Deals: iPhone 18 Pros launch, refurbished iPhone 17 Pros are expensive, Galaxy Z8 foldables discounted
The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max went on sale this week in the US, along with 64 other countries in the first wave. If you have your eyes set on an iPhone Duo, you will have to wait for over a month more to get it.
As for the new Pro models, here is a reminder of their prices – they cost $100 more than the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max did last year. As is tradition, Apple stopped selling the old Pros when the new ones were unveiled – only non-Pro models last more than a year on Apple.com. But that doesn’t stop third-party retailers from selling older Pros as you’ll see below.
What used to happen every September is this – new iPhone generation launches, both Pro and vanilla phones. Then old Pros get discontinued, old vanilla models get a $100 price cut. Well, not this year – first, there are no new vanilla or Air models yet, and second, old models got a $100 price increase instead. So, even if the iPhone 17 Pro was still around, it wouldn’t have made sense – it started at $1,100 last year and a $100 price hike would put it on the same $1,200 price point as the 18 Pro.
Instead, we’ll have a look at refurbished units. Amazon’s Renewed Premium mark means that there are no scratches on the display, no cosmetic damage on the body (at least nothing that is visible from 12 inches away), better than 90% battery health and a set of accessories (either original or third-party – basically, just a cable and a SIM ejector).
The iPhone 17 Pro was $1,100 for a 256GB unit when new, but you can get a refurbished one-year-old 17 Pro for just under $1,000. The new model brings Apple’s first 2nm chipset – the A20 Pro is a beast – and it has a smaller punch hole for the FaceTime camera and Face ID system. There’s also a variable aperture and faster charging (50% in 15 minutes instead of 20 minutes). By virtue of how popular it was, the Cosmic Orange version is usually the cheapest.
The iPhone 17 Pro Max was $1,200 last year (for a 256GB unit). And a year later a refurbished unit costs $1,200. Wait, what? We checked Walmart too and got the same price – it’s a crazy world out there where old electronics cost as much or more than when they were new. Anyway, the iPhone 18 Pro Max is the fastest-charging iPhone yet and it can reach 50% charge in just 15 minutes, compared to the 17 Pro Max, which needs 20 minutes.
The iPhone 17, iPhone Air and iPhone 17e are still available on Apple.com. After the price hike, they cost $900, $1,100 and $700, respectively, for the base 256GB models. Since we were looking at refurbished units anyway, we checked how much they cost compared to new – and we’re happy to report that the refurbished units are cheaper than new units.
If you do go with an iPhone 18 Pro or 18 Pro Max, you may want to pick up a case. Here are the official Apple cases – TechWoven, Silicone and Clear. All three support MagSafe.
The new AirPods 5, Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 also hit store shelves this week.
This only leaves the iPhone Duo from the new announcements – again, it’s coming in late October. Meanwhile, Samsung’s 2026 foldables are running some fine discounts, considering that they only launched in August.
The Galaxy Z Fold8 is the Duo’s primary rival for the US market. It’s thinner (9.7mm vs. 11.3mm) and much lighter (201g vs. 254g), while offering essentially the same size of internal screen. The Z Fold8 has a 5.5” 4:3 cover display and is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy. It has a 50MP main (1/1.56”) and a 50MP ultra-wide camera, plus two 10MP selfie cameras – both using punch holes. Meanwhile, Apple used an under-display camera for the inner selfie module on the Duo. Also, there’s no stylus support, unlike the Duo, which does work with a stylus. Another win for Apple or is it? Would you use a stylus on your foldable?
Even the large Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra is lighter than the Duo – it’s only 215g, 39g less than the Apple foldable. The squarish 8” inner display has around 17% more surface area inside. Also, the tall-and-skinny 6.5” 21:9 cover display is easier to use one-handed – the Ultra is 72.8mm wide when closed, the Duo is 84.1mm. The Ultra also has a 200MP main camera, a dedicated telephoto lens (10MP 3x/67mm) and a 50MP ultra-wide.
If you want something compact, the Galaxy Z Flip8 closes to an 85.7 x 75.4 x 13.1mm puck that weighs 180g. It has a squarish 4.1” cover display and a 6.9” 21:9 inner display. The cameras are not amazing, as you get a 50MP main (1/1.57”) and a 12MP ultra-wide, plus a 10MP selfie.
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