Apple starts iPhone 6 and 6 Plus pre-orders in India; price starting at Rs 53,500

“iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available in India beginning Friday, October 17, from an expansive network of Apple Authorized Resellers. Customers can pre-order iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus beginning Tuesday, October 7,” Apple India said in a statement. The pre-orders started on October 7. The company did not disclose the price at which it will sell iPhone 6 series in the country, but said, “Pricing details will be soon made available by Apple’s partners: Ingram Micro, Redington, Rashi Peripherals and Reliance." However, authorised Apple partners have given us a sneak peek into the pricing - 16GB, 64GB and 128GB iPhone 6 will be priced at Rs 53,500, Rs 62,500 and Rs 71,500 respectively. On the other hand, the larger iPhone 6 Plus will carry a price tag of Rs 62,500 for 16GB model, Rs 71,500 for 64GB and Rs 80,500 for 128GB. Last week,  **Airtel listed** the iPhone 6 Plus , the larger of the two devices, on its website, putting an end to all the drama surrounding the delayed India launch for the nifty Apple devices. The authorized dealers will begin taking pre-orders next week and the device is expected to go on sale on October 17, as revealed earlier. This also means, like last year, the new iPhones will reach the Indian market just in time for Diwali. It should be noted that when the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus  page went live on the Apple website, it showed 26 September as the initial release date for India. The date was then changed to 17 October and after that the launch date completely disappeared and has found no mention on the page at all. Post all of this, rumours had gained traction that the India launch could be delayed until November. Owing to the reports about a delayed launch, several iPhone 6 units had gone on sale in the grey market and selling at outrageous prices that went well over a lakh. However, as the buzz around Apple’s plan to start selling the device officially by mid-October or first week of November rekindled, there are several iPhone 6 units now selling online for **under Rs 60,000** on some e-commerce websites.   With inputs from PTI