Apple now offering in-store pickup for AirPods, available as soon as today depending on stock

Apple has now activated in-store pickup on its website as another way to buy Apple AirPods from retail stores. If you are lucky, your local store might just have some units in stock and you can go and collect them today. If you are desperate to buy AirPods before Christmas, it’s worth refreshing your local pickup options as retail stores are getting new shipments all the time.

AirPods are also now being sold on Verizon’s website, which is another place where you might be able to buy some before the end of 2016. They were briefly available with two-day shipping this morning. eBay scalpers continue to sell AirPods with Christmas availability at inflated prices.

For UK readers, Carphone Warehouse is now selling AirPods for £159 with free Christmas delivery if you order before the 23rd.

In its original announcement about AirPods availability, Apple said that units would be available at Apple Retail, authorized resellers and select carrier stores this week. These retail stores would apparently be receiving regular shipments even though online orders from Apple.com still quote 6 week delivery windows.

Resellers like Best Buy are getting surges of AirPods availability, so it’s worth checking their site too if you are hunting for Christmas delivery. One reader even said that an order he made last night was processed with a February back order date, but shipped just a few hours later.

Right now, it seems like Verizon is the only US carrier selling the AirPods. We’d expect other major carriers to start stocking them by the end of the month — keep your eyes peeled. If all else fails, you can always resort to eBay where scalpers are happy to sell you some AirPods today, at very inflated prices.

Apple’s AirPods are the company’s first truly wireless headphones, that use the W1 chip to seamlessly pair and sync with iOS devices, Macs and more. Read our ongoing coverage about AirPods.