Here's a Behind-the-Scenes Look at Apple's Pre-Order 'War Room'

BuzzFeed News has put together a video of how Apple prepares for an iPhone launch day around the world.


When iPhone 8, Apple Watch Series 3, and Apple TV 4K pre-orders began at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time last Friday, dozens of Apple engineers were assembled in a so-called "war room" to ensure the process went smoothly.

apple preorder war room
For around three hours, these engineers sat in front of at least 10 TVs forming a larger display, which appears to show the system status of pre-orders in launch countries. One engineer had a map of the world open on his iMac.

apple preorder war room 2
"Over half of the orders that night will come in through the Apple Store app," said Apple's retail chief Angela Ahrendts. "We turn the whole world on at once. I think you saw the map with everything lighting up all over the world."

BuzzFeed reporter Nicole Nguyen then visited UPS's Worldport shipping facility in Louisville, Kentucky, a major hub for Apple products.

Nguyen said the volume of Apple products is so large that UPS has to set aside time to sort just those deliveries. Apple's launch day haul took up an entire large room, and the products later traveled along miles of conveyor belts.

iphone 8 ups
UPS delivers some of the orders to Apple retail stores, while others arrive directly at customers' doorsteps.

Apple retail stores usually attract long queues of customers on launch days, but the crowds have been smaller for today's iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus launch. Many customers are likely waiting for the iPhone X, which launches November 3.

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

NIKKG Avatar
98 months ago
Congrats to all the 4 people that pre-ordered this dud.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fizzyfizz Avatar
98 months ago
Does Angela Ahrendts ever take her power coat off?
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JilzVT Avatar
98 months ago
Very little "behind the scenes" going on here.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Red Oak Avatar
98 months ago
Congrats to all the 4 people that pre-ordered this dud.
Pecking away in your basement on a 2005 PowerBook, are you? Mad at things
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iapplelove Avatar
98 months ago
even for all of her accomplishments, I just can't like her
Damn lots of hate for Angela. Don’t know her personally but she seems like a strong successful woman. And last time I checked that was a good thing lol
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
magpie maniac Avatar
98 months ago
It’s like a Space Launch
Once upon a time, we had that many men sitting behind monitors in one large room to launch astronauts to the moon. Now, we’re waiting up overnight to click an order button.

Boy, we sure have progressed.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)