iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max preorders open with AI-focused A20 Pro chip

Preorders for Apple's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are now live. The two phones, introduced at the company's September 2026 "Sunrise and shine" event alongside the iPhone Duo, are built around the new A20 Pro processor, which combines added GPU capacity with extra neural cores for AI workloads, according to The Verge. Both handsets reach customers on Friday, September 18.

What Apple is selling

The smaller 6.3-inch iPhone 18 Pro is priced from $1,199 with 256GB of storage and tops out at $2,399 for a 2TB configuration. The 6.9-inch Pro Max starts at $1,299 for 256GB and reaches $2,499 at 2TB. Both come in four finishes: deep black, silver, glacier, and burgundy. Beyond the new silicon, The Verge reports that the models bring camera improvements over their predecessors.

Where to preorder

At the start of the preorder window, Apple is the only place to buy either phone unlocked. Shoppers who would rather not pay upfront can split the cost over 36 monthly payments at zero percent interest, and the new models qualify for the recently introduced Apple Upgrade program. Trade-in values run as high as $885 toward a new device, with carriers layering additional credits on top.

Big-box retailers are stocking the phones, but only in carrier-locked form so far. The Verge found that Best Buy lists the 18 Pro and the Pro Max through Verizon and AT&T, while Walmart sells the 18 Pro through Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, and the Pro Max through the same three carriers.

The carrier offers

AT&T will effectively zero out the cost of an iPhone 18 Pro through bill credits paid out over 36 months, provided you trade in an iPhone 14 or newer and sign up for the AT&T Extra plan; cheaper plans earn smaller discounts. Anyone stepping up to the Pro Max pays the $99 price difference out of pocket.

T-Mobile is offering the 18 Pro at no cost via bill credits to customers who port in a number or make a qualifying trade while on the Experience Beyond plan. Existing subscribers face tighter terms: only trade-ins of an iPhone 16 or newer cover the full price of a new phone.

Verizon's deal ties the free phone to its Simplicity Pro plan, which runs $80 per month for people switching from another carrier. The arrangement includes an upgrade after one year, but as with the other carriers, the value arrives as monthly installments, so buyers need to stay for three years to collect all of it.

Why it matters

The headline story of this launch is silicon designed around AI. The A20 Pro's expanded neural core count indicates that on-device intelligence, rather than screens or cameras alone, is now the main axis on which Apple differentiates its Pro models, and it sets the hardware baseline that developers of AI features will target for the next several years.

The rollout also shows how little the US purchase model has moved. A "free" flagship still requires a trade-in and a roughly three-year carrier commitment, and the most flexible unlocked purchases remain confined to Apple's own storefront in the opening days. For devices marketed on next-generation AI capability, the path to owning one is still built on installments and lock-in.