How To: Track the Shipping Status of Your New iPhone 5

Over 2 million people are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their new iPhone 5, which has caused a few shipping problems, to say the least. There has been a considerable amount of confusion about when, exactly, the iPhone is going to ship, depending on where it was bought and how it's being delivered.

Want to find out when to expect yours? There are a few ways to do it.

Track by Reference

If you already have a tracking number, finding out your shipping status is easy. If your carrier (or Apple) didn't give you one, you can find it easily by using the Track by Reference feature on the UPS and FedEx websites. All you need is a reference number, which, in this case, is the phone number associated with the Apple account that you ordered the phone from.

Then, just set an approximate date and select your destination country and zip code. If you don't get a result, try the other shipping service (if you used FedEx, try UPS). If that doesn't fix it, try changing the reference number to your Apple order number instead. If you still don't get a result, it most likely means your iPhone hasn't shipped yet.

Track from Apple

If you ordered from Apple, you can log in to your Apple account and check the status here by clicking on Track a shipment in the Orders section on the left.

Verizon Tracking

If you ordered your iPhone 5 through Verizon, you can check the shipping status with a tool on their website, as long as you've received a preorder confirmation. Just enter your confirmation number in the Reference No field and it should give you an expected shipping date.

If it hasn't shipped yet, the tracking number and courier information will be updated once it does.

Has anyone already gotten their iPhone 5? Any horror stories (or ridiculously long wait times)? Tell us about your experience.