iPhone X release date: New, premium Apple phone might not be easily available until 2018, report claims

The company has already had to delay the release date by a month and a half

The two new iPhone Xes is displayed during an Apple special event at the Steve Jobs Theatre on the Apple Park campus (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

You might not be able to get hold of an iPhone X until 2018, according to a new report.

The new handset is so hard to make and in such short supply that it will be difficult to buy until the new year, according to respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. That's despite Apple already having pushed back the release date of the premium phone to 3 November – a month and a half after the iPhone 8 comes out.

As such, probably the only way to get hold of the new phone anytime soon is when pre-orders open early in the morning of 27 October. The X will cost $999 or the same in pounds or euros, making it by far the most expensive phone Apple has ever made.

Mr Kuo says in a new report that he expects the "fullscreen design and facial recognition features will drive replacement demand for the iPhone X", according to Macrumors. But while there'll be a lot of people wanting to buy it, supply will be constrained and will stay that way into the new year.

Those problems will mean that Apple will suffer from "severe short supply for a while". In practise, that will probably mean that even people pre-ordering the phones before the release date will be subject to long delivery times.

Apple moved the release date of the phone back in part to encourage people to instead buy the iPhone 8, which will be far more readily available. Staggering the dates means that the more flashy iPhone X won't dominate the discussion or people's choices, meaning both that the less premium phone will get a good showing and also that supply problems will be lessened.

The difference in supply is thought to be in large part a result of the way the two phones are made. While the iPhone 8 takes the basic design of the iPhone 7 – itself a version of the iPhones 6 and 6s – the iPhone X includes a range of innovative new designs, including a screen that sweeps all the way across the front of the phone and uses new display technology.

Both phones were unveiled at an event in California last week, which also saw the introduction of a new Apple Watch and Apple TV, and the launch of new software.