How RestockWire alerts work: check, confirm, push
Every store is on the 15-second wire; yours are on the 5-second one. A second check confirms each restock, the push lands about 3 seconds later, and the log keeps every one, so each store page knows when that store usually restocks.
How often does RestockWire read each Apple Store?
5 seconds between checks at the stores in your alerts, 15 seconds across all 468 stores, and about 3 seconds from a confirmed restock to your phone. 5 seconds is the shortest interval any iPhone stock tracker we know of publishes.
| Step on the wire | Timing |
|---|---|
| Stores in your alerts: checked | every 5 seconds |
| All other Apple Stores (468 in total): checked | every 15 seconds |
| A first "available": asked a second time | about 1 second later |
| Confirmed restock: push on your phone | about 3 seconds |
| A typical iPhone Duo restock: listed until gone | about 60–80 seconds; some in 20–30 s |
| Intervals other iPhone stock trackers publish | 8 seconds to 15 minutes |
Data: RestockWire's poller and restock log; other trackers' intervals as each publishes them (November 2026)
- A Duo restock lasts about 60–80 seconds, some only 20–30 seconds: the interval is the product
- On 5-second checks you hear about it while it can still be reserved
- A slower tracker's two checks can straddle the whole listing, which then never shows up at all
- Each store, city, state and country page answers "How fast do restocks sell out?" with every restock's seconds ("sold out in 45–60 s") and the share gone inside 30 seconds and a minute
How is a restock confirmed before you hear about it?
Two answers from apple.com must agree. The second ask goes out about a second after the first, so a glitch never becomes an alert and a real restock is not delayed.
- Errors never read as sold out · a failed or timed-out request changes nothing · it is re-asked from a fresh address
- Two matching answers · ~1 s apart · a single odd response is discarded
- One push per restock · no repeats while it stays listed · none for a store's first sighting
- Sell-outs get confirmed as well · a vanished listing is re-checked on the next round (15 s)
What goes into the restock log?
Each confirmed restock and sell-out at each store, with exact configuration and time: 34,842 restocks at 467 stores so far. Every page works out from that log when restocks land, how often, and how long they last.
| Recorded | Shown on |
|---|---|
| Each confirmed restock and sell-out, with store, configuration and time | the restock log and every store page |
| Live pickup stock per storage and color | every store, city and state page, with the last check time |
| The usual restock hour and weekday, in local time | "When does … restock?" on each store, city and state page |
| Restocks over 24 hours, 7 days and 14 days | pages for each store, city, state and iPhone model |
| How long a restock usually stays listed | those pages too, as a "stays ~N min" note |
| The configurations that return most | the per-configuration restock table on every store page |
| Local price including tax | each store page and each state page |
Data: RestockWire restock log (US since 2026-10-29, other countries since 2026-11-02)
How the numbers are measured
What hour does my Apple Store usually restock?
The store's own page says, under "When does … restock?": the usual local hour, the busiest weekday and the last 14 days. Apple publishes no schedule; this is the nearest thing.
- 1Open your storesearch by store, city or ZIP from any page, or go through Apple Stores by state
- 2Read "When does … restock?"the usual local hour, the busiest weekday, and the last 14 days
- 3Check your configuration's rowdoes your exact storage and color come back often?
- 4Add an alerton that store and configuration, so the wire watches for you: 5-second checks from then on
- The chart says when to be ready; the alert is what gets the phone
- History, not a promise: Apple publishes no schedule, and launch week may look nothing like the next
Which Apple Stores and iPhone models are on the wire?
Three iPhones in every configuration, at 468 Apple Stores across 19 countries.
How much do RestockWire alerts cost?
From $5 a month for alerts; browsing costs nothing.
- An alert is one store × one exact configuration
- The 5-second checks are the same on every plan (pricing)
- Live stock, restock hours and the log: free
Where does RestockWire stop?
At what apple.com shows, and no further.
- iPhone notifications need the Home Screen app (install); with no device set up, alerts arrive by e-mail from alerts@restockwire.com
- Public availability only: no unit counts, no holds
- Apple can show stock that is already promised to other orders
Cite this page: quote the method with a link back. RestockWire is independent of Apple.
How-it-works questions
Why does RestockWire check twice before it alerts?
Because apple.com sometimes returns a one-off wrong answer. A second ask about a second later must agree, so a glitch never reaches your phone (restock log).
How does RestockWire's check interval compare with other trackers?
The stores in your alerts are checked every 5 seconds; other iPhone stock trackers publish 8 seconds to 15 minutes. Only intervals each tracker states publicly are compared.
Is there an official Apple restock schedule I can use instead?
No. Apple shows pickup availability per store and configuration, never a schedule; RestockWire's restock hours are observed store by store (Apple: Delivery and Pickup).
Who runs RestockWire, and does Apple have a part in it?
RestockWire is independent and not affiliated with Apple. It reads the same public pickup availability apple.com shows everyone, only far more often.
Sources
- RestockWire's own live checks since 2026-10-29: each iPhone Duo, 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max configuration at 468 Apple Stores in 19 countries, read every 15 seconds (every 5 seconds where an alert is set); figures on this page read at Nov 7, 4:30 AM ET.
- Apple: Delivery and Pickup, how pickup availability works
- Apple: Shipping & Pickup help, what to bring