Last-Minute Shopping? Apple Is Offering Free Two-Hour Delivery in Most Metro Areas

Have you still not found the perfect gift for that Apple fan in your life? If so, you may be happy to know that the company is now making it even easier to get your hands on your favourite Apple products and accessories, with two-hour delivery now available in most metro areas at no extra charge.

Apple has offered same-day, two-hour delivery in major urban centres like New York, Los Angeles, London, and Toronto for a while now, but it normally carries a shipping charge of around $9 per order. However, from today until Christmas Eve, Apple is waiving that charge to help give last-minute holiday shoppers a break.

Several Apple Store customers received news of the offer via email this morning, but while that doesn’t appear to have gone out to everyone, the free shipping is noted on Apple’s Delivery and Pickup page for those countries where it’s available, including the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and France. Similar free same-day delivery offers are available in other countries like Australia, although in that case, Apple is only guaranteeing three-hour delivery.

How It Works

For starters, since same-day delivery is based on store availability, you’ll not only need to live in a metropolitan area where the service is offered, but you’ll also need to live near a store that actually has the product you want.

In short, if you wouldn’t be able to get the product by physically walking into an Apple Store, you won’t be able to get same-day delivery for it either. This applies even in places like Toronto and San Francisco, where Apple has large offices and warehouse facilities nearby since same-day deliveries are only sent out from Apple’s retail stores.

If the item you’re looking for is in stock and eligible for two-hour delivery, you’ll still need to place your order before noon on Christmas Eve if you want to ensure that it gets under the tree on time.

Same-day delivery also isn’t available on customized Macs or any engraved products, simply because you can’t get those from a local store in the first place. Engraved products always come directly from the factory, as the engraving is done before they’re packaged in the first place. This is also usually the case with customized Mac configurations as well, although Apple does sometimes warehouse some of the more popular configurations.

You also won’t be able to take advantage of same-day shipping from Apple if you’re financing the product or paying for it via bank transfer, presumably because it takes additional time to verify payment.

The good news, however, is that there doesn’t appear to be any restrictions on which products qualify for free two-hour delivery. Anything from a Lightning Cable or Apple Watch band to a 16-inch MacBook Pro can be delivered within two hours, and even third-party accessories qualify — as long as the products you want can be found in at least one of the Apple Stores in your area.

To find out if two-hour delivery is available, simply go to the Apple Store and begin shopping. Apple will automatically use your IP address to figure out your current location, or you can enter your ZIP code or postal code manually if you want to be more precise. If you’re ordering a product where two-hour delivery is available, you’ll be shown this option during the selection process. Otherwise, you’ll see a normal shipping estimate.

Of course, you could also go to an Apple Store to pick up the product in person. However, many metro areas are home to several Apple Stores, and you can often still get two-hour delivery even if the product can’t be found at the closest one. Instead of checking availability at all of your local stores, Apple figures out the logistics for you and offers up the two-hour delivery option as long as at least one store in your area has the product you’re looking for.