Early buyers snap up iPhone 18 Pro models

Apple’s latest smartphones, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, hit stores yesterday, drawing devoted fans of the brand eager to be among the first to get their hands on the new models.

At Apple’s flagship Xinyi A13 store, people lined up outside to collect their pre-ordered devices, while store specialists were on hand to greet them.

Among them was a man surnamed Hsu (徐), who became the first person to get his hands on the latest iPhone for the fourth consecutive year.

Apple Inc’s new iPhone 18 Pro series is displayed at an Apple Store in Taipei’s Xinyi District yesterday.

Photo: CNA

Hsu said he chose the 256GB iPhone 18 Pro Max and was most interested in the camera’s new physical variable aperture feature.

Asked about the new model’s launch price, which is about NT$5,000 (US$157) higher than its predecessor, Hsu said it was higher than he expected.

“It was unexpected that with the development of artificial intelligence, RAMs have gone so high in price,” Hsu said.

However, given the market for memory hardware, the resale value of his old model had also risen enough to keep the cost of upgrading reasonable, Hsu said.

As for Apple’s first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo, Hsu said he was not interested in buying one.

In contrast, a man surnamed Huang (黃) said he planned to acquire an iPhone Duo when it is released next month, in addition to the iPhone 18 Pro he bought yesterday.

Huang was among the many iPhone enthusiasts who opted to get the device through a mobile phone plan rather than buy one at an Apple Store.

He was the first person to get his hands on the new iPhone through Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大).

Huang was the company’s first iPhone buyer for the third consecutive year at Taiwan Mobile’s flagship store in Taipei’s Songshan Cultural and Creative Park.

He received his 512GB iPhone 18 Pro yesterday through Taiwan Mobile’s NT$1,399 monthly plan.

The first person to get a new iPhone through Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) was a man surnamed Liao (廖).

Meanwhile, Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) welcomed back a longtime customer surnamed Wu (吳).

Wu said he was the first person to get an iPhone 14 Pro through the telecom operator four years ago when that model was released.

With his contract for that phone set to expire, he decided to renew it with Far EasTone through an NT$1,399 monthly plan and once again become the company’s first customer to get the latest iPhone.

The iPhone Duo is to hit store shelves on Oct. 23, while Apple Inc has not announced the iPhone 18 or iPhone 18e as part of its Taiwan lineup.