Some Customers Have Experienced Issues Pre-Ordering the iPhone 13 With an Apple Card [Updated]

iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro pre-orders started today, and while many customers have successfully placed their pre-orders, some have experienced issues when attempting to complete their purchase with an Apple Card or Apple Pay.

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Some customers have turned to Twitter to express their frustration with the pre-ordering process, sharing screenshots of errors that they received, such as "there was a problem with the card details you entered" or "something went wrong." Apple's system status page does not yet reflect any widespread issues with the Apple Card or Apple Pay, but it's clear that quite a few customers have been impacted by the issues this morning.

In the U.S. and the U.K., some affected customers are trying to place their pre-order through the iPhone Upgrade Program, but this is not always the case.

There isn't a clear-cut solution to the issues for now beyond switching to a different payment method, but for Apple Card holders, this could mean missing out on 3% Daily Cash. The pre-ordering issues have also resulted in some customers missing out on securing their preferred iPhone 13 configuration for launch day delivery on September 24, as delivery estimates have already started slipping into October for some models.

Update: Apple has since acknowledged the issues on its system status page, noting that "some Apple Card customers are not able to make iPhone Upgrade Program purchases." Apple said it will update the page when the issue is resolved.



Related Roundup: iPhone 13
Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

ravenfire Avatar
23 months ago
To Apple:

Why do I have to renter my payment info when the Apple Card is already in my wallet and set as default payment method on the app? I had to use another card after Apple Card auth failed for almost 20 minutes. Very frustrating experience this year!

Update 11:21am MST

Was able to finally access my Citizens One account and change my payment info over to the Apple Card.

09/23/2021: 2:35pm MST
Received notification that the charge for my iPhone 13 failed, yet somehow all my other charges went through.

Somewhat surprised this issue has yet to be resolved.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pqoneil Avatar
23 months ago
This happened to me. Best part was this is the response from Apple support.



Finally got through to Apple Card/Goldman phone support and they said there was no record of a failed/declined transaction. They didn’t confirm but certainly sounded like this has been all they’ve been dealing with all morning.

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Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
- rob - Avatar
23 months ago
Had this issue. The error messages varied, from failed credit check due to fraud to bad card information. Retried many times, finally just used another card.

It is surprising that whatever load testing this system underwent this still happened.

I don't give much leeway to Apple on this. No, "well, goldman sachs..." or "citizens wouldn't do..." whatever the issue was, Apple should have handled it by doing their own mitigation.

This is possibly the world's most powerful company, handling orders for its most valuable product using its own financial product. Get it together.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
23 months ago
That sucks. I’m sorry y’all. In the end it will all work out the way it’s suppose to be. Stay strong!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ravenfire Avatar
23 months ago

Curious if you tried the "prepare for Preorder" option?
That’s the frustrating part, I did the pre-pre order with the Apple card.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
one5n1ne Avatar
23 months ago
There needs to be some sort of compensation for the amount of time wasted… Especially when customers adopt their products (IUP and Apple Card) for a “seamless” experience.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)