iPhone Duo goes on sale on Friday, October 23 in more than 70 countries and regions, and in 28 more on Friday, October 30. Apple has named 18 of the first-wave countries and none of the second-wave ones, which is the awkward part if you are in a market that has not been listed either way.
If the answer turns out to be October 30, buying a week early means buying abroad, and that is a different transaction rather than the same one moved forward. You pay that storefront’s price in that storefront’s currency, and the phone carries the warranty and service terms of the market that sold it.
| Item | What Apple publishes |
|---|---|
| First wave | Friday, October 23, more than 70 countries and regions |
| Second wave | Friday, October 30, 28 more countries and regions, none named |
| Pre-orders | Friday, October 16 at 5 a.m. PT, with local times published per storefront |
| Named first-wave countries | Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Türkiye, UAE, UK, US, Vietnam |
| Entry price | $1,999 in the US for 256GB, or $83.29 a month for 24 months |
| SIM hardware | eSIM-only worldwide, dual eSIM with two lines active and eight or more stored |
| Software | Ships with iOS 27.1 |
What Apple has published about the two waves
Apple’s iPhone Duo release gives the structure and half the detail: pre-orders on Friday, October 16, availability on Friday, October 23 in more than 70 countries and regions, and 28 more on Friday, October 30. The 18 countries above are the ones Apple names in that release, and the rest of the first wave is unnamed alongside the whole of the second.
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Apple has not published a pre-order date for the October 30 regions either. It is reasonable to expect one, but nothing in Apple’s material states it, so a buyer in an unlisted country currently has no confirmed date for either step. Our full rundown of the iPhone Duo announcement covers the hardware in the meantime.
What a Duo costs, storefront by storefront
Ten storefronts have published prices, and they are the practical shortlist for anyone considering a trip. These are Apple’s own figures for the 256GB model, each in its own currency, and we are not converting them, because no exchange rate belongs in an article like this one.
| Country | iPhone Duo 256GB | Pre-order time on October 16 |
|---|---|---|
| US | $1,999 | 5 a.m. PT |
| UK | £1,999 | 1 pm |
| Canada | C$2,999 | 5 a.m. PT |
| Australia | A$3,499 | 10 pm AEST |
| Germany | €2,299 | 14:00 MESZ |
| France | €2,339 | 14:00 CEST |
| Japan | ¥364,800 | 9 pm JST |
| Singapore | S$3,099 | 8 pm SGT |
| UAE | AED 8,499 | 4 p.m. local |
| India | ₹2,99,900 | 5:30 PM IST |
All ten are in the October 23 wave. Apple also publishes the higher tiers in each, and the case and folio accessories separately, at $79 and $129 in the US. Every one of them ships with iOS 27.1, a step above the iOS 27 build arriving free on September 14.
eSIM-only everywhere removes one variable
iPhone Duo is eSIM-only in every market, with dual eSIM, two lines active at once and eight or more stored, and more than 500 supported carriers. That is genuinely useful for a cross-border purchase, because unlike iPhone 18 Pro Max, which ships with a SIM tray in most countries and without one in twelve, there is no hardware difference to get wrong.
It does not remove the carrier question. Whether your own network provisions an eSIM on a phone bought overseas is a question for the carrier, and Apple does not publish that.
The catches before you book a trip
- Warranty and service follow the storefront. A Duo bought in Singapore or Japan is that market’s device, sold under that market’s terms, and per-country warranty text is not published in anything we can quote here.
- The exchange rate is yours, not Apple’s. Your card issuer sets it on the day, and a foreign transaction fee may sit on top.
- Stock is unpublished. Apple has issued no stock or reservation guidance for launch day in any country, and the Singapore Store page already sets a two-per-customer limit on iPhone 18 Pro, so limits on the Duo would not be a surprise.
- The trip costs money too. A week of waiting against flights and a hotel is a comparison worth doing honestly before the phone becomes the reason for the journey.
- Trade-in does not travel. Apple publishes a $175 to $885 credit range for an iPhone 13 or later in the US and no per-model values anywhere, so a trade-in you were counting on may not exist in the country you fly to.
What has not been confirmed
Apple has not named the 28 second-wave countries and regions, has not given them a pre-order date, and has not said how the two waves were divided. It has also not published Duo prices outside the ten storefronts listed above, where regional releases give starting prices only.
Pre-orders open on Friday, October 16, first deliveries land on Friday, October 23 and the second wave follows on Friday, October 30. If your country is not on Apple’s named list, the cheapest move is to wait for Apple to publish it rather than to buy a ticket, and our recap of everything announced at the event has the rest of the October timeline.
