iPhone 6 demand outstrips Apple's supply

Apple says it took more than 4 million pre-orders for its new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the first 24 hours, exceeding the initial supply. The number of first-day orders was about double what it received for the iPhone 5S and 5C last fall.

The company says the first new iPhones will be shipped to customers starting this Friday, Sept. 19, but many won't be delivered until later this month or into October. Pre-orders placed today on the Apple website for the larger model, the iPhone 6 Plus, won't ship for 3 to 4 weeks.

Some phones will be available on a walk-in basis beginning Friday at Apple retail stores. At Apple's flagship store in Manhattan, iPhone fanatics began lining up last week.

Both models can also be ordered from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and other authorized retailers. According to its website, T-Mobile will start shipping the iPhone 6 in 1 to 4 weeks and the iPhone 6 Plus in 1 to 6 weeks.

The new phones, announced to much fanfare last week, have larger screens, faster performance, and come equipped with Apple Pay, a digital payment service. The iPhone 6 starts at $199 with a two-year contact, while the iPhone 6 Plus starts at $299 with a two-year contract.

The demand was so high Apple's online store and various carriers couldn't keep up. Outages plagued the Apple Store site for more than two hours after the iPhones first became available for pre-order just after midnight Pacific time last Friday.

At its press event last week, Apple also introduced its first wearable, the Apple Watch, but that device won't go on sale until some time early next year.