Preorder your (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 8 tomorrow

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iPhone 8 red
Apple's new handsets are RED hot.
Photo: iPhone 8 red

Starting tomorrow, you can preorder the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition handsets. The totally covetable crimson smartphones look a lot like last year’s red iPhone 7 — but one aspect of the design is even better!

In addition, Apple introduced a new (PRODUCT)RED iPhone X Leather Folio case, which will be available to purchase starting tomorrow for $99. A portion of all proceeds from the products goes to the Global Fund HIV/AIDS grants, which provide testing, counseling, treatment and prevention programs for HIV and AIDS.

A long partnership

Since Apple partnered with the organization back in 2006, it has donated more than $160 million to the Global Fund, making it the organization’s largest corporate donor.

“This special edition (PRODUCT)RED iPhone features a stunning red and black color combination and also offers customers the opportunity to make an impact in fighting the spread of HIV and AIDS,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Product Marketing. “iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus improve on everything we love about iPhone, including Retina HD displays that are more beautiful than ever, the most powerful and smartest chip ever in a smartphone with the A11 Bionic and more advanced cameras for unbelievable photos and videos.”

The handsets are available in both 64GB and 25GB models, with a starting price of $699. They ship starting Friday, April 13.

The first wave of countries to receive the phones include Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, the U.K. and, of course, the United States.

These will be followed by Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE and other countries and regions later in April, and Chile, Colombia, India, Israel, Turkey and other countries and regions following in May.

Apple listens to the fans!

In terms of design, the new handsets differ from last year’s (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 7 through the use of a black face piece, as opposed to a white one. This was a much requested design tweak last year.

While there are still undoubtedly folks who would have liked to see an iPhone X with the (PRODUCT)RED treatment, this is still a great-looking pair of handsets. Hopefully it will give Apple a mid-year boost in sales — as well as helping a very good cause.

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