SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus, South Korea's three mobile carriers, are starting preorders for Apple's iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. The companies are moving to attract customers by highlighting handset discounts and used-phone compensation, as well as AI services and device upgrade programmes.

The telecommunications industry said on Thursday the three carriers will take preorders for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max from 9 p.m. on Sept. 12 through Sept. 17. The official domestic launch date is Sept. 18.

SKT strengthened discount benefits mainly through its official online mall, T Direct Shop. Through a lucky roulette event, it offers iPhone purchase vouchers of up to 300,000 won depending on storage capacity. It will offer compensation of up to 1.22 million won for customers returning existing devices, based on an iPhone 17 Pro 256GB in A-grade condition. Customers can receive up to an additional 150,000 won by using Mintit compensation and an additional payout. It will, for the first time, apply 36-month interest-free instalments for customers paying with Hyundai Card. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max 2TB model will be sold exclusively through T Direct Shop.

Preorder customers will receive benefits through a dedicated T Membership programme, Club iPhone 18 Pro. Customers who activate service by Oct. 18 will receive a two-month subscription to Google AI Plus and a four-month subscription voucher for Tving's ad-supported Standard plan. It will also run a prize draw event offering items including a T1 player-signed iPhone case and invitations to Garmin Run.

KT highlighted bundled benefits combining rate plans, devices and phone care. Through its Choice Double plan, it allows customers to use a combination of services they want, including YouTube Premium Lite and Netflix, Google AI Plus and AirPods Pro 3. Among these, customers who sign up for Choice Double Device by the 30th and choose AirPods Pro 3 can use it at a customer benefit price of 0 won based on a 24-month instalment plan. Instalment fees are separate.

It also strengthened device management services. The 365 Phone Care programme offers coverage for loss, theft and damage and provides repair proxy services. PhoneChange_i18 costs 5,000 won a month and guarantees up to 50 percent of the launch price at the time of subscription if customers return their existing handset after 2 years.

KT Direct Shop guarantees delivery on launch day for first-round preorder customers. When combined with an additional dedicated rate discount, a rate discount of up to 32 percent applies. With affiliated cards, customers receive benefits of up to about 1.44 million won in total, combining rate and handset discounts with cashback.

LG Uplus will offer preorder customers on its official online store a handset discount coupon of up to 200,000 won. If customers return their existing phones, it will pay up to an additional 180,000 won on top of the used-phone compensation price. It will support up to 36-month interest-free instalments for customers paying with Samsung Card or Hyundai Card.

iPhone 18 customers can use LG Uplus' AI calling app, Iksio, including call recording and summaries, an overseas voice-calling service called Roaming Call, and Voice Phishing Financial Safety that detects voice phishing risks in real time. It will also apply the actual voices of members of the group BoyNextDoor to its AI call answering service.

For device upgrade benefits, it introduced Compensation Pass, which costs 5,000 won a month. If customers switch to a subsequent iPhone after 24 months of buying an iPhone 18 and return their existing handset, it will compensate up to 50 percent of the launch price. Customers who sign up for certain rate plans will also receive Apple device benefits such as a full discount on AirPods 4 instalment payments.