It appears that customers who were lucky enough to snag an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus with a Sept. 16 delivery date have begun seeing orders entering the “Preparing for Shipment” stage, suggesting that Apple is already underway with getting the early units shipped out to customers in time for the promised launch day arrival. In this stage, orders can no longer be canceled or modified, and purchasers can expect to see their credit cards or other payment methods billed, and eventually receive a shipment notification once their iPhone leaves Apple’s warehouses. Early shipments however shouldn’t be taken as an indication of an arrival before Sept. 16 — in prior years, Apple has arranged with couriers to ship out orders to local UPS and FedEx distribution centers with instructions to postpone actual delivery to customers until the scheduled launch day.
