Another September means it’s another year of Apple launches. Of course this year is a little bit more exciting because, on top of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, we’re also getting the iPhone Duo for the first time: Apple’s first-ever folding phone.
With the regular iPhone 18 being left off until early next year, that’s going to leave plenty of people thinking it’s time to upgrade to either the 18 Pro or 18 Pro Max. It’s going to leave a smaller core of people thinking about upgrading to the iPhone Duo. So if that sounds like you, let’s find out what the cheapest way for you to get the new iPhone 18 Pro is in Ireland. For the sake of calculations let’s just focus on iPhone 18 Pro.
Where can you buy the iPhone 18 Pro in Ireland?
There are three common places where you can buy an Apple product in Ireland:
- Online directly from Apple themselves
- You can purchase from an Apple reseller. That means the likes of Select or Harvey Norman.
- And finally you can purchase directly from a network, typically on a 24-month contract
But what are the benefits of each route and which is the most cost-effective way to buy the iPhone 18 Pro?
Buying the iPhone 18 Pro directly from Apple or a reseller
We can actually cover off points one and two here in one go. I headed over to apple.com and searched for the iPhone 18 Pro with its 6.3-inch display. The pricing for this one starts at €1,489 and that is for the standard 256 GB model, which most people will typically go for.
Now the benefits of going this route are that you’re not tied into a 24-month contract. You’re dealing directly with the manufacturer and can save quite considerably on the monthly costs to run your phone.
To keep up with accuracy I headed over to Harvey Norman’s website and found the same iPhone 18 Pro. Again this costs €1,489 when you pre-order or purchase directly from Harvey Norman, the exact same price it would cost to purchase from Apple directly.
Again this is a straight-up purchase. You go in on the day, you pay your money, you get handed your phone, and that’s the end of the relationship with you and Harvey Norman, more or lessunless, of course, you arrange some kind of hum payment plan, which they will organize for you. Right now it’s €53.16 per month for 36 months.
Just like when purchasing directly from Apple, when you’ll be offered Apple Care, Harvey Norman will also try and offer you a product care upsell. It’s up to you what you get but remember even if you purchase with Harvey Norman, you will also have the opportunity to purchase Apple Care in the early period of having the phone.
Ultimately with both of these routes, you will get the new iPhone 18 Pro for €1,489 when buying outright, up front, full cost paid on day one. But do remember you will need a network plan to run the phone, and right now here is the best mobile plan in Ireland.
Buying the iPhone 18 Pro on a network contract
A much different route is to buy the phone on a mobile contract within a network (for example, Three Ireland, Vodafone Ireland, or Eir to name but a few).
When buying with a network you no longer have to worry about the monthly SIM-only plan as part of the overall package of a 24-month contract, you get the phone and your prescribed usage included. But contrary to popular belief you do not get a free phone. You will have to pay a fee up front. Your monthly contract will simply give you a discounted amount off. It’s a much healthier way to look at a mobile phone contract as a hire purchase agreement as it is one and all but name.
Let’s take a look at Ireland’s mobile providers and what contract options they have for the iPhone 18 Pro. I’m going to look at Vodafone, Eir, and Three, but remember there are other providers too. I’m just, for the sake of brevity, going to focus on these three.
Buying the iPhone 18 Pro on Three Ireland
Three’s homepage states that you can save up to €600 when you trade in a device towards your iPhone 18 Pro. When you click through to the product page, you will find out that the device starts at the cheapest price of €639. But it’s really important that you look at that as just a from price.
Even more unusual for customers to find is that after you add the iPhone 18 Pro to your basket on Three, you’ll find that you have two plan options. If you choose Three Select Essentials 5G, you’ll start a 24-month contract at €47 per month and have to pay €959 up front for the phone. If you pick Three Select Freedom 5G, again you enter into a 24-month contract and pay €64.99 per month with €839 up front. In order to get the €639 upfront price you have to move a number from another Irish network.
While the pricing is confusing, we have already built a phone contract value calculator to demystify everything and help you choose between the bill pay options and prepay options in front of you (and to see, over the course of a 24-month contract, which is the best value for you).
This calculation is arrived at by simply taking the total contract spend with a network on your plan over 24 months. That’s €64.99 multiplied by 24 months, added to the upfront cost of your phone, which is €639, assuming that you’re bringing a number to the Three network and not getting a new number, which is more expensive. We then compare this to how much the same phone would cost if you bought directly from Apple, for example, and then paid €12.99 per month on the current cheapest monthly SIM-only deal.
To buy the iPhone 18 Pro on Three’s €64.99 monthly plan is considerably more expensive than buying the phone outright and getting one of the cheapest SIM-only plans on the market. In fact it is nearly €400 cheaper, which would let you buy an Apple Watch or AirPods alongside your new phone.
Buying the iPhone 18 Pro on Vodafone Ireland
Next up I head over to vodafone.ie and see that they are offering the iPhone 18 Pro from €549.99, again like Three seemingly with an extra €100 discount if you switch from another Irish mobile network. But to add to all the confusion there’s €100 off whether you’re getting a new number or bringing a number with you.
Unlike Three, Vodafone has three plans to choose from. All are 24-month contracts starting at €50 per month, where you’ll pay €879.99 up front for the iPhone 18 Pro. On Vodafone’s €65 per month plan you’ll pay €729.99 up front, while on Vodafone’s €75 per month plan you will pay €549.99 upfront.
Now obviously, you should pick the plan which firstly, you can afford but secondly has the usage that you need. For the sake of comparison we’re going to stick with the middle ground here on Vodafone’s unlimited plan, which costs €65 per month, with the iPhone 18 Pro costing €729.99 up front.
Vodafone comes out slightly cheaper than Three, but is still showing as considerably more expensive to buy the iPhone 18 Pro with a network than it would cost directly, in fact costing €488.24 more. That’s nearly the price of a semi-decent mid-range smartphone in the difference.
Buying the iPhone 18 Pro on Eir
Eir is also offering the iPhone 18 Pro across its three plans: Essential Plus for €44.99 per month, Connect Plus for €64.99 per month, and Complete for €74.99 per month.
Again if you want to get a new number, the phones will cost considerably more than if you bring your own number to Eir. In case you’re wondering, networks generally do this to avoid fraud on expensive devices.
That means for €44.99 per month, the iPhone 18 Pro will cost you €1,149 up front if you’re getting a new number, but that same phone will cost you just €849 if you’re bringing your phone to Eir.
Again for the sake of comparison, let’s take the scenario of bringing your number to Eir, choosing their Connect Plus plan for €64.99 per month, where the iPhone 18 Pro will cost you €699 up front.
Eir lands right in the middle between Three and Vodafone in terms of value while still remaining considerably more expensive than buying the phone outright from either Apple or an authorized reseller like Harvey Norman
How can someone afford to buy an iPhone 18 Pro outright?
This is perhaps one of the most important points to discuss as part of your journey towards buying a new iPhone 18 Pro. €1,489 is a lot of money for a new phone. Phones get stolen, lost, and accidents happen. Something that’s in your hand or on your person almost 24/7 is subject to a lot of risk. As such this is a lot of money to spend on something that belongs to you and that is exposed to so much risk.
Do you have to buy the latest iPhone?
I would first ask: do you need to buy the very latest iPhone? And do you need to buy it brand new at all? Apple has decided to discontinue the iPhone 17 Pro completely and as such you can’t buy from them directly anymore. However the likes of Harvey Norman and shops like Select, which are Apple premium partners, still have these products in stock. Better still, they’re typically trying to sell them off at a discount right now because they are discontinued. Harvey Norman is selling the iPhone 17 Pro for €1,229.
That’s nearly €300 off your new iPhone with technology that is seeing the less incremental improvement year on year than ever before.
And on to my second point: do you need to buy a brand-new phone at all? Websites like Refurbed.ie and Backmarket will let you buy pre-owned phones that have been refurbished and typically come with a 12-month warranty. Generally speaking phones have become a lot more robust and trustworthy in recent years, which is why people are typically keeping them a lot longer than they used to. It wouldn’t be unusual for somebody to buy a phone like this and keep it for 3 to 4 years now.
On backmarket.ie I was able to find an iPhone 17 Pro in premium condition with 256 GB of storage for €971; however this was an eSIM-only variant. To get one which works with a physical SIM, an eSIM would cost me €1,074. It’s worth noting that if you are looking for a SIM-only plan in Ireland, your choices will be limited when it comes to eSIM-only options. For example the likes of 48 Mobile and Clear Mobile currently do not support eSIMs; however Sky Mobile, Lyca Mobile and Virgin Media do.
But ultimately what I want to show you here is the sizable saving to be had if you purchase a secondhand device with a warranty versus buying a brand-new device. This iPhone 17 Pro from backmarket.ie in an eSIM-only variant would save me €258 versus a new device and over €500 versus the new iPhone 18 Pro.
If you’re looking for a bargain you found it.
How can you afford the latest iPhone 18 Pro?
Okay but look, maybe you just want the latest iPhone 18 Pro. How can you make sure it’s affordable? First of all I would say, if you’ve read this far, you understand that buying an iPhone with a mobile phone network is cheaper up front or at least it feels cheaper up front. Over 24 months you will pay considerably more. That’s why I say it’s more healthy to look at this as a hire purchase. And if this is the route you want to go down and you can accept that cost, well then fair enough. It’s not a bad way to go.
There are, of course, other options, such as using a credit card or getting a loan. I’m not a financial advisor and we do not give financial advice nor am I qualified to. I cannot speak to how good an idea this is. However I do know myself that in the past I have done calculations where the interest rate on a credit card has been far better for my pocket than buying outright with a mortgage.
Similarly there are options out there, like Humm with Harvey Norman, where they will arrange a monthly payment plan for you. Again it’s very important you look at this with your own financial hat on and look at the interest rates that it costs you. These options are fantastic for empowering a purchase but you should never go beyond your own financial structures and your own ability to repay.
I would hark back to what I said earlier and say it’s much more important that you buy a phone that’s affordable and does everything that you need it to do than getting the latest tech that costs the most. And don’t get me started on the iPhone Duo.
Hopefully you find this useful and if you have any questions, what I would say is you’re welcome to reach out to us on any of our social media whether that be TikTok or Instagram.
Disclaimer: We have provided as much information as possible here to help you make a responsible purchase decision with the new iPhone 18 Pro now on the market, at least for pre-order. However this is not financial advice. Please always make considerations based on your own financial situation and seek advice where need be. All information in this article was correct and accurate at the time of writing. However, pricing changes regularly and we don’t update this article.
