Apple forces OnePlus to move its OnePlus 6T launch up a day

OnePlus isn't going to try to steal some of Apple's limelight. 

The upstart smartphone maker said on Friday that it was moving the launch of its OnePlus 6T flagship device up a day to Oct. 29. The announced move comes after Apple sent out invitations for its own product event for Oct. 30 -- in the same city, New York. 

There's a lot riding on the OnePlus 6T, which marks a potentially major turning point for the company. The phone will be sold exclusively through T-Mobile, its first partnership with a US carrier. The deal could catapult the company into the mainstream. It'll also be the first mainstream smartphone with an in-display fingerprint reader to hit the US market. 

So it makes sense that the company doesn't want to get overshadowed by Apple, which is expected to unveil iPads and Macs at its event in Brooklyn. 

"One minute, we were preparing for our greatest and most exciting launch event yet," the company said in a blog post. "The next, we were posed with a difficult question: 'What do we do now?'" 

The company likes to have fans, who purchase tickets to attend events, on hand, as it did for last year's OnePlus 5T launch. The company said it would refund the tickets for anyone who can't make it, and will cover the cost for any fan who wants to change their plans to attend the event.