Yes that’s normal. The wording is a bit different this year though. It’s always the same process though. Sunday night - mid week some people will see shipping notifications in their FedEx delivery manager. The phones will actually ship early this week and make it to your local FedEx / ATT shipping hub. I’m in TN, so around Wednesday my phone will be at the Memphis facility. It will arrive at my local FedEx hub Wednesday night / Thursday morning for a Friday delivery.
One difference I have noticed this year is that it said overnight delivery as a shipping option. Also, this year it says a signature is required. It has been several years since a signature was required.
One very important thing to note: if you ordered within the first couple hours, the chance of you getting your device Friday (barring some major natural disaster or inclement weather) is almost guaranteed. Some people will see tracking numbers as soon as Saturday, some won’t even get a shipping notification email until Thursday night / Friday morning. Don’t freak out! It’s the same cycle every single year. If your ship date is further out than 9/18 - 9/19, don’t sweat it. ATT likes to under commit for obvious reasons. You would think at this point they could have a pinpoint accurate inventory number but for whatever reason, they always are conservative for delivery date estimates. Last, don’t look at the order status and think because someone else’s status says preparing to ship or “backordered” that it means something. It does not. ATT is notorious for the status not being updated.
It’s going to be a long, but very fun week.
All that said, I still encourage everyone to share their status and updates as they get them. That’s part of what makes this week so fun.
