If you want an iPhone 18 Pro and don't want to wait weeks after they ship, go online now to get your preorder ready. Here's how to do it and what you need to look out for.
Pre-orders for new iPhones always start a few minutes late, depending where you are in the world and whether you're ordering online, or through the app. Then when you get on, certain models sell out in moments.
On the day, all you can do to beat the pre-orders starting late is to keep refreshing both the app and the online store. But there is much more you can do in advance to at least hopefully ensure you get the model, the configuration, and the color, that you want.
You can go to the iPhone 18 Pro pages on Apple's site, and you can go through all but one of the steps in choosing and configuring what you want. The only thing you cannot do is actually buy the item.
But this is serious money and you'll have to live with the configuration you choose, so you need to consider carefully. That takes time, of course, but if you spend that time once pre-orders have opened, the model you want will be sold out before you're ready.
So instead, take this chance to do all of your thinking and financial planning ahead of time.
How to pre-stage the iPhone 18 Pro pre-order
Go to the iPhone 18 Pro page and select what you want. The options are precisely as they will be once pre-orders open, so you can choose capacity, color, and also detail how you want to pay.
You can also explore trade-in options and financing - image credit: Apple.
This is a crucial step. For all of the specifications and configuration options, you just click what you want, but finance takes more.
You can choose to buy outright, to use financing, or to lease with the new Apple Upgrade options. With financing in the US, you need to pick a carrier to arrange the deal through.
Outside of the US, isn't the same finance section, you have to first go through to the very end where you'd expect to see a Buy button. Until pre-orders open, that button is labelled "Get ready for pre-order" instead.
US users will see that same button and pressing it takes all users through to more questions and options about payment.
Check your details
You want the check-out process to be as fast as possible, since the new iPhones will sell out. Still, it's reasonably quick to say that you want 512GB instead of 256GB.
It's this payment and financing detail that can take a time. So be certain you have chosen the right option for you, and that every detail you've been asked for is correct.
This is where you can find problems or your pre-order being rejected. So use the time available to check through it all carefully.
While you specified earlier in the process whether you were buying outright or using financing, you now need to log in — or create — an account on the Apple Store. Then select from options such as Apple Pay or any credit or debit card you've previously entered.
You also have to confirm your contact details and agree to the terms and conditions. Then you click on Save your pre-order info, and you're done — until pre-orders start.
Previously this pre-pre-order has been available only until midnight eastern time before pre-orders open. Even if Apple extends that time for any reason, it will take the whole store down an hour or more before pre-orders open.
So take advantage of this option ahead of time and make sure you're picking what configuration iPhone 18 Pro you want. Then you'll know you've done all you can to ensure you get the iPhone you want.
When pre-orders open
The online Apple store will go down at some point in the small hours of the morning. Then, at 8 AM Eastern Time, or thereabouts, the store will come back up. It may be a few minutes late, but it won't be early.
Once the store is back up, go to your bag or account to actually place the order and make your payment. It is still possible that your choice of model and configuration will be sold out, because the most popular ones sell out very quickly.
You won't really miss out completely, though as the worst that happens is that you will be unable to get your iPhone on the first day that it is due to be shipped. If history is any indication, if you wait 15 minutes to get this done, the wait will immediately stretch into days after first deliveries, then weeks, and at times it has even been months.
Note, though, that regardless of how an iPhone sells out online on pre-order day, Apple keeps a stock for its stores, so selecting pickup may be a good option. This year, the iPhone 18 Pro will be in store on September 18, the day the first batch of online orders will ship.
And, we get to do this all again in October for the iPhone Duo.
