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I woke up bleary-eyed early this morning to preorder an iPhone 17.
I’d already configured the purchase in the Apple Store app, so it was a quick process of reviewing the order, hitting the purchase button, and Bob’s yer uncle: order confirmed for September 19 pickup.
Luckily for me, I preordered the regular iPhone 17 Pro in gorgeous deep blue — and not the iPhone 17 Pro Max in cosmic orange (or any other color, for that matter).
Delivery dates for the Pro Max model slipped within minutes of going live, and were pushed back a week or more not long after.
Meanwhile, the new iPhone Air suffered no such fate. Its ship date didn’t slip at all.
Note, this doesn’t necessarily mean the Pro Max is more popular than the Air. It just reflects the number of units Apple made for the initial rush of orders. But it probably does mean the Pro is more popular than the Air. See yesterday’s surprising poll results below for more on that subject.
Luckily, there are still ways to get the Pro Max — even in cosmic orange — on launch day next week.
Also in today’s newsletter:
Hypertension notifications on Apple Watch are a big deal, perhaps the most important health warning Apple has ever added to the device. The feature could potentially save millions of lives. And it just got the nod from the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates medical devices.
This carabiner keychain with built-in Apple Find My looks great, and it’s on sale for only $18.
The iPhone Air launched worldwide on Friday — except for one small, unimportant market.
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This beefy and versatile new power bank can charge three devices at once — and supports 25W wireless fast charging. It looks great for the new iPhone 17s. See our hands-on review.
— Leander Kahney, EIC.
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A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team
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Tweets of the day
It's iPhone pre-order day and what better place to spend it than at Corning in Harrodsburg, KY! Soon all cover glass for iPhone and Apple Watch globally will be made here. We're proud to be an engine for American innovation.
— #Tim Cook (#@tim_cook)
5:27 PM • Sep 12, 2025
Not this thing again. Note Apple saying it is ‘*like* having 8 lenses’.
For an average user, it has the user experience of having 8 lenses with good image quality in the Camera app.
No, it does not have 8 discrete cameras, nor is Apple claiming this it does.
— #Sebastiaan de With (#@sdw)
1:56 PM • Sep 11, 2025
Apple every year 🤣🤣
#AppleEvent— #I Hate Apple (#@iHateApplee)
2:00 PM • Sep 11, 2025
Wallpaper of the day
One more thing ...
The reason I went back to Apple is that I feel like the world would be a better place with Apple in it than not. And it’s hard to imagine the world without Apple now.
Today’s poll
Is Apple cheating by ignoring the camera bump when touting the thinness of its devices?
Results from yesterday’s poll: Which iPhone will you buy (and why)?
Best reader comments
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