Apple has announced that pre-orders of its iPhone 5 topped 2m in 24 hours, more than double the record held by the iPhone 4S. 

Many early birds will have their new device delivered on 21 September, but others will have to wait until October to receive the coveted new handset as Apple struggles to keep up with demand. It will also be on sale directly at Apple retail stores in the US and UK at 8am local time on 21 September, where many Apple fans will no doubt have spent the previous night.

“iPhone 5 pre-orders have shattered the previous record held by iPhone 4S and the customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing.

Apple is rolling out to 22 more countries worldwide on 28 September, including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.