iPhone 18 Pro and Duo pre-orders: UK prices, two separate dates and how much it went up

iPhone 18 Pro and Duo pre-orders: UK prices, two separate dates and how much it went up

Apple showed both devices on 9 September but sells them five weeks apart. iPhone 18 Pro pre-orders open on 12 September at 1pm BST, while the foldable Duo waits until 16 October.

• iPhone 18 Pro from £1,199 to £2,399, Pro Max from £1,299 to £2,499

• iPhone Duo from £1,999 to £3,199 for 2TB

• Pro pre-orders 12 September, on sale 18 September. Duo pre-orders 16 October, on sale 23 October

• The Pro line is £100 more than the 17 Pro generation

• The Duo drops the telephoto, LiDAR and variable aperture, and uses Touch ID rather than Face ID

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The full UK price ladder

iPhone 18 Pro: £1,199 for 256GB, rising to £2,399 for 2TB.

iPhone 18 Pro Max: £1,299 for 256GB, rising to £2,499 for 2TB.

iPhone Duo: £1,999 for 256GB, rising to £3,199 for 2TB.

The Duo therefore sits £700 above the Pro Max at the entry tier. Apple also offers financing from £39.96 a month at zero percent APR over 30 months on the Pro.

How much it went up

The Pro line costs 100 dollars, 150 euros or 100 pounds more than the previous generation, depending on market.

Worth noting that the eurozone took the sharpest increase. Converted, 150 euros is appreciably more than the 100 dollars applied at home, which comes down to exchange rates and tax rather than a separate pricing policy for Europe. UK buyers got the same £100 step as the dollar increase.

The dates: two pre-orders, not one

This is the most common mix-up, because both devices were announced the same evening.

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max: pre-orders on Saturday 12 September at 1pm BST, on sale Friday 18 September.

iPhone Duo: pre-orders on Friday 16 October at 1pm BST, on sale Friday 23 October. The UK is in the first distribution wave.

Apple separated the launches deliberately so neither product would be lost in the other's shadow. Pre-orders for the Pro models falling on a Saturday rather than the usual Friday is presumably down to 11 September.

What the Pro models bring

Inside sits the A20 Pro on a 2-nanometre process, the first such chip in an iPhone. The vapour chamber has three times the surface area of the one in the iPhone 17 Pro and lifts sustained performance by up to forty percent.

The most interesting change is the camera. The 48MP main sensor has gained a variable aperture, a physical mechanism controlling how much light enters. A solution borrowed from camera design and rare in phones.

Battery runs to 34 hours of video on the 18 Pro and 43 hours on the Pro Max, and five minutes of charging the Pro Max yields around seven hours of video.

Colours: burgundy, glacier blue, silver and black.

iPhone Duo: what is in it and what is not

Folded, the Duo has a 5.4-inch display covering ninety percent of the screen area of an iPhone 18 Pro. Opened, it becomes 7.6 inches, the largest display Apple has put in an iPhone.

Inside is the same A20 Pro, a dual battery split across both halves of the body, and Touch ID in the side button rather than Face ID.

The compromises need stating, because the announcements gloss over them.

No telephoto, no LiDAR, no variable aperture. The camera falls clearly behind the Pro models, at £700 more.

Only two colours: blue and white.

eSIM only, in every market. There is no SIM tray. Check eSIM support with your network first, because there is no fallback.

Apple Pencil support over USB-C is due later in 2026.

The EU restriction, and what it means here

Siri with AI features arrives in beta, in English only, and does not launch in the European Union. The UK sits outside the EU, so the restriction does not apply here in the same way, but Apple has given no timetable for the European rollout.

Reference Image, a cloud-signed copy of a photo used to detect AI editing, is not available in the EU at launch for capturing new images. Again the UK position differs, and checking against your own account region is worth a minute.

iOS 27 reaches users on Monday 14 September.

Where to buy in the UK

Apple sells both models through its own channel, but the phones also reach retail. The retailers below stock Apple hardware, and buying through Soleback returns part of the order value:

• Ebuyer

• Selfridges

• Debenhams

At £1,199 for the base model even a low percentage converts into a real amount, so comparing rates before buying is worth the effort.

The click through Soleback has to be the last one before the shop, and cashback clears once the returns window closes.

It is also worth checking our promotions section.

What to watch for

Do not confuse the dates. If you are waiting on the Duo, nothing happens for you on 12 September. Your date is 16 October at 1pm.

The Duo does not have the better camera. At £700 more you get a weaker lens set than the Pro models. If photography matters, the Pro Max is the better buy and considerably cheaper.

The previous generation is getting cheaper. The best moment for an iPhone 17 Pro if the newest chip does not matter to you.

Check eSIM before ordering a Duo. Without network support the phone is unusable.

FAQ

How much is the iPhone 18 Pro in the UK?

From £1,199 for 256GB up to £2,399 for 2TB. The Pro Max runs £1,299 to £2,499.

How much is the iPhone Duo?

From £1,999 for 256GB up to £3,199 for 2TB, putting it £700 above the Pro Max at entry level.

When do pre-orders open?

iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max on 12 September at 1pm BST, the iPhone Duo on 16 October at 1pm BST.

When do they reach shops?

The Pro models on 18 September, the Duo on 23 October. The UK is in the first wave.

How much did prices rise?

The Pro line is £100 more than the previous generation.

Does the Duo have Face ID?

No. Apple uses Touch ID in the side button.

In summary

The increase is real but at £100 on the base configuration it is milder than the pre-launch warnings suggested.

For most buyers the iPhone 18 Pro Max at £1,299 is the sensible pick, because £100 over the Pro buys a larger display and around nine hours more battery.

The Duo is a purchase from a different category. You are not weighing it against the Pro models but deciding whether the two-in-one format justifies the premium on a weaker camera.