Some U.S. Pre-Orders of New Apple TV Arriving a Day Early

While shipping notices for pre-orders of the iPad began going out over the weekend, those notices have been accompanied by "future delivery requested" notes indicating that Apple is working with delivery companies to coordinate the launch for this Friday, March 16. But the new 1080p-capable Apple TV set-top box is also set to debut at that same time, and at least some U.S. pre-order customers are receiving notifications that their packages are already out for delivery today.

apple tv 3 15 delivery
The first hint of potential early delivery for Apple TV pre-orders surfaced yesterday when they began appearing in FedEx shipping notices with overnight shipping and estimated deliveries of today. But the initial shipping estimates appeared to be based only on the fact that shipping information had been received by FedEx, with the actual packages not yet showing up in the system.

But the packages themselves did start registering in FedEx's tracking system during the overnight hours and have moved quickly to their final distribution points, and a number of MacRumors readers have reported that the packages are out for delivery.

Early delivery of the Apple TV would be a welcome surprise for a number of customers waiting to stream the higher-resolution content to their televisions, and would not be unheard for Apple. While the focus is on coordinating an iPad launch for Friday with in-store launches occurring on the same day, the Apple TV is much less of a priority and thus Apple is likely unconcerned about the shipments of the new device coming in a day early. On the contrary, getting some of the Apple TV orders delivered today could be part of the plan to help ease the load on delivery companies for tomorrow's busy iPad launch.

Update: Deliveries of the new Apple TV are indeed being made today:

apple tv 2012 delivered
(Thanks, Nan Zi!)

Popular Stories

iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 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 through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iOS 26 Screens

Here Are All the iOS 26 Features That Require iPhone 15 Pro or Newer

Thursday June 12, 2025 4:53 am PDT by
With iOS 26, Apple has introduced some major changes to the iPhone experience, headlined by the new Liquid Glass redesign that's available across all compatible devices. However, several of the update's features are exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, since they rely on Apple Intelligence. The following features are powered by on-device large language models and machine...
CarPlay Liquid Glass Dark

Apple to Let iPhone Users Watch Videos on CarPlay Screen While Parked

Thursday June 12, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple this week announced that iPhone users will soon be able to watch videos right on the CarPlay screen in supported vehicles. iPhone users will be able to wirelessly stream videos to the CarPlay screen using AirPlay, according to Apple. For safety reasons, video playback will only be available when the vehicle is parked, to prevent distracted driving. The connected iPhone will be able to...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Hate iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design? Here's How to Tone It Down

Wednesday June 11, 2025 4:22 pm PDT by
iOS 26 features a whole new design material that Apple calls Liquid Glass, with a focus on transparency that lets the content on your display shine through the controls. If you're not a fan of the look, or are having trouble with readability, there is a step that you can take to make things more opaque without entirely losing out on the new look. Apple has multiple Accessibility options that ...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...

Top Rated Comments

mrblack927 Avatar
173 months ago
I don't see why this is news.

I feel like this comment is automatically added by a bot or something the moment a new article is posted.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ECUpirate44 Avatar
173 months ago
Shipping companies to apple: "okay you know we're going to screw one up, do you want it to be the iPad or apple tv?

Apple: umm err Apple tv!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TroyBoy30 Avatar
173 months ago
mine just showed up! :D
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WannaGoMac Avatar
173 months ago
Sigh if they added apps I would love to have purchased this to replace my HTPC
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rafterman Avatar
173 months ago
I feel like this comment is automatically added by a bot or something the moment a new article is posted.

Agreed. I am tired of seeing that ridiculous comment. This isn't CNN, its a Mac enthusiast site. Its pertinent as people are waiting to see these new products.

----------



Right...you "got a call" from FedEx.

Yes, they probably did. The vendor can tell Fedex to send a robot call to the recipient to make sure they are home to sign for it. I've gotten Fedex calls when ordering from B&H Photo.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacD Avatar
173 months ago
I got a call from FedEx it was coming today and shows it's at the local facility this morning. I imagine, they did this to easy the burden on Friday's iPad deliveries.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)