Apple Store goes down ahead of iPhone 18 Pro preorders

Apple's online store went dark hours before it needed to. The site currently shows a single line for US visitors: pre-orders begin at 5 a.m. Pacific, and the store will be back "soon".

That's not unusual timing. Apple has used the 5 a.m. slot for years, dropping the old midnight start. What's different this time is how early the outage hit, well ahead of the countdown regulars are used to.

However, not only the iPhone 18 Pro but also the Pro Max has a $100 premium over their predecessors, with prices being set at $1,199 and $1,299, respectively, which is the first such increase in several generations. For what the buyer is paying extra, one may mention the 2TB capacity variant that was exclusive to the Pro Max before.

The storage capacities available are 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB in both models, while the colours of the new iPhones are Silver, Black, Burgundy, and Glacier.

Pre-orders launch in over 65 nations and territories simultaneously, including the USA, the UK, Japan, Germany, France, Canada, Australia, China, India, Mexico, and the UAE. Another round of around 20 more countries comes up after two weeks.

The devices arrive in stores on Friday, September 18, which is just six days after pre-orders begin, which is normal Apple’s timing. On September 14, iOS 27 launches separately, giving the existing iPhone owners the new software before getting any new hardware.