As we enter the final stretch of holiday shopping this week, Apple’s AirPods are again facing supply issues. After once improving to 3-5 day delivery, and even quicker in some cases, you now won’t get them in time for Christmas if you buy straight from Apple…
If you head to Apple’s Online Store, you’ll see that the company is quoting delivery in the first and second weeks of January – well past the holiday season. This means you’ll have to look elsewhere if you waited until the last-minute to buy AirPods for that special someone this year.
When it comes to buying online, your options are pretty sparse at this point. Best Buy, Verizon, and Sprint all list early January delivery dates or no availability at all. B&H also shows AirPods as back-ordered. AT&T seems to have some availability for 2-day shipping, but be sure to act fast as that could change within a few minutes.
AirPods have faced supply issues since the beginning and Apple seems to be struggling to keep up with the increased holiday demand. Tim Cook said in August that Apple was increasing production of the headphones, and while supply did briefly improve, things have again taken a turn for the worse for last-minute holiday shoppers.
“We have increased production capacity for AirPods and are working very hard to get them to customers as quickly as we can, but we are still not able to meet the strong level of demand,” Cook said at the time.
Of course, AirPods largely missed last Christmas as well. Apple’s W1-powered earbuds didn’t arrive for most people into late December and early January, despite Apple’s initial delayed release.
Are you struggling to find AirPods for someone this year, or were you sure to get them crossed off your list early? Let us know down in the comments.
AirPods Alternatives Available in Time For Christmas:
- BeatsX – $99
- Powerbeats3 – $129
- Bragi ‘The Headphone’ – $119
@AppleSupport @Apple seeing the #AirPods are sold out until January, breaks my #Christmas 🎄🎁🎅🏽 heart ❤️, my birthday 🎂 is December 30th and I wish I knew I’d get my pair then! 🙏🏻❤️
— Bradley (@alan123zero) December 17, 2017
Went To Two Apple Stores To Buy AirPods & They Were Sold Out😭😭😭🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️
— Talia Alonso (@tyalonso) December 17, 2017
All of New York is sold out of AirPods. Literally they and the iPhone X are the top two things I’ve seen sold LOL
— IRL ANIME A.I.Ngel (@deadlyclaris) December 16, 2017
How come everyone is sold out of @Apple AirPods!? 🤬🤬🤬🤬
— Dez (@dgatica23) December 14, 2017
I can’t believe these airpods are sold out everywhere 😩
— P.Dillon (@TankkDawggg) December 13, 2017