Today is the day to get your iPhone Duo order ready. Apple opens its “Get Ready” pre-order prep for the foldable iPhone this morning, four days before pre-orders go live on Friday. With launch stock expected to be tight, the ten minutes you spend today could be the difference between a launch-day phone and a long wait.
Here is what opens today, the exact dates that matter, what the Duo costs, and the checklist that gives you the best shot at October 23.
Every date that matters
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| Monday, October 12 (today) | “Get Ready” pre-order prep opens on Apple’s site and in the Apple Store app |
| Friday, October 16 | Pre-orders go live at 5 a.m. PT (8 a.m. ET, 1 p.m. UK) |
| Friday, October 23 | iPhone Duo launches in stores and deliveries begin |
What Get Ready lets you do today
Get Ready is Apple’s pre-order head start, available on its online store and in the Apple Store app. It lets you work through everything except the final purchase, so that when 5 a.m. PT hits on Friday, you are essentially placing a one-tap order:
- Pick your color and storage capacity
- Confirm your carrier and plan status
- Choose accessories and an AppleCare+ plan
- Set up a trade-in, so your old phone’s value is applied at checkout
- Add a payment method and set your shipping and billing addresses
This matters more for the Duo than for a normal iPhone. Multiple reports point to limited launch supply, driven by production issues with the foldable hardware. Pre-orders could sell out in minutes, and the shoppers who complete Get Ready will check out meaningfully faster than those starting from scratch.
iPhone Duo pricing: the full lineup
Pricing starts at $1,999 for the 256GB model, which Apple also lists as $83.29 per month for 24 months. The Duo comes in two colors, star white and night sky, with four storage tiers: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB. Apple has published the base price; full pricing for the higher tiers goes live with pre-orders on Friday.
Demand signals: some buyers are skipping the iPhone 18 to wait
New data from the YipitData research group suggests the Duo is already distorting iPhone 18 sales. Nearly half, 46%, of iPhone 18 purchases between September 12 and October 2 were placed as pre-orders, with the Pro Max over-indexing relative to the Pro (roughly 49% vs. 42%). More telling: iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max pre-order rates trailed the iPhone 17 models by about 3 percentage points over the same timeframe, which the data suggests is shoppers holding out for the foldable.
Translation: a meaningful number of premium iPhone buyers are waiting for October 16, not October 23 or later. If you are one of them, today is the day to lock in your configuration.
Online or in-store: how to choose
Apple is planning a major retail showcase for the Duo, with stores preparing demo areas and adapting their “Presto” machines, the wireless system that installs software updates on iPhones without opening the box, for the foldable. If you buy at a U.S. Apple Store, there is even a small personal touch: Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports stores will be able to personalize your Duo’s first-boot greeting with your name, so the “Hello” screen says something like “Hello, Mark,” in English or Spanish.
Which route should you take? Online pre-ordering is the safer bet for actually securing a unit, since you can complete the whole thing at 5 a.m. PT from your couch. In-store is for the experience: hands-on time with the foldable before you commit, the personalized greeting, and immediate help with setup and trade-in. If you go the store route, still complete Get Ready online today so your configuration and trade-in are already sorted.
Your iPhone Duo pre-order checklist
- Decide your storage now. If you shoot 4K video or keep years of photos on-device, the 256GB base will feel tight fast. The $200 step to 512GB is the sweet spot for most buyers.
- Check your trade-in value. Get a quote in the Apple Store app today; an iPhone 17 Pro in good condition will take a real chunk out of $1,999.
- Confirm carrier compatibility. The Duo ships unlocked from Apple, but confirm your plan supports the features you use, especially if you are on a prepaid or MVNO carrier.
- Choose AppleCare+ or not. A foldable has two displays and a hinge. Decide before Friday, not at 5 a.m. with the checkout timer running.
- Complete Get Ready today. Color, capacity, carrier, accessories, trade-in, payment, shipping address. All of it.
- Set an alarm for Friday, 5 a.m. PT. Or better: be in the Apple Store app a few minutes early, signed in, with your Get Ready order queued.
The iPhone Duo is Apple’s first foldable and its most expensive iPhone ever, and the launch window is compressed: prep today, pre-order Friday, in hand October 23. If you are weighing it against Samsung’s foldable instead, our iPhone Duo vs Galaxy Z Fold 8 comparison breaks down the $2,000 decision. And if you bought an iPhone 18 Pro instead of waiting, make sure you are running the latest software, since the differences from the iPhone 17 Pro matter most once iOS 27.2 lands.
