Soon after Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) announced the iPhone 5, customers who preordered the eagerly awaited smartphone online saw their shipping dates pushed back, from the release date of Sept. 21 to as far as the first week of October, because of the high level of demand. However, it now appears the company may be able to ship on the expected date after all -- at least to some customers.

These customers have been sent emails letting them know their preordered will be arriving Sept. 21 after all, according to AppleInsider,

"We have some good news concerning your recent iPhone 5 purchase," the Apple Store email reads. "We expect it to be delivered to you on the first day of iPhone 5 availability -- Friday, September 21. The delivery date we previously sent you was not accurate."

Check out a screenshot of the email below.

Apple's new iPhone 5 is expected to be either one of biggest launches or the biggest release in the company's history, but that might cause problems for customers. On Friday, most stores offering preorders had moved their release dates back, according to CNN.

Apple -- like Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T -- began offering preorders for the iPhone 5 on Thursday at midnight, giving customers an estimated shipping date of Friday, Sept. 21. Now, however, most stores are telling customers their products won't arrive before Sept. 28.

Apple and AT&T list shipping times for all versions of the iPhone 5 as two to three weeks, while Verizon currently offers a delivery date of Sept. 28. Sprint is still offering a delivery date of Sept. 21 for the 16GB iPhone 5, but the larger-capacity models are listed as being available in "up to two weeks."

The shipping times began changing as early as an hour after the smartphones were first offered via preorders, indicating Apple may have already run out of its original stock due to the overwhelming demand, according to MacRumors,

"Dates are based on order volumes so customers have a realistic expectation as to when they will get their new iPhone 5," a Verizon representative told CNN.

"Preorders for iPhone 5 have been incredible," Apple representative Nat Kerris told AllThingsD. "We've been completely blown away by the customer response."

Anyone worried about preordering an iPhone 5 online still has the option of waiting outside a physical store before the Sept. 21 release date. However, it's best to get there early. Judging by the demand, this could be Apple's biggest product launch ever -- and lines in front of stores are expected to be extremely long.

Apple Stores open at 8 a.m. local time on the date of launch, and, in the past, many Apple fans have camped out far in advance of the opening. There's no way that simply showing up on the morning of release will net anyone a new iPhone 5, except maybe in the least-frequented Apple Stores in the U.S.

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