Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla
The company says sales are on pace to beat last year's opening weekend of the iPhone 6, which sold 10 million units.
This is a good sign for Apple because the No. 1 question looming over the company right now is whether it will be able to grow its iPhone sales.
In the last three months of 2014, Apple sold an eye-popping 74.5 million iPhone units. Analysts are wondering whether it can top that this year.
It looks as if it can. The stock is up 2% on the news in premarket trading.
Preorders began over the weekend, and the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus officially goes on sale in-store on September 25.
The new iPhones include iOS 9 and "3D Touch," a feature that can measure how much pressure is applied with a touch and respond accordingly, opening up a new way of interacting with the device. The camera was also improved to shoot 4K video.
Apple did not put out a press release for the iPhone 6S; it spoke with media outlets.
Here, via the Bloomberg terminal, is what Apple said about the preorders:
*APPLE: IPHONE 6S PLUS ONLINE DEMAND 'EXCEPTIONALLY' STRONG
*APPLE SAYS ON PACE TO BEAT LAST YEAR'S 10M UNIT FIRST-WEEKEND
*APPLE SAYS IPHONE 6S, 6S PLUS PREORDERS 'VERY STRONG' GLOBALLY
*APPLE COMMENTS FROM SPOKESWOMAN TRUDY MULLER
While this sounds good, it's not exactly a chest-thumping declaration. Apple says it's "on pace" to beat the year before. That means it could still come up short of selling more than 10 million. But that is highly unlikely. If it whiffs on beating the prior year after this announcement, it will be devastating for the stock.