What would be the least frustrating?

Two reports yesterday suggested that there may be very limited availability of the iPhone 15 at launch. The biggest issue is said to be the slimmer bezels on the two Pro models, but it’s still unclear if the non-Pro phones are likely to be affected by other manufacturing challenges.

If the problem actually only affects one or two models, then we already know what to expect based on what happened with the iPhone 12 and iPhone 14…

Apple will put the unaffected models on sale first and delay availability for the affected ones.

With the iPhone 12, the availability of all four models was delayed in the following quarter – but two of the models were delayed further. The base model and the Pro went on sale a month later than usual, on October 23, while the Pro Max and mini were pushed into mid-November.

Similarly to the iPhone 14, the base model Pro and Pro Max all went on sale in mid-September, while the Plus wasn’t available until the following month.

But what if production delays affect all four models this year, as one of the two reports seemed to suggest?

Then Apple had to make a choice:

• Put them on sale in September, knowing there would be long shipping delays for many
• Hold off on orders until better availability in October, with fast shipping

With the former option, you might be one of the lucky ones and get your iPhone on day one. But you can place your order right away and still end up waiting weeks for it to arrive.

Which would you find less frustrating? Are you taking a gamble with very limited availability, or is everyone waiting but then receiving their phones very quickly after ordering?

Please take our poll to tell us what you think Apple should do.

Photo: Uday Mittal/Unsplash