Delayed Apple Watch Pre-Orders Shipping Earlier Than Expected

Late May, June Pre-Orders Now Preparing For Shipment …

Apple

Apple has some good news for early adopters who ended up with an Apple Watch pre-order ship date of late May or June. You may be unboxing Apple's first-ever wearable sooner than you think.

Earlier today 9to5Mac reported that order statuses on some Apple Watch purchases with delayed delivery dates had suddenly changed from "processing" to "preparing for shipment."

Turns out this isn't an anomaly. Apple confirmed to BuzzFeed News that it is indeed shipping Apple Watch orders slated for late spring/early summer delivery ahead of schedule.

"We're happy to be updating many customers today with the news that their Apple Watch will arrive sooner than expected," an Apple spokeswoman told BuzzFeed News. "Our team is working to fill orders as quickly as possible based on the available supply and the order in which they were received. We know many customers are still facing long lead times and we appreciate their patience."

Apple declined to provide further comment on the sudden expediting of some Apple Watch orders, but it's likely that supply is no longer quite the limiting factor that is was initially. That said, the company's statement comes with a very clear caveat: the acknowledgement that some customers continue to face "long lead times." So while Apple may have succeeded in improving ship times for some orders, it's still grappling with a backlog.