At 5 a.m. Pacific on Saturday, Sept. 12, pre-orders open for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. Sometimes, particular models or colors sell out quickly, so if you log on late you might have to wait to get your phone. But here are the things you can do to help your chances.
iPhone 18 Pro Release Date: Your Complete Guide To What And When
iPhone 18 Pro Pre-Orders: Get Ready Now
As I’ve reported before, though pre-orders haven’t opened yet, you can use the Apple website to prepare for when they do.
On apple.com when you click on iPhone 18 Pro there’s no pre-order button just yet. But if you click where it says “View Pricing,” you’re taken to the page which will soon be the one for pre-orders.
On this page you can make all your choices in advance. First, pick whether you want the iPhone 18 Pro (from $1,199) or 18 Pro Max, from $1,299.
Then pick your preferred color from Burgundy, Glacier, Silver and Black. Next up, choose storage: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB or 2TB. The smaller storages sell fastest.
After that you need to say whether you’re trading in a phone or not, and whether you want to buy the new model outright, choose to finance it or lease with Apple Upgrade.
There’s more. Pick which network you want to be on or choose to add a carrier later. Finally, pick whether you want AppleCare or not. Then click on the button marked “Get Ready for Pre-Order”. Once you’ve chosen whether or not to buy a case or wrist strap you’ll find yourself on a screen that invites you to choose a payment method and review the details.
Finally, the page says “Starting at 5 a.m. PDT on 9.12, visit apple.com and go to your bag or account to place your order,” which is encouraging.
iPhone 18 Pro Pre-Orders Cut-Off Time
Note that you need to do this as soon as possible as you can get ready for pre-orders only until 9 p.m. Pacific, which is midnight tonight Eastern and 5 a.m. Saturday morning in the U.K.
Next, come back when pre-orders open and place your order. These orders open on time, which is when you need to come back to buy, that is, 5 a.m. Pacific, 8 a.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. U.K.
Even a few minutes late can mean missing the exact model you want so you may have to choose a higher storage capacity, for instance, such as 512GB instead of 256GB. The price difference here is $100 for the iPhone 18 Pro.
Note that you can also choose store pick-up rather than delivery, which can help with flexibility.
Remember that pre-orders for the iPhone Duo are not opening yet — that’ll happen on Friday, Oct. 16, which you can prepare for beforehand as well.
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This article was originally published on Forbes.com