Apple fanatics line up overnight for new foldable iPhone Duo, but stores sell out within hours | Latest Tech News
Apple’s first foldable iPhone sparked a launch-day circus in New York on Friday, with followers lining up for hours — and in some circumstances overnight — before stores opened, only to discover some flagship places have been already out of walk-in stock by mid-morning.
At Apple’s glass-cube Fifth Avenue store, a video posted online confirmed a “massive queue” around 4:15 a.m. as prospects waited for the new iPhone Duo.
By 10 a.m., a Reddit consumer posted that the store had “ran out of stock for walk-ins,” including that the remaining line was made up of prospects with confirmed pickup orders.
Customers look at Apple’s new foldable iPhone Duo telephone on launch day at the Apple Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York City on Friday. REUTERS
The frenzy started nicely before daybreak.
One launch-day buyer, Alex Wong, told The US Sun he bought in line at 2 p.m. Thursday — a full 18 hours before the Fifth Avenue store’s 8 a.m. opening — and was still only around twenty fifth in line.
Elsewhere in town, crowds and stock diverse sharply from store to store, underscoring just how uneven Apple’s launch-day provide appeared to be.
At the World Trade Center store, one Reddit consumer wrote that workers got here out at 6 a.m. to start processing orders and that there have been “probably 200 people in line.”
The same poster complained: “Many scalpers. Many ordering 2, don’t even know what they’re ordering.”
Another poster at the same location estimated the gang at “maybe 130 people” and said store employees had warned consumers there have been “very few units” obtainable.
At Apple’s Upper East Side location, a Reddit consumer summed up the temper more bluntly: “Apple UES NYC — sold out for walk-ins 😓.”
Downtown Brooklyn supplied a barely different image. One earlier post estimated about 50 people have been outdoors, while another shopper later reported: “WAITED IN LINE, THEY JUST GOT STOCK. ONLY BLUE AS OF 9:18 AM.”
The run on the Duo comes after Apple warned that walk-in portions at US stores can be restricted on launch day.
The social media chatter suggests the shortage only added to the hype.
In Chicago, one purchaser said he arrived 45 minutes before opening and still managed to reserve a 512GB “Night Sky” model.
Some of the first prospects react after buying the iPhone Duo during its launch at Apple’s Fifth Avenue store in New York, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. SARAH YENESEL/EPA/Shutterstock
In Dallas, another said displaying up half-hour before doorways opened was enough to land the configuration he wished.
An Apple consumer in Dallas said he waited 11 hours outdoors Apple’s University Park store to rating a white 512GB iPhone Duo.
But in Ardmore, Penn., just outdoors of Philadelphia, one shopper said he arrived at 5:45 a.m. and the store was “Sold out 7:30ish.”
The same shopper reported that Apple’s King of Prussia, Penn., location offered out shortly after 8 a.m., while close by Willow Grove Park had also run out by the time he arrived around 9 a.m.
JUST IN – Video exhibits a large queue outdoors Apple Fifth Avenue in New York around 4:15 AM as prospects line up for the iPhone Duo. pic.twitter.com/jkLUJyz8mM
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) October 23, 2026
Apple workers cheer as they open the doorways to prospects for the iPhone Duo launch at Apple’s Fifth Avenue store in New York on Friday. SARAH YENESEL/EPA/Shutterstock
He complained about total households buying two telephones apiece, including mother and father who introduced infants in strollers and carriers into the chilly morning air.
“[S]calpers suck,” he fumed, including that he deliberate to console himself with ice cream while ready until December for his telephone.
At Delaware’s Christiana Mall, another shopper estimated that 200 to 300 people have been lined up for the new gadget.
In Orlando, Apple’s store at the Mall at Millenia stopped accepting walk-in orders by about 8:15 a.m., according to a Reddit consumer who reported that security guards had been stationed throughout the queue and at the cutoff level.
This was the line-before-the-line. 4:15am in Las Vegas (Town Square) with 30-40 people.
Now, most likely 150+ and I can no longer see the end of the line. pic.twitter.com/r5oeLLo3iw
— Wade (@TechEvery day) October 23, 2026
Customers wait in line for the 8 a.m. opening to buy new merchandise, including the new iPhone Duo, at the Apple store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Friday. Robert Miller for NY Post
In Colorado, some would-be prospects weren’t even allowed to camp out.
One Reddit consumer said mall security kicked early consumers out of Denver’s Cherry Creek location and barred them from lining up until 7 a.m. The buyer subsequently headed to another Apple store in Colorado Springs.
Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, a social media consumer reported that the gang outdoors Apple’s Town Square store swelled from an estimated 30 to 40 people at 4:15 a.m. to more than 150 later in the morning.
In Boise, Idaho, a shopper who arrived at 4:45 a.m. said he was nineteenth in line and managed to buy a Duo.
A buyer holds the new iPhone Duo on launch day at the Apple Fifth Avenue store in New York, Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. Apple unveiled its first foldable telephone, the iPhone Duo, on Sept. 9, kicking off the period of new CEO John Ternus. AFP via Getty Images
The store subsequently offered out, with an estimated 50 to 60 early prospects getting telephones while later arrivals have been turned away.
And in Los Angeles, the launch produced dramatically different outcomes relying on the store.
One shopper at Manhattan Village in Manhattan Beach reported that roughly 50 people lined up and everybody managed to get a telephone.
But another Reddit consumer reported that Apple’s Century City location had already offered out.
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