‘First one to get the phone’: iPhone 18 Pro sparks a dawn-to-store rush across India

A buyer from Punjab reached Noida before sunrise and stood in a queue from 6 am, determined to be among the first to take home Apple’s latest flagship. His wait was rewarded when he walked out with not one, but two iPhone 18 Pro Max devices.

The scene was replicated outside Apple stores across Delhi-NCR and several other parts of India on Friday, as the tech giant opened general sales of its new iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. 

Sales began at 8 am on Friday, with customers turning up both to collect pre-orders and make purchases at stores. Videos from the morning showed enthusiastic Apple fans waiting outside outlets in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Mumbai, Bengaluru and other major cities, with queues forming hours before stores opened.

For some buyers, the launch meant travelling beyond their home state.

"I bought two iPhone 18 Pro Max. I came from Punjab and have been standing in the queue since 6 AM. Mine was the very first booking. I am the first one who has got the phone," a buyer told news agency ANI in Noida, explaining that he had travelled specifically to purchase the device.

At Apple's store in Delhi's Saket, another customer said the decision was less about chasing the newest device and more about upgrading from an older model.

"It is just a phone... rest we will use it and know how it performs. I just need to upgrade from my (iPhone) 15 Plus. It (iPhone 18) has many upgraded features and performance," he said.

Apple pitches camera, battery and performance upgrades

Apple is positioning the iPhone 18 Pro lineup around improvements to some of the features most closely associated with its premium smartphones, including photography, performance, battery life and AI.

The company describes the Pro models as offering "the most advanced camera in an iPhone, incredible battery life, next-level performance, and Siri AI."

Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said the company had focused on making substantial improvements rather than limiting the new generation to incremental upgrades.

"With iPhone 18 Pro, we’ve made advancements to the areas our users care about most: camera, performance, battery, and intelligence. And we didn’t just make incremental improvements in these areas: we took huge leaps forward to create the best Pro iPhone we’ve ever made," Joswiak said.

The company has also highlighted a variable aperture feature aimed at giving users greater flexibility while taking photographs and shooting videos.

Apple said the feature, along with upgrades to Photographic Styles and video capabilities, is designed to offer creators more control over how they capture and produce content.

Joswiak said the camera changes would make it easier for users to capture photos and videos while giving professional users and creators greater versatility.

With the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max now available for general purchase, Apple's latest flagship has moved from launch-day anticipation to the hands of customers, with buyers across multiple cities willing to wait for hours to get their devices.