Unless it's done by reservation only, I see early lines and pushy scalpers in front of Apple stores from late November thru the holidays.
I believe the last few releases have been reservation only. Apple is trying to move away from the campers (many of whom are scalpers that can grab multiple phones and leave actual users in the dust on launch day).
I would bet there will be limited pre-orders every day once it comes out - just have to constantly look online for available pickup or use one of those sites that tracks stock (there were a few that I used to grab AirPods with pickup from store option).