Get ready: Apple sets iPhone Duo pre-pre-ordering date

If availability starts on October 23, and pre-ordering on October 16, what exactly will happen on October 12? What does it mean to “get ready” for pre-order?

Happily, this isn’t the first time Apple has allowed customers to use this option. And based on past behavior, we can report that it essentially allows you to do everything necessary to place an order up to but not including clicking the final buy button. You’ll be able to go into the Apple Store app and pre-select your desired color and storage allocation, decide whether or not to use financing and/or trade-in on an older device, choose a carrier, and so on.

(As noted by a commenter in the Reddit thread, you can already start the process by “pre-saving” an iPhone Duo configuration in the Apple Store app, but the Get Ready process is much more thorough.)

All of this preliminary work makes the purchase on pre-order day a single-tap process, which could save you valuable time if, as is likely, Apple hasn’t made as many iPhone Duos as it hoped to and supplies quickly run out. It could make the difference between getting your hands on a brand-new iPhone Duo and having to wait months for a restock, and early adopters would be advised to take any advantage they can get.