NEW YORK — Bad news for some eager early buyers of the new iPhones: If you live in the path of Pope Francis’ visit, your delivery will probably be delayed a day or so.
The Pope’s historic visit is closing roads, rerouting traffic, and forcing UPS and FedEx to suspend delivery in parts of New York, Philadelphia, and Washington over the next few days.
Apple emailed affected customers on Tuesday, notifying them that deliveries may not arrive on time as a result.
UPS, for example, is suspending pickup and delivery services completely in some areas.
“Security measures will be in place in areas of Washington, DC, New York City, and Philadelphia as Pope Francis visits the United States September 22-27,” UPS said in a service note. “UPS is implementing contingency plans to minimize service impacts.”
Translation: On Thursday and Friday, UPS will not make pickups or deliveries in parts of Manhattan. Seven zip codes will be affected: 10001, 10007, 10017, 10021, 10022, 10023 and 10029.
UPS will suspend service in Philadelphia on Friday and Saturday for 10 areas: 19102, 19103, 19104, 19106, 19107, 19109, 19123, 19130, 19146 and 19147.
In D.C., 11 zip codes are being affected from Tuesday through Thursday: 20001, 20002, 20004, 20005, 20006, 20008, 20016, 20017, 20018, 20036 and 20037.
FedEx says it will operate, but with caveats.
The company posted a huge spreadsheet of all its expected service delays, including offices that will be closed or have limited service.
Apple’s next generation of iPhones will go on sale in stores on Friday. Pre-sales began about a week and a half ago, with most of the expected delivery dates falling on Friday.
MacRumors first reported this story.
