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Apple is offering customers free two-hour delivery on orders of Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watch orders in select cities ahead of the holiday season, looking to make it more convenient for customers to purchase last-minute gifts.

Apple-Retail-Holiday-Products-iPhone-iPad-MacBook-Watch-AirPods-AirTag-HomePod.jpg

The new offer, which runs from December 22 until December 24, gives customers the option to receive their order on a wide range of Apple products within a two-hour timeframe for free. Two-hour delivery normally costs $9, and Apple ran a similar promotion in 2019.

Apple says the offer is available in "most metro areas" and is available on in-stock items. The offer does not apply to engraved Macs or purchases made using bank financing or by bank transfer. Customers can check whether their order and/or location qualifies for the offer during checkout in the Apple Store app or apple.com.

Article Link: Apple Offers Free Two-Hour Holiday Delivery on Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch Orders
 
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Reactions: Javabird
The next frontier is 10 minute delivery. There are tons of startups competing right now. Maybe Apple can tie up with some of them.
 
Is this the infamous service where Apple uses Uber to deliver an expensive iPhone or Mac?

The horror story begins with the delivery driver picking up the product from the Apple Store. Shortly after, the driver cancels the delivery claiming the customer isn’t available. You’re stuck with the charge while Apple tells you to call Uber and Uber tells you to call Apple.
 
Do they offer anything free if late like the pizza places used to?
Not really, its mostly a gimmick, but most deliveries do happen in under 15 minutes, which is pretty good I'd say.
 
There’s a caveat to this, orders are only available for delivery if there is available couriers. So meaning, if nobody’s able available to actually deliver the order, you won’t receive it, where your order sits in lingo. There’s no guarantee with the two hour delivery, although; I’d say it depends on what time of day your order is actually fulfilled.

Additionally, I would only take advantage of this service if it was like a watch band or a cheaper accessory. Anything expensive, I wouldn’t trust an iPad Pro or stainless steel Apple Watch in the hands of an unknown courier. In my city, two-hour deliveries are not fulfilled by the likes of FedEx or UPS, it’s typically like a third party ‘grab-N go’ courier delivery service, where you have no idea how your products are managed.
 
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Reactions: jmil
This isn’t new for the holiday season. I first noticed this as an available service in my area months ago.
 
I used this service to get my iPhone a few weeks back, cost me $9, was totally worth it not having to get in car, drive/park etc, and they provide very timely text message updates
 
I'd love to see this work where I live. Nearest Apple Store is 2 hours away...I put in an order, a poor sales associate gets the push notification, plugs in driving time "I have to leave right now!" they spend 4-5 hours of their day delivering an Apple Watch to me.

..yeah, I can see why this is only available for cities.
 
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Reactions: polyphenol
Is this the infamous service where Apple uses Uber to deliver an expensive iPhone or Mac?

The horror story begins with the delivery driver picking up the product from the Apple Store. Shortly after, the driver cancels the delivery claiming the customer isn’t available. You’re stuck with the charge while Apple tells you to call Uber and Uber tells you to call Apple.
I placed an order like this once, and it was Postmates (basically another DoorDash or Uber eats) that delivered it. My expensive item was in a regular apple shopping bag pressed closed by a single sticker. ? Turned out fine though.
 
Is this the infamous service where Apple uses Uber to deliver an expensive iPhone or Mac?

The horror story begins with the delivery driver picking up the product from the Apple Store. Shortly after, the driver cancels the delivery claiming the customer isn’t available. You’re stuck with the charge while Apple tells you to call Uber and Uber tells you to call Apple.
I wish I'd known about this sooner. It really is a nightmare.

Placed an order and paid $9 for the next day courier delivery.

Got a text this morning saying that the delivery couldn't be made (Apple Support confirmed a delivery wasn't even attempted), and so the order was simply canceled. Now I'm stuck waiting up to 5 business days to be refunded.

Spent nearly 2 hours on the phone, got transferred around 6-7 different times that got escalated to the highest possible level (or so they told me), and their final response was a very apathetic, "there's nothing we can do about it".
 
Don’t use this service. Lot’s of horror stories on r/Apple about Uber drivers just keeping the products and marking it as delivered. Uber says to call Apple and Apple says to call Uber.

Many were not able to get a resolution and had to issue a charge back.

You’ve been warned.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: freedomlinux
What? And miss the excitement of following the tracking of your new device!

My MacBook Pro was delivered yesterday and my!, what excitement. Despatch email from UPS. Then, about two minutes later, despatch email from ParcelForce. Tracking showed it is with ParcelForce not UPS, and it is ready at about 05:15 yesterday morning at the nearest depot. Watch the van depart, follow the motorway, arrive locally, and spend the next two/three hours going up the road, down the road, across town, almost here - then off in a different direction. Finally, the van arrives while tracking shows the van a mile way!

I had nine hours of fun.:) Don't want that cut down to two hours or less. Life is exciting.

(In all fairness, it arrived well within the promised time and chap was friendly.)
 
Very last minute shopping before Christmas. Good to know about the free shipping!
 
I ordered an iPhone 13 Pro yesterday morning around 7:30 am. By 9:30 am the phone was delivered by courier, no charge. It was a great experience and saved me a trip to a very busy mall and a very busy Apple store just a few days before Christmas! Thanks, Apple!
 
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