iPhone 6 & iPhone 6+ notches up 4 million pre-orders in 24 hours

Apple has taken 4 million pre-orders for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which is claims is a new record.

The amount of pre-orders is reportedly more than the initial number of devices available and, while some will be shipped to customers from Friday September 19, others will not arrive until later in the month and in October.

Customers will also be able to pick up one of the handsets from Apple stores from 8am on Friday.

Both the 4.7in iPhone 6 and 5.5in iPhone 6 Plus will be available from O2, Vodafone, EE, Three, GiffGaff, Virgin Media, TalkMobile and other carriers.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said: "iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are better in every way, and we are thrilled customers love them as much as much as we do. Pre-orders for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus set a new record for Apple, and we can't wait to get our best iPhones yet into the hands and customers starting this Friday."

Pre-orders for the handsets ran into problems last Friday, with many users finding they were unable to access Apple's online store.

The suggested retail price for the 16GB iPhone 6 is 539, 619 for the 64GB model and 699 for the 128GB model.

The price for the iPhone 6 Plus is suggested at 619 for the 16GB model, 699 for the 64GB and 789 for the 128GB.