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.
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:
Wednesday March 12, 2025 6:05 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update for the iPhone includes a smaller but meaningful improvement for Apple's in-car iPhone mirroring system CarPlay.
Specifically, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra with a...
Wednesday March 12, 2025 7:39 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Daring Fireball's John Gruber today shared some strongly-worded comments about Apple's delayed personalized Siri features. Gruber is a well-known Apple pundit who has been writing about the company for more than two decades.
In a blog post titled "Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino," Gruber said Apple's credibility has been "damaged" by the delay:Keynote by keynote, product by...
Wednesday March 12, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
iPhones are finally getting a much-requested setting, but availability is limited.
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update introduces an option to set a default navigation app, other than Apple Maps, but unfortunately this new setting is limited to users in the EU. There, you can now set an app like Google Maps or Waze as your default navigation app on the iPhone by opening the Settings app and tapping ...
Tuesday March 11, 2025 3:26 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for.
Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as excellent for...
Apple is planning for a major design overhaul of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac interfaces with the introduction of iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and macOS 16 later this year, reports Bloomberg. The update will "fundamentally change" the look of Apple's operating system, introducing a more consistent cross-platform experience.
Apple plans to update the style of icons, menus, apps, windows, and system...
Thursday March 13, 2025 3:07 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to feature a significant design overhaul, and a new image apparently taken on an assembly line for the unreleased devices appears to confirm the biggest rumored change.
Render of an iPhone 17 Pro model shared by Jon Prosser
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to adopt a horizontal camera bar reminiscent of Google's Pixel...
Thursday March 13, 2025 9:32 am PDT by Juli Clover
The Apple Intelligence features that Apple introduced with iOS 18 are not pushing people to upgrade their iPhones, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reiterated today. Apple's recent Siri failures are also going to have an impact on 2025 iPhone shipments, which the market is beginning to realize.
As early as last July, Kuo said expectations that Apple Intelligence could drive iPhone upgrades were...
Apple is set to release iOS 18.4 in early April, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a neat new capability to iPhone 15 Pro devices, new emoji, and more.
While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.4 still introduces enhancements that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've listed 12 new...
Wednesday March 12, 2025 2:28 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple is planning a radical redesign of macOS with version 16, and it could be the most significant visual refresh since macOS Big Sur was introduced in 2020, according to Bloomberg.
MacRumors concept render
The upcoming Mac operating system will reportedly be part of Apple's sweeping effort to create a more consistent interface across all of its platforms, including iPhone, iPad, and Apple...
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.
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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.
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.
