Apple announced that pre-orders of the highly anticipated iPhone 5 topped 2 million in just 24 hours, more than doubling the previous record for iPhone pre-orders. Before the iPhone 5 was unveiled, the last model – the iPhone 4S – held the record at just one million.

A lot of people were expecting Apple to unveil the iPhone 5 last year, but were instead given the iPhone 4S. Despite its new features (like the popular Siri), some simply wanted to hold off on purchasing a new iPhone until the iPhone 5 was released. It would be interesting to know the breakdown of how many of those ordering the iPhone 5 did not buy a 4S and those that did.

“iPhone 5 pre-orders have shattered the previous record held by iPhone 4S and the customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iPhone 5 is the best iPhone yet, the most beautiful product we’ve ever made, and we hope customers love it as much as we do.”

There’s actually been a fair amount of talk about disappointment from the device, but clearly that’s not slowing down sales. As we head into the holiday season, Apple is bound to have quite a quarter.

Apple stock is already benefiting greatly from the iPhone 5.