Scalpers Are Using AI Agents to Snatch the Ultra-Rare iPhone Duo
AI Bots Snipe Pickup Stock in Seconds
The iPhone Duo is nearly impossible to buy, and the reason scalpers keep winning is unexpectedly high-tech: they are using AI agents. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in his latest Power On newsletter, "scalpers and other buyers are using AI-powered bots to monitor Apple's website and snap up newly available inventory for in-store pickup within seconds." Even before sales began, one shopper asked the iPhoneDuo subreddit whether Meta's Muse was a good tool for the preorder. It turns out the scalpers got there first.
Eighty Percent Went to Stores, and It Still Was Not Enough
Gurman also detailed Apple's allocation: roughly 80 percent of opening-weekend inventory went straight to store shelves for walk-in buyers, with only 20 percent set aside for launch-day shipments and scheduled in-store pickup. That 20 percent is exactly the slice the AI bots are gaming. Even the store share was thin, about 50 to 250 phones per location depending on size and market. Gurman's sources say real humans still line up outside Apple Stores in the early morning, Black Friday-style, presumably because robots cannot do that yet.
Preorders Gone in Minutes, Backordered Into January
Preorders opened on October 16, and shipping dates slipped into January of next year within minutes. Apple responded by limiting iPhone Duo orders to a maximum of two per customer in the US, the UK, and elsewhere. The cap did little: bots, multiple Apple accounts, and automation kept sweeping the online store, and eBay listings quickly piled up at steep premiums. One longtime buyer noted the site showed no cancel button on an order two weeks out, something he had never seen before.
