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Apple pre-orders: get in early to avoid disappointment

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Here’s how to order the three new Apple products coming out next week

Although the much-hyped iPhone X isn’t available until November, the rest of the major products Apple announced at its Special Event on Tuesday all start shipping on Friday 22 September. The iPhone 8 / 8 Plus, Apple Watch S3 and Apple TV 4K can all be pre-ordered directly from Apple starting Friday 15 September.

Like many past releases, these products may initially be in short supply – so to stand the best chance of grabbing something on release day, you’ll want to follow our pre-ordering tips.

Know when the window opens

Customers tend to flock to make purchases the second the pre-order window opens, but luckily we know when these products will be available down to the minute – so plan accordingly.  Pre-orders go live simultaneously all over the globe on Friday 15 September: 12.01 am PT / 3.01 am ET / 8.01 am GMT.

So to stand the best chance of getting something before all the initial stock is snapped up, Americans will need to stay up late while Europeans will need to get up early.

Decide exactly what you want

You want to be able to get through the checkout process as quickly as possible – so make sure you’ve decided exactly what it is you want. If you’re getting the new iPhone 8, for example, that means choosing ahead of time which screen size, storage capacity, color, and carrier you’ll be selecting.

Use the App Store app

Pre-orders can be made via apple.com on a desktop computer, but by far the slickest checkout process is via the official Apple Store app. It’s a free download – so grab it now, log in and make sure your payment and shipping details are up-to-date.

If you’re reading this later than Friday 15, you might be out of luck for the release date. But it’s still worth pre-ordering to get one as soon as possible – the App Store app will confirm estimated shipping times before you confirm any purchase.