First Round of iPhone 5 Pre-Orders Sells Out. Customers have been looking to buy Apple's new iPhone 5 online through Apple in the U.S. but will need to wait two weeks for it to ship in,according to Apple's website. Pre-orders for the September 21 debut became available at 3:01 am on Friday and sold out within an hour. For a comparission the iPhone 4s took a day to sell out. The new phone represents a substantial upgrade to the iPhone 4S. It is made completely of aluminum and glass, with a taller screen, faster processor, better camera and a host of other improvements.