Apple Now Shipping iPhone 5 Units in 1 Week

Apple’s shipping times for the iPhone 5 are steadily improving as the company now expects new orders to ship in one week in some regions.

All new iPhone 5 orders from Apple’s website will now ship within one week in some countries like New Zealand. Apple still says the iPhone 5 will ship in two weeks in the U.S., but the faster ship times should come to the U.S. soon.

The one week estimate is the shortest wait time since Apple opened pre-orders for the device. Previously new buyers had to wait several weeks, with up to a four-week wait at most. There’s a chance new iPhones will arrive before one week, but Apple will only promise the phones will ship after one week.

Apple has had issues with stock for the iPhone 5 since the phone went on sale. The company sold more than 5 million iPhone 5 units in the first weekend, and since that first weekend the company has shown long waits for online orders of the phone. Apple noted that demand exceeded supply for the initial shipment of phones, which was the cause for the delay.

Recently Foxconn CEO Terry Gou admitted the factory has trouble producing enough iPhone 5 units to meet demand for the phone. The manufacturing company was doing its best to keep up with demand, but it just wasn’t possible.

Part of the reason for the long delays in shipping is the new design of the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 is thinner than previous iPhones, which means it’s harder to put all the parts in place. The iPhone 5 also uses a new type of display panel called in-cell touch which companies had to start producing specifically for new phones like the iPhone 5.

The iPhone 5 was largely reviewed as the best iPhone yet, and one of the best smartphones on the market. It’s the first iPhone to use 4G LTE and the first to offer a 16:9 widescreen display instead of the 3:2 screen on previous iPhones.

The iPhone 5 isn’t without flaws, however. The new Apple Maps app isn’t as good as Google Maps, the phone can scratch more easily than previous models, and there’s a flaw in the touchscreen which could affect some games.