The iPhone 18 Pro and Apple’s first folding iPhone are set to be unveiled soon, but the timing of preorders remains uncertain. Apple is expected to hold its September event on Wednesday, 9 September 2026, where it will announce both the iPhone 18 Pro and its debut foldable handset, reportedly named the iPhone Ultra.
Typically, Apple stages its annual iPhone launch on or around the second Tuesday of the month, though this has not always held true. Of the last eight iPhone events, five have fallen on a Tuesday, two on a Wednesday and one on a Monday. In 2020, the launch even took place in October rather than September, so there is no rigid rule.
Why preorders may move to Saturday
Historically, Apple almost always opens preorders on the Friday following its event. There is one notable exception: when that Friday falls on 11 September. In 2015, Apple announced the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus on Wednesday, 9 September, and preorders subsequently opened on Saturday, 12 September.
The company appears set to repeat that pattern this year, with preorders reportedly moving to the Saturday after the event rather than the Friday.
A potentially inconvenient start time
There may be one significant change to how preorders are handled. Rather than opening at the more familiar times used in recent years, Apple is said to be planning to open preorders at 12:01am Pacific Time, as it has done for iPhones in the past. That would place the start at 3:01am on the east coast of the United States, and around 2:00am in central regions such as Chicago.
This timing would be inconvenient for many buyers, particularly given that the iPhone Ultra is expected to have very limited supplies at launch. Waking early to place an order is not unheard of, but the early hours involved this time would require customers to stay up or set alarms in the middle of the night.
There are conflicting signals about the exact date. Sources at a major US carrier were reportedly told to keep the morning of 11 September open, with time-off requests for that period being denied. However, that does not confirm a Friday morning start, as carriers have been wrong about such details in the past, forcing stores to adjust their plans once Apple confirmed the concrete date.
The official preorder schedule will only be confirmed when Apple announces it at the September event on 9 September 2026.
