Surprisingly weak demand seen as pre-orders open for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max
Is the wait for the iPhone Duo pre-order period somehow responsible for the weak iPhone 18 Pro pre-order demand?
Weak demand seen as iPhone 18 Pro pre-orders begin | Image by PhoneArena
The pre-order period for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max began today. Unlike past years, we have yet to see strong demand for the new premium models. As of Sunday morning, most iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max configurations are still shipping on time. There are a few possible explanations for this..
Pre-order demand for iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max appears to be less than usual
Perhaps many potential iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max buyers are waiting for the iPhone Duo's pre-order period, which starts on October 16. These iPhone fans might be combing through their couches hoping to find enough change to pre-order an iPhone Duo.
Or perhaps Apple just built up a larger inventory of devices this year raising the threshold that would result in Apple putting some models and configurations on backorder.
The models most in demand have been pushed out to early to mid-October from September 18
Most iPhone 18 Pro models, outside of those in Burgundy and Silver carrying 256GB and 512GB of storage, still are scheduled to ship on September 18. Those aforementioned Burgundy and Silver iPhone 18 Pro models now show a shipping range of September 24-September 29.
The Apple iPhone 18 Pro in Burgundy. | Image by Apple
There is slightly more demand for the iPhone 18 Pro Max
As for the iPhone 18 Pro Max, that is another story. While the Burgundy model is showing shipping delayed to October 6-October 13 for the 256GB, 512GB and 1TB variants, the 2TB model will ship on the regular September 18 release date. That could be due to the $2,499 retail price. Apple might have incorrectly calculated the demand for an iPhone with 2TB of storage.
Other models and configurations of the iPhone 18 Pro Max with shipping pushed back to October 6-October 13 include
- Glacier (256GB, 512GB)
- Black (256GB)
- Silver (256GB, 512GB)
The 512GB iPhone 18 Pro Max in Black, and the 1TB model in Glacier are both expected to ship between September 24-September 29. All other iPhone 18 Pro Max models not listed
in this paragraph and the one above it, will ship on September 18.
If things don't pick up demand-wise over the remainder of the weekend, it will be interesting to see what kind of spin Apple puts on the atypical demand for the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
Pricing for iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models
- Pricing for the iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1,199 for 256GB of storage, $1,399 for 512GB of storage, $1,799 for 1TB and $2,399 for 2TB.
- Pricing for the iPhone 18 Pro Max starts at $1,299 for 256GB of storage, $1,499 for 512GB of storage, $1,899 for 1TB and $2,499 for 2TB.
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