The first iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro pre-orders have started shipping to buyers. As usual, this doesn’t mean your iPhone 16 will arrive before the September 20 launch date. It does mean, however, that you can easily track your new phone as it travels around the world.
How to check if your iPhone 16 order has shipped
If you check your order status on Apple’s website, you’ll probably see that your iPhone 16 is still marked as “preparing to ship.” Apple typically waits until closer to the official release date to update the shipping status, even if the package is already with its shipping partner.
However, as many past iPhone pre-order customers know, there’s a way around this. By visiting the UPS website, you can track the progress of your order and watch it move toward your location, even though Apple still shows your iPhone 16 as “preparing to ship.”
Enrolling in the UPS My Choice platform is the best way to do this. This will automatically show you all packages coming to your address, including your new iPhone 16.
You can also use the UPS “Track by Reference Number” feature to try and locate your iPhone 16 package. Typically, the reference number is the phone number listed on your Apple order or your order number without the last two digits. In recent years, however, UPS has changed the “Track by Reference Number” feature to bolster security. This means your best bet is to enroll in My Choice instead.
Once you’ve found your iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro order in the UPS system, you can use the tracking number to follow it around the world before the September 20 launch date. Not all iPhones have been transferred to UPS yet, however, so be sure to keep checking throughout the week if you can’t find yours.
Has your iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, or iPhone 16 Pro Max shipped yet? Let us know in the comments.
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