New Delhi: Apple's new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are on sale and huge crowds are coming to Apple stores around India. From Delhi and Mumbai to Bengaluru and Noida, the customers arrived hours before the stores opened and many visited the stores early in the morning to get their hands on the new iPhones.
The launch-day rush was visible at Apple Stores in Delhi’s Select Citywalk Mall, Mumbai’s Jio World Drive and Bengaluru, where customers were waiting in long queues. In Noida, buyers gathered at the Apple Store inside DLF Mall as the official sale of the new Pro models began.
For a lot of Apple fans it was more than just buying a new smartphone. Rahul said he had come to the store at 5 a.m. in Bengaluru and met people who had traveled from different parts of the country, including Haryana, Delhi and Mumbai. He said the iPhone launch is an annual event and has been buying Apple’s smartphones for a few years.
“I’ve been here since around five o’clock in the morning. There was a long queue. People from Delhi, Mumbai and Haryana are here just to buy the iPhone,” he said. Rahul added that he had his first iPhone be the iPhone 7 and has upgraded to newer models over the years.
Customers Travel Long Distances
The excitement around the iPhone 18 Pro models was also evident in Mumbai, where some customers came from outside the city. Hitesh Patel said he had come from Nashik and had been waiting outside the store since 10 pm the previous night.
Patel said he had secured the first 8 am slot and was waiting to receive his new device. He currently uses an iPhone 17 Pro Max and said he upgrades his phone every year. His next purchase was the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
Other customers also described spending the entire night at the store. One buyer said customers remained in line despite not having a barcode, which was indicative of the optimism that comes with the first day of sales.
Ajay, another customer, said he had booked the iPhone 18 Pro Max with 1TB storage and came to the store to be one of the first buyers. He said he was currently using an iPhone 17 Pro and was particularly interested in seeing what Apple had changed with the new Pro model.
VIDEO | Mumbai: Sale of newly-launched iPhone 18 series begins. Visuals from Apple Store at Bandra Kurla Complex.#iPhone18 #Mumbai
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Tech Enthusiasts Among Early Buyers
The launch also attracted technology advocates and content makers. Suraj Chauhan, who runs a YouTube channel on technology reviews, said he previously purchased the iPhone 17 Pro last year and was back this year to buy the iPhone 18 Pro Max.
For tech-oriented buyers, camera performance and image quality remain important considerations when upgrading to a new iPhone. Chauhan said he was particularly interested in improvements to the camera and overall quality of the new model.
The crowds were not limited to one city. In Noida, a customer who travelled from Punjab said he had been waiting outside the DLF Mall Apple Store since 6 a.m. He said he had secured the earliest booking and became one of the first customers to receive an iPhone 18 Pro Max.
iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max Now Available in India
Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are now available to Indian customers through Apple’s online store as well as physical Apple retail outlets. The company has opened sales across six Apple Store locations in the country.
On launch day, Apple’s physical stores opened earlier than usual and were open from 8 am to 10 pm. The extended hours are set up so as to cater to the large number of customers who will want to buy the latest iPhones on the first day.
The long queues underscore Apple’s premium smartphone lineup in India. Some customers arrived early to secure their devices, while others treated the launch as an annual tradition and returned to Apple Stores as soon as the newest generation became available.
Now that iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are officially available, the question is: will people buy them? The reviews of them and the comparison with the iPhone 6 will be, of course, a big part of the customer experience for Apple fans who have been waiting overnight or traveled long distances for an iPhone.
