Apple Sets iPhone Duo Preorders for Oct. 16 in Over 70 Markets, With Sales Starting Oct. 23

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple will not put its first foldable iPhone on the same September calendar as the iPhone 18 Pro. The iPhone Duo goes up for preorder at 5 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday, Oct. 16, and reaches stores and doorsteps on Friday, Oct. 23, in more than 70 countries and regions. A second wave of 28 markets follows on Friday, Oct. 30.

That schedule is from Apple's Sept. 9 newsroom release, issued the day Chief Executive John Ternus unveiled the book-style phone at Apple Park. The 18 Pro and Pro Max open for preorder Saturday, Sept. 12, and ship Sept. 18. The Duo sits five weeks later — the same pattern Apple used when a new form factor was hard to build.

Ternus called it "an entirely new design, while preserving everything you love about iPhone." The company priced the 256-gigabyte model at $1,999 in the United States, with 512 GB at $2,199, 1 TB at $2,599 and 2 TB at $3,199. Colors are star white and night sky, in polished grade-5 titanium. Cases and a folio with kickstand can be ordered the same day as the phone: $79 and $129 in the U.S.

Apple listed first-wave markets by name: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam, among more than 70 countries and regions in total. It did not publish the full roster. It did say 28 other countries and regions get the device on Oct. 30. Reporting in German-language outlets has placed Austria in that second group; Apple itself did not itemize the 28.

Local clocks matter. Five a.m. Pacific on Oct. 16 is 8 a.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. in Britain, 8 p.m. in Hong Kong and late evening in Seoul and Tokyo. India is in the first wave; so are China and Japan. South Korea is named. Hong Kong media have described Oct. 16 evening preorders and Oct. 23 sales at a local starting price of HK$17,499. Germany's Apple Store lists €2,299 for 256 GB; Austria's store has shown €2,319. The United Kingdom starts at £1,999. Those figures are store prices, not a single global MSRP.

The phone ships with iOS 27.1. Apple warned that some features will not appear in every language or region "due to local laws and regulations." European coverage has said the rebuilt Siri assistant based on Apple Intelligence is not available in the European Union at launch. The Duo is eSIM-only worldwide, with no physical SIM tray — a detail that will slow buyers in markets where prepaid plastic is still the default.

Accessories follow the phone, not the Pro. The Duo Case and Folio are orderable Oct. 16. Carrier fulfillment will vary. Apple Upgrade leasing in the U.S., through Klarna, is advertised from about $58 a month over 24 months on qualifying terms, or $83.29 a month on a 24-month example tied to the $1,999 price.

Why October, not September, is a supply story as much as a marketing one. Foldable panels, hinges and yield have slipped Apple calendars before. Staggering the Duo behind the 18 Pro line keeps Pro Max inventory from competing with a $2,000 experiment in the same week. Analysts had forecast scarce early units even before the event. Apple did not give a production number.

Shoppers who want the phone on day one should treat Oct. 16 like a Pro launch: Apple Store app, apple.com, and carrier sites at the local equivalent of 5 a.m. Pacific. In-store pickup on Oct. 23 will be limited where it exists. The Oct. 30 countries should not expect the same opening-hour crush if first-wave demand absorbs the factory.

What Apple has not done is promise a complete country list or a date for markets outside those two Fridays. Ecuador and other smaller stores have already noted they are waiting. Features tied to Apple Intelligence will trail the hardware in places where regulators have not cleared the models. None of that changes the published spine: announce Sept. 9, preorder Oct. 16 at 5 a.m. PT in 70-plus named and unnamed markets, sell Oct. 23, add 28 more on Oct. 30.

The Duo is the first iPhone that is also a small tablet. The calendar is the first iPhone launch in years that is not the same week as the Pro. For buyers in the listed countries, the wait is five weeks from the keynote and one week from the preorder button. For everyone else, the next date on Apple's piece of paper is Oct. 30 — and then silence until a store page appears.