iphone 13 Photo:VCG

Tim Cook of Apple unexpectedly made his way to the top trending list on China's Twitter-like social media platform Sina Weibo on Tuesday for using iPhone 12 to send a message wishing Chinese netizens a happy Mid-Autumn Festival. Many netizens teased him for not getting the new iPhone 13 amid hot demand.

The Mid-Autumn Festival in 2021, which lies on Tuesday, is one of the happiest family reunion holidays for the Chinese people. On Tuesday morning, Cook sent a message to netizens on Weibo in both Chinese and English, saying that "We wish everyone celebrating a happy Mid-Autumn Festival filled with friends, family, and all the mooncakes you can eat."

However, netizens noticed that Cook used an iPhone 12 Pro Max to send the message, rather than the newest iPhone 13 series released by Apple recently.

The post has sparked a hot discussion among Chinese netizens, especially for those who failed to buy the new iPhone due to high demand in the Chinese market.

"It turns out that you also did not have a new iPhone 13?" joked one netizen on Weibo. "So you also did not get the new iPhone 13?" asked another.

The related topic, with the hashtag #Cook using iPhone 12 to send blessings on the Mid-Autumn Festival#, has gained more than 220 million views on Sina Weibo as of press time on Tuesday.

Apple's newly-launched iPhone 13 has been well received in China, with some colors of the new series selling out in less than 10 minutes on Friday, crashing the official Apple website and leaving the gadget's presales hard-to-get on major e-commerce platforms.

On Saturday morning, the official Apple website resumed operation after it crashed on Friday night as people rushed to buy the US tech giant's newest product.

Some media reported that more than 3 million people have booked the new iPhone on e-commerce platform Tmall.com as of Thursday afternoon.

Global Times