Apple hosted its "Awe Dropping" product launch event one week ago, unveiling the iPhone 17 lineup alongside updates for the Apple Watch and AirPods. Aside from more megapixels and incremental improvements to processing, display, and other features, the iPhone 16 remains sufficient and does not warrant an immediate upgrade. Still, the decision to upgrade weighs heavily on many consumers trapped in Tim Cook's Apple ecosystem hole. To gauge initial demand signals, we turn to new lead-time data from Goldman Sachs. 

A team of Goldman analysts, led by Michael Ng, provided clients with new lead-time data on iPhone 17 models just days after the product launch, highlighting what they describe as "strong iPhone 17 demand signals from pre-order trends."

Across the board, Ng's team found that pre-order lead times for iPhone 17 models are longer than the iPhone 16 launch in all regions (USA, Mainland China, Japan, UK, India, and Hong Kong), supporting their view of "outlook for +8% iPhone revenue growth in F4Q25, which should also benefit from some channel fill as AAPL ended F3Q25 at the low end of its channel inventory target range." 

Key Findings:

In-depth findings that support robust demand for the latest iteration of the iPhone:

Lead times by model:

Chart of The Day 

The analysts maintain a "Buy" rating on Apple with a 12-month price target of $266.

$250 Resistance. 

Moar buybacks Mr. Cook?