Apple Watch Pre-Order Delivery Estimates Continue to Improve for Many Customers

Apple Watch Sport WhiteMany customers who pre-ordered the Apple Watch over the past two weeks and received an extended shipping estimate of 4-6 weeks or later should receive the wrist-worn device earlier than expected. Apple continues to update several pre-orders with improved delivery estimates, with some Apple Watch orders initially slated for June delivery now shipping as early as this week.

A growing number of users within the MacRumors discussion forums with Apple Watch pre-orders facing June delivery are beginning to receive more specific shipping dates between mid May and early June. Some customers, for example, have delivery estimates of May 14-May 20 or May 28-June 10, and the white 38mm Apple Watch Sport in particular is set to deliver on April 28 for multiple customers.

The timing of deliveries is highly dependant on the model that customers selected, as the Stainless Steel Apple Watch with Link Bracelet and Space Gray models continue to face long lead times, and Space Black models are virtually nonexistent. Apple is still processing many of the orders for those aforementioned models, with delivery estimates remaining at 4-6 weeks or later for many customers.

applewatchpreorderesimatesimproving
Apple Watch pre-order deliveries began on April 24 as scheduled, but limited data from Slice Intelligence estimates that only about one-fifth of customers who pre-ordered received their Apple Watches on launch day in the United States. The report, based on e-receipt data from only 10,744 U.S. Apple Watch buyers, extrapolates that only 376,000 of 1.7 million pre-orders were delivered over the weekend, with another 547,000 watches estimated for delivery between April 27 and June 11.

Apple confirmed last week that many Apple Watch pre-orders will arrive sooner than expected, shortly after an executive relations spokesperson said that elongated shipping estimates were set purposefully to avoid disappointment in the event orders were not fulfilled on time. Nevertheless, the company said that some customers still face long lead times, particularly those who did not place an order until several hours after pre-orders became available.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Tuesday May 27, 2025 9:10 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of May 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X ...
iOS 26 Mock Rainbow Feature

No iOS 19: Apple Going Straight to iOS 26

Wednesday May 28, 2025 11:56 am PDT by
With the design overhaul that's coming this year, Apple plans to rename all of its operating systems, reports Bloomberg. Going forward, iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS will be identified by year, rather than by version number. We're not going to be getting iOS 19, we're getting iOS 26. iOS 26 will be accompanied by iPadOS 26, macOS 26, tvOS 26, watchOS 26, and visionOS 26...
Whatsapp Feature

WhatsApp Teases Long-Awaited iPad App

Monday May 26, 2025 10:23 am PDT by
The popular messaging app WhatsApp has teased a long-awaited iPad app, which would be offered alongside its existing iPhone and Mac apps. The official WhatsApp account on X today reacted with an eyes emoji to a post saying that WhatsApp should release an iPad app. This could be a hint that Meta is gearing up to release WhatsApp for iPad, which has already been available for beta testing via...
WWDC 2025 Banner

WWDC is Just Two Weeks Away: Here Are the Biggest iOS 19 Rumors

Monday May 26, 2025 8:12 am PDT by
WWDC 2025 is just two weeks away as of today, with Apple's opening keynote scheduled for Monday, June 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. During the keynote, Apple is expected to announce iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16, watchOS 12, tvOS 19, visionOS 3, and other software updates, along with new Apple Intelligence features. In some years, there are also hardware announcements at WWDC, but there are no...
HomePod With Screen Feature

Apple's Rumored Smart Home Hub Has Faced a Disappointing Setback

Monday May 26, 2025 7:18 am PDT by
Apple has scrapped some of the features that it had planned for its long-rumored smart home hub device, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "I'm told that Apple has pulled some bolder features from the device that could reappear in subsequent models," wrote Gurman, in his Power On newsletter this week. However, he did not reveal any of the specific features that were pulled. Apple made...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature 2

Apple Rumored to Redesign the iPhone Every Year Through to 2027

Tuesday May 27, 2025 5:17 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly preparing to implement significant iPhone hardware redesigns each year for the next three generations. According leaks from the Chinese supply chain disclosed by Weibo user "Digital Chat Station," Apple plans to carry out a series of phased industrial design changes affecting different parts of the iPhone across three consecutive years: 2025, 2026, and 2027. The changes...
top stories 2025 05 24

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Air Details, Apple's Smart Glasses, and More

Saturday May 24, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
WWDC is coming up quickly with a number of software announcements in store, but we're also looking further ahead to hardware launches like the iPhone 17 lineup and even Apple's smart glasses project. This week also saw big news with former Apple design guru Jony Ive joining forces with OpenAI to build future AI-driven devices, while Fortnite returned to the U.S. App Store for the first time...
Emergency SOS via Satellite iPhone YT

Report: Apple Planned to Offer Starlink-Like Home Internet Service

Tuesday May 27, 2025 7:08 am PDT by
Apple had plans to offer a Starlink-like satellite home internet service in collaboration with Boeing, The Information reports. Starting in 2015, Apple held discussions with Boeing about "Project Eagle," a plan to launch a service to provide wireless internet services to iPhones and homes. The companies would have launched thousands of satellites into orbit around the Earth to beam internet...

Top Rated Comments

jacobh101 Avatar
132 months ago
What pisses me off is I stayed up til 3:00am EST to order a watch and I here I sit with no real updates on processing times. If they couldn't fulfill initial orders they should've pushed back the launch.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TXCherokee Avatar
132 months ago
Ordered Apple Watch 3 minutes after availability....

....aaannnddd I picked the same model as everyone else. :eek:
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tragic Gnome Avatar
132 months ago
Delivers: 24/4-8/5 by Standard Shipping

Still waiting, patiently... *shakes in the corner*
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MH01 Avatar
132 months ago
While waiting, you guys should buy a good stainless steel polish for scratches. Polished stainless scratches easily. The good thing is the scratches can be massaged out with a good polish. Just be careful around the small ports.

I had to talk someone off the ledge yesterday. He'd never worn watches so didn't understand stainless.

You just need to explain that the Classic ipods were SS, that will make people understand how easily it can scratch :)
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hlfway2anywhere Avatar
132 months ago
Artificial shortage FTW!

Someone hasn't been reading the Apple Watch forums. Artificial shortage my a**.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zhugzug Avatar
132 months ago
What pisses me off the most is I placed my order 3 mins after pre-order started (3am EST) couldn't get in till 3:03am. Placed my order 10 seconds later. And it was already saying 5/12 - 5/27!!!! WTF Apple did you make like ten watches and said "screw it. Lets see how many people order?!?!?!!"

NOW I'm seeing people who ordered HOURS after I did RECEIVING their deliveries OR improved delivery expectations......WTF!!?!?!?!? I'm stuck in Processing hell.

This is my first time pre-ordering something from Apple and this is the worst experience I have ever had to deal with wanting to buy something.

Apple Watch Sports 38mm
Black Sports Band

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)