Apple Bumps Free Holiday Shipping Offer Up to 2-3 Business Day Delivery

Late last month, Apple announced that it would be offering free standard shipping on all orders placed through the U.S. online store through December 22nd. Free shipping from the U.S. store typically requires a minimum $50 purchase, but Apple is waiving that minimum during the holiday shopping season.

With less than two weeks to go before Christmas, Apple has now bumped up that offer to include free 2-3 business day shipping, offering even faster deliveries for customers trying to complete their shopping. The standard shipping option previously included in the free shipping promotion can require up to five business days for delivery, with customers therefore waiting up to a week to receive their orders. But with the new upgraded free shipping, customers placing orders for in-stock items today can expect delivery on Thursday or Friday of this week.

apple store dec24 delivery
Apple has also updated its holiday shipping info page to reflect the new 2-3 shipping option. The order deadline dates have not changed with the upgrade to 2-3 day free shipping, but customers should receive their shipment a bit faster.

For the majority of products, orders must be placed by December 19th in order to receive pre-Christmas delivery with the free shipping promotion. Select products do carry earlier deadlines though, with the deadline for customized Macs being tomorrow: December 14th. The deadline for iPhone 4S holiday orders has already passed, given the tight supplies that have resulted in 1-2 week shipping estimates for new orders.

For the last-minute shoppers, Apple does also offer next-day shipping on most items for an additional charge. Orders for most items (with the exception of customized Macs and engraved iPads and iPods) must be placed by December 21st with next-day shipping in order to receive pre-Christmas delivery.

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Visa and American Express Vying to Win Apple Card Deal in 'Fierce' Fight

Tuesday April 1, 2025 1:50 pm PDT by
Visa wants to pay Apple approximately $100 million to be the new payment network for the Apple Card, reports The Wall Street Journal. As of right now, the Apple Card is on the Mastercard payment network, but that is set to change because Apple is ending its partnership with Goldman Sachs. Both American Express and Visa are vying to replace Mastercard as Apple's card services provider, while...

Top Rated Comments

AppleScruff1 Avatar
174 months ago
Very nice to do this with Christmas around the corner.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iFalcon Avatar
174 months ago
I just ordered an iMac 2 days ago with 2 day shipping. Think I'll call Apple to see if they will refund the costs.

They ended up refunding the 2 day shipping charge. Great service!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nofear1az Avatar
174 months ago
Just ordered a refurb iPad2 16GB at $450 on last Thursday and day later got the new changed price to $419. Had some issues with the CC but nothing big deal and called Apple and for my trouble they threw in a Black Leather Smartcover just for my inconvience. Received it today on Tuesday and wasn't expecting it until the end of the week. Total awesome. I got it for my mom's birthday coming up on the 18th. Now i'll set it all up for her so she can start using it after opening it.

This is why people love Apple. Top notch products and top notch customer service. It keeps the people coming back.

I also love the fact that I can talk to a very well spoken person instead of some foreign accented scripted talk.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
foodog Avatar
174 months ago
[url=https://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image (https://www.macrumors.com/2011/12/13/apple-bumps-free-holiday-shipping-offer-up-to-2-3-business-day-delivery/)[/url]


Late last month, Apple announced that it would be offering free standard shipping (https://www.macrumors.com/2011/11/28/apple-offering-free-shipping-on-all-u-s-online-orders-through-december-22/) on all orders placed through the U.S. online store through December 22nd. Free shipping from the U.S. store typically requires a minimum $50 purchase, but Apple is waiving that minimum during the holiday shopping season.

With less than two weeks to go before Christmas, Apple has now bumped up that offer to include free 2-3 business day shipping, offering even faster deliveries for customers trying to complete their shopping. The standard shipping option previously included in the free shipping promotion can require up to five business days for delivery, with customers therefore waiting up to a week to receive their orders. But with the new upgraded free shipping, customers placing orders for in-stock items today can expect delivery on Thursday or Friday of this week.

Image (https://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2011/12/apple_store_dec24_delivery.jpg)


Apple has also updated its holiday shipping info (http://store.apple.com/us/browse/holiday/shipping) page to reflect the new 2-3 shipping option. The order deadline dates have not changed with the upgrade to 2-3 day free shipping, but customers should receive their shipment a bit faster.

For the majority of products, orders must be placed by December 19th in order to receive pre-Christmas delivery with the free shipping promotion. Select products do carry earlier deadlines though, with the deadline for customized Macs being tomorrow: December 14th. The deadline for iPhone 4S holiday orders has already passed, given the tight supplies that have resulted in 1-2 week shipping estimates for new orders.

For the last-minute shoppers, Apple does also offer next-day shipping on most items for an additional charge. Orders for most items (with the exception of customized Macs and engraved iPads and iPods) must be placed by December 21st with next-day shipping in order to receive pre-Christmas delivery.

Article Link: Apple Bumps Free Holiday Shipping Offer Up to 2-3 Business Day Delivery (https://www.macrumors.com/2011/12/13/apple-bumps-free-holiday-shipping-offer-up-to-2-3-business-day-delivery/)

Just picked up an iPad 64G for my son @ 499.00.... free shipping was a bonus
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jaasen Jones Avatar
174 months ago
Sweet, nothing like having a couple weeks of free Amazon Prime!
Score: 0 Votes (Like | Disagree)