Your complete schedule until the sale date

Updated September 12th with details on how to order ASAP when pre-orders begin.

After passionate months of speculation, leaks and reports, Apple has announced its 2024 iPhones. That means the timeline of what's happening when has been more or less confirmed. To make sure you don't miss anything, here's what's happening now in the run-up to the iPhones going on sale, with all the details on what's confirmed and what's still just predicted. And Apple just confirmed the missing piece of the puzzle – how users can get to the front of the pre-order line. Let's start with that.

iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro: Before pre-orders (confirmed)

Apple has announced that this time it will do as it did last year and give customers the opportunity to select what they want in advance so that pre-orders can be made.

Apple says: “Customers have until 9:00 p.m. PDT tonight to get a head start on pre-ordering the new iPhone 16 lineup by selecting their desired model, choosing their preferred payment method – including pre-approval for financing – and saving their cart so they're just a click away once pre-orders begin tomorrow.”

This time is 9:00 p.m. Pacific Time, 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time (midnight today) for customers on the West Coast, and 5:00 a.m. Friday, September 13 for customers in the UK.

Once you've selected your model, color, and storage tier, you can save the cart, but you'll need to log in as soon as possible after the pre-order period in your region to complete the sale. What are they? Read on.

iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro: When pre-orders start (confirmed)

Pre-orders will be available from Friday 13 September. The possible superstitious reaction to Friday the 13th.^th did not deter Apple.

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Pre-orders start at 5am Pacific, 8am Eastern and 1pm UK. Last year, Apple let you jump in the queue the night before. You could log into apple.com the day before, select the device of your choice in the right color and storage, and add it to the online shopping cart. That way, you could immediately hit the buy button as soon as pre-orders were activated.

There is no news yet if such a situation will occur this year, but I will report if this changes.

iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro: Introduction of iOS 18 (confirmed)

Apple has now announced that the software, which will run on the new iPhones and on all iPhones from the iPhone Xr onwards, will be released on Monday, September 16. An exact time was not given, but it is usually 10am Pacific time, 1pm Eastern time and 6pm UK time.

iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro: Release date (confirmed)

The iPhones will go on sale on Friday, September 20, along with the Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch Ultra 2 in black, AirPods 4, AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation, and AirPods Max in new colors.

iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro: Release date (to be confirmed)

The exact time is not yet set, but it is usually around 8am local time. This means that due to time zones, it will go on sale in Australia and New Zealand first.

You can then head to your local Apple Store to purchase or pick up your online order, or wait anxiously at home if you have arranged for home delivery.

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