Apple recently unveiled an array of new gadgets — more powerful MacBook laptop computers, AirPod wireless headphones with longer battery life and HomePod Mini speakers in three more colours.

But a different and unheralded Apple release is garnering so much interest that it has become the company’s most back-ordered new product — a $19, 6.3-by-6.3-inch cloth to wipe smudges and fingerprints off screens.

The cloth, imprinted with the Apple logo in the corner, is made with “soft, nonabrasive material” to clean the screens of iPhones, iPads and MacBooks “safely and effectively”, according to the product page. The listing adds that the Polishing Cloth — capital P, capital C — is “compatible” with 88 different Apple products. For most US shoppers, shipment is delayed until January 11, at the earliest.

Charging $19 for a piece of cloth about the size of two stacked dollar bills is bold even by Apple’s standards, a company whose legions of loyal customers are conditioned to stomach steep prices. An Apple-branded set of four wheels to “improve mobility” for the Mac Pro, the company’s most expensive desktop computer, is priced at $699, for instance.

But the Polishing Cloth stands out because it is far more expensive than widely available alternatives. MagicFiber, a popular brand of microfibre cloth that uses ultrafine fibres to clean glass without scratching the surface, offers a pack of six for $9 on Amazon.

“You have to give them credit for the chutzpah to charge $19,” Walter Gonzalez, president and founder of Goja, the parent company of MagicFiber, said of Apple.

Even so, the price has not stopped Apple fans from rushing to be early adopters.

Albert Lee, 47, a director at a consulting firm in New York, said he bought the cloth at an Apple Store a few days ago. He was picking up a new MacBook Pro, a high-end laptop computer, when the Polishing Cloth caught his eye. He bought four and then posted a picture of his bounty on Twitter.

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“It’s just a point of sheer excess,” Lee acknowledged, calling the splurge an impulse buy of “the most elite cloth”. He added: “I just spent $4,000 on a laptop. What’s another $19?”

On Twitter, the cloth has been fodder for jokes and even a parody account since Apple quietly put it on sale on October 18. Later that week, when Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, posted a tweet promoting a new retail store in Turkey, Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, needled him by replying, “Come see the Apple Cloth” with a trademark logo.

(Musk’s company is also not shy about testing the strength of its brand and the fealty of its customers. Tesla’s website offers a company-branded “handblown” decanter for $150 and a $60 umbrella with an “ergonomically designed handle”.)

Technically, the cloth is not a new product. Apple had previously provided it free for customers who bought one of its high-end monitors, Pro Display XDR. The $5,999 display has a special type of glass that reduces glare, but may scratch if wiped with a conventional cloth. Apple said it designed its own cloth for that special glass and decided to sell the product separately when some customers asked to buy extras.

An Apple official said in an interview, based on the condition that The New York Times not quote or identify her, that the company was not surprised by the demand for the Polishing Cloth. The official said the cloth was very effective and had been designed to be special, including a custom light grey colour. Apple said the cloth was made of a non-woven microfibre but declined to elaborate.

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