How to Pre-Order the iPhone 18 Pro: Times, Prices, and Trade-In Credit

Apple announced five products on September 9, and they go on sale on three different schedules. The Apple Watch and AirPods pre-orders opened the same day. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max open at 5 a.m. Pacific this Saturday, September 12. The foldable everyone is talking about, iPhone Duo, does not open for another five weeks. Missing that distinction is the most common way to spend Saturday morning refreshing a page for a phone that is not for sale yet. Here are the exact times, the official prices, and the trade-in numbers, quoted from Apple’s own press releases.

The quick answer

• iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max: pre-order “beginning at 5 a.m. PT this Saturday, September 12, with availability beginning Friday, September 18.” That is 8 a.m. Eastern, 7 a.m. Central, 6 a.m. Mountain
• Prices: iPhone 18 Pro “starts at $1,199 (U.S.) or $49.95 (U.S.) per month,” iPhone 18 Pro Max “starts at $1,299 (U.S.) or $54.12 (U.S.) per month for 24 months,” both in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB
• iPhone Duo, the foldable, is a different date: pre-order “beginning at 5 a.m. PT on Friday, October 16, with availability beginning Friday, October 23,” starting at $1,999
• Already on sale since Tuesday: Apple Watch Series 12 from $399, Apple Watch Ultra 4 from $799, AirPods 5 at $129 ($149 with the Wireless Charging Case). All three ship September 18
• Trade-in: “customers trading in iPhone 13 or later can get $175 to $885 (U.S.) in credit instantly,” and carrier deals go “up to $1,200 (U.S.) in credits when they trade in iPhone 14 or later,” which Apple says applies “in any condition”
• The software lands first: iOS 27 arrives as a free update Monday, September 14, two days after pre-orders and four days before the phones

Key facts at a glance

Product	Pre-order opens	In stores	Starting price
iPhone 18 Pro	5 a.m. PT Sat, Sep 12	Fri, Sep 18	$1,199
iPhone 18 Pro Max	5 a.m. PT Sat, Sep 12	Fri, Sep 18	$1,299
iPhone Duo (foldable)	5 a.m. PT Fri, Oct 16	Fri, Oct 23	$1,999
Apple Watch Series 12	Open now (Sep 9)	Fri, Sep 18	$399
Apple Watch Ultra 4	Open now (Sep 9)	Fri, Sep 18	$799
AirPods 5	Open now (Sep 9)	Fri, Sep 18	$129, or $149 with Wireless Charging Case

Saturday morning, in order

5 a.m. Pacific is the only time that matters. Apple’s release puts the Pro pre-order at “5 a.m. PT this Saturday, September 12.” Convert once and set the alarm: 8 a.m. Eastern, 7 a.m. Central, 6 a.m. Mountain, 2 a.m. Hawaii. Launch-morning demand decides delivery dates within minutes, not hours, so the difference between 5:00 and 5:10 is often a week of shipping estimate.

Decide the exact configuration the night before. Four decisions, all of which Apple has already published, so none of them need to be made live: model (Pro or Pro Max), storage (256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB), finish (“black, silver, glacier, and burgundy”), and whether you are buying outright, on the 24-month installment, or through the Klarna-provided Apple Upgrade lease that starts “as low as $34.99 (U.S.) per month for 24 months.”

Settle the trade-in before you are in the cart. This is where most of the money is, and the two routes pay differently. Apple Trade In gives “customers trading in iPhone 13 or later” between “$175 to $885 (U.S.) in credit instantly.” Carrier deals go higher, “up to $1,200 (U.S.) in credits,” but only when trading in “iPhone 14 or later,” and Apple’s wording on condition is unusually generous: “in any condition.” The catch is that carrier credits arrive as bill credits spread over a contract term rather than as an instant discount, so the larger number is not the faster one.

Know which countries are in the first wave. More than 65 countries and regions get the Pro on September 12, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Türkiye, the UAE, the UK, the U.S., and Vietnam. Another 20 countries start “Friday, September 25.”

If you have done a Pokemon Center or a sneaker drop, the muscle memory transfers directly: decide everything in advance, be signed in with the payment method saved, and do not open a second tab to compare. The general mechanics of timed drops are in our drop guide.

The foldable is not Saturday

iPhone Duo is the headline product, and it is the one you cannot buy this week. Apple’s release is specific: pre-orders open “at 5 a.m. PT on Friday, October 16, with availability beginning Friday, October 23,” in more than 70 countries, with 28 more on October 30. It starts at “$1,999 (U.S.), or $83.29 (U.S.) per month for 24 months,” in 256GB through 2TB, in two finishes, star white and night sky.

What you are paying for, per Apple: a “7.6-inch inner display” that is “50 percent larger than iPhone 18 Pro Max,” a “5.4-inch outer Super Retina XDR display” when closed, Touch ID moved “into the side button,” and a nano-texture finish that “minimizes crease visibility.” It ships with iOS 27.1 rather than iOS 27, and Apple Pencil support arrives “later this year.” Accessories open the same day as pre-orders: the iPhone Duo Case at $79 and the Folio with Kickstand at $129.

The five-week gap is worth planning around if you were going to trade in the same phone twice. A trade-in credit applied to a September 12 Pro order is not available again for an October 16 Duo order.

What arrives before the phones

Two dates land between now and September 18, and both are free.

iOS 27, Monday, September 14. The update covers existing phones, which means the software half of the announcement reaches you four days before any new hardware ships. Apple Intelligence arrives with it “for users with an Apple Intelligence-enabled device set to a supported language,” and the supported list includes Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, and eleven others.

Siri AI, same day, as a beta. Apple’s wording is careful: it is “rolling out with iOS 27 as a beta on Monday, September 14, for users with a supported device set to English, with support for French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish coming in October.” So the marquee Siri upgrade is English-only for its first month, and it is explicitly a beta.

watchOS 27 arrives the same day for “Apple Watch Series 9 or later, Apple Watch SE 3, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 or later,” and requires “iPhone 11 or later or iPhone SE (2nd generation or later) with iOS 27.”

The accessories and the fine print

Apple published case prices alongside the phones, which is useful if you plan to add them to the pre-order rather than pay shipping twice: TechWoven Case with MagSafe $59, Clear Case with MagSafe $49, Silicone Case with MagSafe $49, FineWoven Wallet with MagSafe $59, Wrist Strap $29, Crossbody Strap $59.

One promotion is easy to miss because it sits in the Watch release rather than the iPhone one: “New subscribers may get three months of Apple Fitness+ and Apple Music with the purchase of Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch SE 3, or Apple Watch Ultra 4,” with availability varying by region. Free service months attached to hardware convert to paid automatically, which is the mechanism behind most surprise charges; the pattern is documented in our sister site’s free trial guide.

Bottom line

Set one alarm for 5 a.m. Pacific on Saturday, September 12, if you want an iPhone 18 Pro or Pro Max in the first delivery wave on September 18, and decide model, storage, finish, and trade-in route before then. The Apple Watch Series 12, Ultra 4, and AirPods 5 are already orderable and ship the same day. The foldable iPhone Duo is a separate event on October 16, five weeks out, at $1,999. And the part that costs nothing arrives first: iOS 27 on Monday, September 14.

All dates, prices, and quotes taken from Apple’s press releases dated September 9, 2026, linked above and read on September 10, 2026. Pre-order times and availability vary by country; apple.com is the authority for your region.