Early buyers snap up iPhone 18 Pro models

Taipei, Sept. 18 (CNA) Apple's latest smartphones, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, hit stores Friday, 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, customers lined up outside to collect their pre-ordered devices, while store specialists were on hand to greet them.

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

Speaking with 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 the cost was higher than he expected.

"It was unexpected that with the development of AI, 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 currently interested in buying one.

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

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.

Greeted by applause from Taiwan's Fubon Angels cheerleading team as a special event to commemorate the iPhone launch, Huang was hailed as 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.

To be first in line, Huang took a high-speed train from Yunlin County to Taipei on Wednesday and began camping outside the store at 10 p.m. that night.

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

Similarly, the first person to get an iPhone through Chunghwa Telecom was a Taoyuan man surnamed Liao (廖), who began lining up at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday outside the company's flagship service center in Taipei's Xinyi District, a few blocks from the Apple Store.

Meanwhile, Far EasTone welcomed back a longtime customer surnamed Wu (吳), who was again among its first buyers.

Wu, who has had a contract with Far EasTone for more than a decade, 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.

Sales of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max models began across Taiwan Friday.

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

(By Jeffrey Wu, Chiang Ming-yen and James Lo)