why this was so difficult but after endless errors on my phone and the Apple Store app I finally managed to get a preorder in on my Mac," said Halide Camera's Sebastiaan de With on X. 

One user said it was the "Absolute worst iPhone upgrade program preorder experience I’ve ever had." Stating, "Preselected, pre-approved, all saved in the Apple Store app and still can’t order. Errors abound."

As mentioned, preordering on Apple.com is never perfect, but this year's iPhone 15 launch is definitely the worst we've ever seen in terms of our own experience and how widespread the problems seem to be for customers. 

The other reason the Apple store might not be coping is simply due to popular demand. Apple's new iPhone 15 models are a much more enticing upgrade compared to last year's iPhone 14, as are the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max thanks to their titanium chassis, USB-C, A17 processor, and some camera upgrades, as well as USB 3 data transfer speeds. 

It's bad news for anyone who hasn't managed to place an order, with iPhone 15 Pro Max shipping times for all colors and sizes already backed up into October. Store availability remains, however, and it seems the disruption might have been widespread enough that not too many people have missed out on the phone they want. 

We're covering all the Apple iPhone 15 event news and reactions now that Wonderlust is over. Don't miss all our iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Ultra 2, iOS 17and watchOS 10 coverage so far.