iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR India Pre-Order Dates Announced by Airtel Online Store

iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR India pre-order dates have been announced by Airtel. The flagship iPhone XS duo will be available for pre-orders via the Airtel Online Store from September 21, while the more affordable iPhone XR will go up for pre-order from October 19. This comes after Apple announced dual-SIM functionality on its iPhones, with the second SIM being an eSIM. Airtel and Jio offer eSIM functionality in India, and Jio is also expected to announce pre-orders for the new iPhone models soon. Apple had, at the launch, announced that iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max will become available to buy in the country from September 28, while the iPhone XR will become available to buy in the country from October 26.

Airtel has not yet listed pre-order offers on its Airtel Online Store, but we expect some offers to be announced soon. The store currently lists the new iPhones as 'coming soon'.

The iPhone XS price in India starts at Rs. 99,900 for the 64GB variant and goes up to Rs. 1,14,900 and Rs. 1,34,900 for the 256GB and 512GB variants, respectively. Likewise, buyers will have to shell out Rs. 1,09,900, Rs. 1,24,900, and Rs. 1,44,900 for the 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage options of the iPhone XS Max, respectively.

Apart from Airtel, distributors Ingram Micro and Redington have announced that the OLED iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max variants will also be made available at over 3,000 and 2,500 retail locations across India, respectively. iPhone XR 64GB variant will be priced at Rs. 76,900, the 128GB variant is priced at Rs. 81,900, and the 512GB variant is priced at Rs. 91,900.

In the US, the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max are all set to go up for pre-order today, and will be available in from September 21.The iPhone XS, in the US market, comes with a price tag of $999 (roughly Rs. 71,800) for the 64GB variant, $1,149 (roughly Rs. 82,600) for the 256GB variant, and $1,349 (roughly Rs. 97,000) for 512GB. The iPhone XS Max, on the other hand, has a starting price of $1,099 (roughly Rs. 79,000) for the 64GB variant, $1,249 (roughly Rs. 89,800) for the 256GB variant, and $1,449 (1,04,200) for the 512GB variant.

Will Apple ever launch reasonably priced iPhones in India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.