How do you get notified the second the iPhone Duo is back in stock?
A push from a tracker that never stops looking: RestockWire reads the stores you pick every 5 seconds, the shortest interval any iPhone stock tracker we know of publishes (the others state 8 seconds to 15 minutes), and a confirmed restock reaches your phone about 3 seconds later.
How long is the window after an iPhone Duo restock?
74 seconds is the median over the last 7 days: half of the 8,988 sold-out Duo restocks were gone by then, 32% inside 30 s; since October 29, 2026, 74% of 3,603 US Duo restocks were over within 2 minutes.
How the numbers are measured
- Reloading apple.com by handYour stores read every 5 secondsA reload every few minutes mostly finds nothing: the listing came and went between two of them.
- A tracker that looks every 5 or 15 minutesA push about 3 s after confirmationA history of restocks, not an alert: at 5 minutes it misses 61% of Duo restocks outright, at 15 minutes 77%.
What happens between the restock and your phone buzzing?
Three steps, none of them yours: your stores are read every 5 seconds (every other US Apple Store every 15), a first "available" is asked again about a second later, and once both answers agree the push goes out: on your phone ~3 seconds after Apple lists it.
- 1Readyour exact configuration at your stores every 5 seconds; every other US Apple Store every 15
- 2Confirma first "available" is asked again about a second later; only two agreeing answers make a restock
- 3Pushabout 3 seconds after confirmation, to the RestockWire app on your Home Screen (install), with the store and configuration in the title; no device set up → an e-mail from alerts@restockwire.com
- 4Onceone push per restock: nothing while it stays listed, nothing when it sells out, nothing for a store's first sighting
| One alert | What that means |
|---|---|
| Reach | the 269 US Apple Stores, plus 199 stores across 18 other countries |
| Scope | one Apple Store × one exact configuration: model, storage and color |
| Proof | two matching answers from apple.com about 1 second apart; one answer is never a restock |
| Delivery | a push about 3 seconds after the second answer; an e-mail instead when no device has notifications on |
Data: RestockWire's poller; the two-answer rule in full on how it works
- Nothing to download; one permission prompt
- On iPhone the alert is a web push to a Home Screen web app, which Safari supports (Apple Developer)
- The banner names the store; read it, then reserve
Is a 5-second check really the shortest interval around?
Yes, as far as published numbers go: RestockWire's 5 seconds is the shortest interval any iPhone stock tracker we know of states on its own site; the others publish 8 seconds to 15 minutes, and published figures are the only ones we compare.
| Tracker | Interval between checks, as each site publishes it (November 2026) | Push delay, as claimed |
|---|---|---|
| RestockWire | every 5 seconds at stores with an alert; every 15 seconds across all 269 US stores | about 3 seconds after the restock is confirmed |
| InStock Radar | 8 seconds at stores a paid alert points at; "every few minutes" elsewhere for new models | a median of 2 seconds, by their account |
| Store Stock Checker | 15 seconds at "your Apple Stores", up to 5 stores on a plan | about 2 seconds, by their account |
| iPhoneStockChecker.com | once a minute, as reported | not published |
| ManzanaTracker | about every 5 minutes | not published |
| Apple Inventory Check | once in 15 minutes | not published |
Data: each tracker's own website as read in November 2026; RestockWire's figures from its poller
- "Fastest" with no interval attached is a slogan
- The interval is the one number every tracker chooses and can publish
- RestockWire's is 5 seconds; hold us to it
How do you set up an iPhone Duo restock alert?
Four steps and about two minutes: choose the iPhone, storage and color; tick the stores within your reach; on iPhone, put RestockWire on your Home Screen; then reserve on apple.com straight from the push.
- 1Choose the iPhone, storage and coloran alert is one exact configuration; a second acceptable color is a second alert
- 2Tick the stores within your reachnearest first, each with an estimated drive time
- 3Put RestockWire on your Home Screenon iPhone, then allow notifications (step by step)
- 4Reserve from the pushopen apple.com from it and check out with in-store pickup at the store the push names
Which stores belong on the alert?
The two or three you could stand in by 9 AM, and the ones that restock most often.
- A store you cannot reach in the morning is a weaker pick than a farther one you can
How much do iPhone Duo alerts cost?
$5 a month buys 10 alerts (Plus); Pro is $10 for 20 and Max $20 for 50; one alert is one store × one exact configuration, and browsing stock costs nothing.
- Same 5-second reads and ~3-second push on every plan · live stock and the restock log cost nothing to browse
- 10 alerts = one configuration at 10 stores, or two at five: enough for one metro area
- Pro and Max: more colors, more people, or a longer drive radius
What do you do in the seconds after the push?
Read the store name, tap through to "I'll pick it up" at that store and pay with Apple Pay while already signed in: the typical window is about 60–80 seconds, and the people who get the phone staged all of this before the push came.
- 1Signed in before it comesApple Pay or a card and your address already saved; typing an address during a restock is how the phone is lost
- 2Tap → "I'll pick it up"at the store the push names; if that store already reads unavailable, try your other stores, since one lot often reaches several
- 3Finish the checkoutthe reservation is the order; Apple e-mails when it is ready and names the pickup window
- 4Bring what Apple asks forthe order number or QR code from the pickup e-mail and a government-issued photo ID (Apple: Shipping & Pickup help)
Cite this page: quote any figure with a link to it. RestockWire is independent and not affiliated with Apple; every number is its own observation of apple.com pickup availability.
Alerts, answered
Does an iPhone Duo alert need an app from the App Store?
No: RestockWire added to your Home Screen from Safari is a web app, and Apple delivers web push to Home Screen web apps once you allow notifications (Apple Developer; install guide). With no device set up, the alert comes by e-mail from alerts@restockwire.com.
What counts as one alert?
One Apple Store watched for one exact configuration; a second acceptable color at the same store is a second alert. Plus holds 10, Pro 20 and Max 50, which for most people means one configuration at the stores they can reach (pricing).
Will RestockWire reserve the phone when it alerts me?
No: the push tells you within seconds that a store lists your configuration, and the reservation is yours to place on apple.com with in-store pickup, where Apple then holds the phone. RestockWire is independent and not affiliated with Apple; it reads the same pickup availability anyone can see, only far more often.
Why not check every second instead of every 5?
Because apple.com answers only so many requests from one address, and every restock needs a second answer about a second later anyway; asking every second would not shorten that and would risk getting no answers at all. At 5 seconds the longest gap between a restock and our first look is 5 seconds, against a median listing of 74.
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 in-store pickup works)
- Apple: Shipping & Pickup help (what a pickup needs)
- Apple Developer: Sending web push notifications in web apps and browsers
- Wikipedia: Push technology (what a push notification is)