From a friend I have at Apple, they ship new iPhones in planes for every new release to deal with the order surge. Plane cabins stacked floor to ceiling with phones. An insane quantity of phones.
this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2025
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So this is why they're all in Airplane mode when they're brand new? TIL
Boeing 767-300 Freighter can hold a maximum payload of approximately 52.7 tons (116,200 pounds). It has a total cargo volume of about 15,469 cubic feet. That's a lot of iPhones.
231 million iPhones were sold in 2023. They weigh about 6 ounces but round up to 10 to account for packaging. Assume that 10% of those were sold at launch. That's 719 tons or 13 767-300 jets.
Obviously the vast majority are shipped by sea, but to handle the initial wave, they ship air.
Edit: obviously, most of those phones aren't going to the US, but it's still at least a few planes full.
Well an average smaller Apple Store has about $1.6 million dollars of just iPhones in inventory on a launch day and that’s just maybe 15-20 cubic feet densely packed.
Oh wait my hasty math was bad on the volume, closer to 150-200 cubic feet, allowing for the fact they are shipped in plastic totes that reduce the packing density.
Yeah that's just basic international air freight. It's not like apple is being special. They bid on pallet locations just pike everyone else, difference is is that they just wreck anyone other potential bidder during new phone releases
They let you do it if you're rich.
How does it avoid tariffs?
By arriving before the tariffs do
Ah, thanks mate.
Arriving before Trump? That's a bold move.
Apple also has a bunch of seats bought and paid for for every flight going to China.
So if someone from Apple has to get there quickly to handle a production issue, they can just go on the next flight. No need to reserve a seat.
sounds fake but if not it's hilariously evil towards environment
https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/25/20932487/apple-united-airlines-sfo-terminal-upgrades
It's true and reported by actual journalists. It was just United, not all flights.
Among Apple’s highest expenditures as part of its United contract include 50 business class seats from San Francisco to Shanghai daily, a figure United printed on a sign and mistakenly placed in public viewing at SFO early this year.
Crazy fact: it was only 12 days worth of iPhones. Meaning all of these phones will be sold within 12 days.
This is why crApple phones cost so much, flying in First Class.
I just upgraded six months early to avoid any potential tariffs.