In a Periscope broadcast on Monday, T-Mobile John Legere said his company had received more than four times as many pre-orders for the iPhone 7 than for the iPhone 6. Sprint today reported similar figures. In the first three days since pre-ordering began Friday, Sprint said requests for the iPhone 7 were more than 375 percent higher than for last year's iPhone 6.
Neither Verizon nor AT&T, the two largest wireless carriers in the U.S., had released figures for iPhone 7 pre-orders as of this morning. Meanwhile, in a departure from previous iPhone launches, Apple won't report first-weekend order volumes until its next quarterly financial release.
The new iPhones will arrive pre-loaded with iOS 10, the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system, which launches today.
"This has been the biggest launch ever for us," Legere said in his Periscope conversation. "I think it's a phenomenon." Since going live at midnight Friday, iPhone 7 pre-ordering through T-Mobile "has shattered all previous iPhone pre-order records," the company said today in a statement. On Friday alone, pre-orders set a company record for the most single-day smartphone sales ever, according to T-Mobile.
Sprint also reported today that both new and existing customers have been placing orders for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus at many times the rates seen for last year's iPhone 6s/6s Plus launch.
The latest iPhones are available in gold, silver, rose gold, polished jet black and matte black, which Legere said has been the most-ordered color to date. In the U.S., the iPhone 7 will be priced at $649 and up.
While Apple has in...