iPhone X: Apple advises customers to 'arrive early' in latest indication that stocks will be running low

The statement seemingly confirms rumours that stocks of the new phone will be running low

The woman's iPhone reportedly helped save her life (REUTERS/Stephen Lam )

Apple has finally admitted the obvious about the iPhone X: it's going to be very hard to buy.

Rumours have swirled that supplies of the phone will be running very low, since long before it was even released. And those rumours have continued, with a number of analyst reports suggesting that the phone could be in short supply into the new year.

Some of those worries appeared to be potentially confirmed by Tim Cook in an interview given just days before pre-orders opened. Asked whether the rumours were true, he said "we'll see", and laughed when it was suggested that meant people should arrive early to the Apple Store.

Now those same suggestions appear to have been confirmed in an Apple press release, which also suggests that supplies will be running low. It does confirm that there will be some of the new phones available at Apple Stores, but not how many.

"Stores will have iPhone X available for walk-in customers, who are encouraged to arrive early," the statements reads, noting that stores will open at 8am local time. The same release also confirms that the phone will open for pre-orders at 12.01am pacific time on 27 October.

There were no such limits on the iPhone 8, when it went on sale last month, and that phone continues to be readily available as it was as launch. But the iPhone 8 doesn't have many of the new manufacturing details found in the iPhone X, and is built around a design that Apple has now been using for years.

Customers can pre-register now, if they're planning to buy online. Anyone who does that can go through some of the early paperwork – like checking whether they're eligible for the upgrade – ahead of the release date, meaning that the process will be quicker when pre-orders open.