iPhone 5S ship time now down to 1 to 3 days

Supply of the new iPhone continues to inch closer to demand for virtually all models of the Apple smartphone.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer

Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.

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Lance Whitney

Dec. 6, 2013 4:54 a.m. PT

Consumers who order the iPhone 5S through Apple's online store now face a wait of just one to three business days before the device ships.

The latest shipping estimate is good for virtually all models and sizes of the new iPhone, Wi-Fi-only as well as Wi-Fi+Cellular. Only the recently released unlocked, SIM-free version of the 5S still shows a wait time of one to two weeks. The new estimate also is a drop from the previous promise of three to five days.

The iPhone 5S has seen its wait time gradually drop as Apple's suppliers have ramped up production to catch up with the heavy demand. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said in September that he believes supply will finally reach demand sometime early this month.