Tech

Apple Card owners are having problems ordering their iPhone 13

Key Points
  • Shoppers have reported trouble trying to buy the new iPhone 13 models using the Apple Card.
  • The Apple Card was introduced in 2019 and allows people to buy Apple products with up to 3% cashback.
  • That means it's used by Apple's biggest fans, many of whom are trying to buy the new iPhone on launch day.

In this article

iPhone 13 Pro
Source: Apple Inc.

Apple's new iPhone 13 family went up for pre-order Friday morning at 8 a.m. ET. For hours, shoppers reported trouble trying to buy the new phones using the Apple Card. Enough customers were having trouble that it quickly became one of the top trending topics on Twitter.

By mid-day, Apple's system status page confirmed issues related to Apple Card. "Some Apple Card customers are not able to make iPhone Upgrade Program purchases," the site said. The issue seemed to be resolved by midafternoon.

Apple didn't respond to a request for comment.

The Apple Card was introduced in 2019 and allows people to buy Apple products with up to 3% cashback. That means it's used by Apple's biggest fans, and many of them are trying to order the new iPhone so it arrives by launch day next week.

Shipment estimates for Apple's more expensive iPhone 13 Pro models already started to slip into October, a week or more after the Sept. 24 launch date.

Shoppers can still buy the new iPhones if they use another credit card. But it's strange Apple's own payment option isn't working on its biggest launch day of the year.

Sometimes systems get overloaded and are quickly corrected, but the problem still seems to be ongoing an hour and a half after the new iPhones went on sale.

Apple CEO Tim Cook unveils iPhone 13 during September launch event
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Apple CEO Tim Cook unveils iPhone 13 during September launch event