To no one's surprise, Apple sold a lot of iPhones last week. In fact, the company sold more phones in the first 24 hours of pre-orders than ever before. The iPhone 6 launch was twice as big at the iPhone 5's. Eager customers bought some 4 million of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models. That's over 150,000 phones per hour.
Two years ago, Cupertino bragged about selling two million iPhone 5 models in the first 24 hours, so obviously this is a lot more. It makes sense considering this year's update is pretty intensive both in design (those new screens!) and in new features like NFC-enabled Apple Pay. In 2013, Apple broke tradition and didn't release sales figures about for the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C in the first 24 hours, they it later reported that it sold 9 million between the two models over the course of the first weekend.
What makes this year's numbers all the more impressive is that Apple hasn't released either of its new iPhones in mainland China yet. While they will launch in Hong Kong on the 19th, the 6 and 6 Plus won't hit China at large until later this year. While Apple still doesn't have a commanding presence there, it still represents a huge number of potential units.
In the meantime we get to worry about whether or not Apple manufactured enough phones to keep up with the record demands. If you haven't pre-ordered, you can now make a sober decision about which model to get. (Pro tip: Get this one.) And don't forget to avoid getting ripped off when you upgrade. Of course if you're looking for a refurbed 5S or 5C, there's probably about to be a whole bunch of them. [Apple via Re/Code]