You’ve seen the TikToks. You’ve probably scrolled past the glossy YouTube thumbnails showing a sleek, metallic handset that supposedly "changes everything." Maybe you even saw a Facebook post with a $789 price tag and a button to reserve yours today.
The tesla pi phone preorder is one of the internet’s most persistent ghosts. It’s a product that millions of people are ready to buy, but there’s a catch.
It doesn't actually exist.
Honestly, the sheer scale of the misinformation is impressive. If you go looking for a place to put your money down, you’ll find plenty of sketchy websites more than happy to take it. But you won’t find a single official link on Tesla’s website. Not even a "coming soon" page.
The Reality of the Tesla Pi Phone Preorder Rumors
Let’s get the facts straight right away. As of early 2026, Tesla has not opened preorders for a phone. They haven't even officially announced that they’re making one.
Elon Musk himself has been asked about this repeatedly. His answer? Usually a blunt "No."
During a 2024 appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience, Musk was asked point-blank about the device. He explained that Tesla isn't interested in making a phone unless they absolutely have to. By "have to," he means a scenario where Apple or Google start acting like "gatekeepers" and begin censoring apps or demanding a 30% cut of every transaction in a way that breaks Tesla’s ecosystem.
Until that happens, Tesla is focused on things that actually move the needle for them: the Cybercab, the Optimus robot, and getting the $25,000 "Model 2" onto the road.
Where did the $789 price come from?
It’s a random number. Truly.
Someone, somewhere, decided $789 sounded realistic enough to be believable but low enough to trigger an impulse "buy." It started appearing in viral Facebook posts from pages with names like "Trend Fuel" or "Tech Insider," often accompanied by AI-generated images of Musk holding a phone that looks suspiciously like a flattened Cybertruck.
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If you see a site claiming to offer a tesla pi phone preorder for $789, or $199, or any price at all—close the tab. It’s either a scam designed to harvest your credit card info or a clickbait farm trying to generate ad revenue from your curiosity.
Why the Hype Won’t Die
We love a good disruptor story. People are tired of the annual $1,200 iPhone update that just adds a slightly better camera and a new shade of titanium. The idea of a "Tesla Phone" represents a "what if" that actually feels exciting.
The rumors aren't just about a screen and a battery. They’re about a tech stack that no other company on Earth can match.
The Starlink Connection
This is the big one. The "Pi" in the name supposedly refers to the idea of a phone that connects directly to Starlink satellites.
In theory, you'd have internet in the middle of the Sahara or the top of the Andes without needing a bulky satellite dish. SpaceX is actually working on "Direct to Cell" technology. They’ve even launched satellites specifically for this. But here’s the nuance: that technology is designed to work with the phone you already have in your pocket.
T-Mobile and SpaceX have already demonstrated that existing 5G phones can connect to satellites for basic texting and emergency calls. You don’t need a specialized Tesla phone for that.
The Solar Charging Myth
Another "feature" that keeps popping up is a solar panel on the back of the phone.
Physics is a bit of a party pooper here. A panel the size of a smartphone back simply doesn't have the surface area to generate enough juice to power a modern, high-refresh-rate OLED screen. It might add 1% or 2% if you leave it in the scorching sun for three hours, but it’s not going to replace your charging cable.
Neuralink Integration
Then there’s the sci-fi stuff. Rumors suggest the Pi phone will let you control your Tesla car or browse the web using your thoughts via a Neuralink chip.
Neuralink is a real company, and they are doing incredible work with human trials for paralysis patients. But we are decades away from "thought-controlled" Spotify on a consumer smartphone. It’s fun to think about, but it’s not a product feature for 2026.
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What Actually Happens If You Try to Preorder?
If you search for "Tesla Pi Phone preorder link," you’ll find plenty of third-party blogs. Some of them look quite professional. They’ll have "Buy Now" buttons or "Join the Waitlist" forms.
Don’t do it.
Here’s what usually happens:
- The Data Grab: You enter your name, email, and phone number. Now your info is on a "sucker list" that gets sold to telemarketers and scammers.
- The Deposit Scam: Some sites ask for a small "holding fee" of $25 or $50. It’s small enough that you might not fight to get it back when the phone never arrives.
- The Crypto Trap: Since Musk is associated with Dogecoin and crypto, many fake preorder sites ask for payment in Bitcoin or USDT. Once that money is sent, it’s gone forever.
If Tesla ever decides to do this, the announcement will come from the official Tesla X (formerly Twitter) account or Elon Musk’s personal feed. It will be on Tesla.com. Nowhere else.
The "Tesla Phone" That Actually Exists
To make things even more confusing, there are phones out there with the Tesla name on them. They just aren't that Tesla.
In some European and Asian markets, there are rugged Android phones sold under the "Tesla" brand. This is a licensing deal that has absolutely nothing to do with Elon Musk, SpaceX, or electric cars. These are basic, mid-range smartphones that use the name to sound "high-tech."
If you see a "Tesla EXPLR 9" or something similar for sale, it’s a real physical object you can buy, but it has zero Starlink integration and won't summon your Model 3.
Will Tesla Ever Build a Phone?
Never say never.
Musk is known for changing his mind when he gets frustrated. He didn't want to build a rocket company until he realized nobody was making cheap rockets. He didn't want to buy a social media platform until he got annoyed with Twitter's policies.
Right now, the relationship between Tesla and the major phone manufacturers is "fine." You can use your phone as a key. You can control the climate from your app. But if Apple ever decides that Tesla’s FSD (Full Self-Driving) visualization is a "safety risk" and pulls the app from the Store?
That is the day the tesla pi phone preorder becomes a real thing.
Building a phone is easy for a company like Tesla. They already have the chips, the software engineers, and the battery tech. The hard part is the "App Store." Convincing developers to build apps for a third OS (beyond iOS and Android) is a graveyard where even Microsoft failed with Windows Phone.
Actionable Steps for Enthusiasts
If you’re still holding out hope for a Tesla handset, don't get scammed in the meantime.
- Bookmark the official site: Only trust information found at tesla.com.
- Check the source: If a "news" article about a preorder doesn't link to an official Tesla press release, it's fake.
- Look for the "Direct to Cell" logo: Instead of waiting for a new phone, keep an eye on your current carrier. T-Mobile and others are rolling out Starlink connectivity for existing iPhones and Androids later this year.
- Ignore the price tags: Any specific price ($789, $800, etc.) is a red flag. Prices are never leaked before a product even exists in prototype form.
The internet is a wild place. It wants the Tesla phone to be real so badly that it has collectively hallucinated a preorder process. Stay skeptical, keep your credit card in your wallet, and wait for the "Technoking" to actually say the words himself.
Until then, your iPhone or Galaxy is the best "Tesla phone" you're going to get.