iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus launched in India: Tim Cook's message, price, offers on new iPhones

Soon after Apple launched the latest iPhone series, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X, earlier this month, fans have been eager get their hands on the new flagships. In India, the pre-orders for the anticipated iPhones, except for the iPhone X, began September 22, and the official sales have finally begun.

On Friday, September 29, sales of iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus began on various retail channels, including Amazon, Flipkart, Infibeam, Jio, Croma, Reliance Digital, Redington stoimg and other offline retailers across the country.

Reliance Jio hosted a special unveiling of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus in Mumbai, where the telecom operator showcased the new iPhones. Apple CEO Tim Cook expimgsed his gratitude to RIL chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani and all the iPhone customers who turned up to the launch event.

Here's the full comment by Cook on the launch of the new iPhones in India:

"Namaste, to all my friends in India.

Thank you for coming out today for the launch of iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 plus. A special thanks to Mukesh and everyone at Jio for hosting the celebration for iPhone customers. At Apple, we are incredibly excited about this new generation of iPhone – iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 plus. They make everything we love about iPhone even better.

We think you will love the new glass and aluminium designs with wireless charging and new retina HD displays. iPhone 8 has the smartest, most powerful chip ever in a smartphone, the A11 bionic, designed by Apple. It has our best cameras, portrait mode and portrait lighting and the highest quality video capture on a phone.

With iOS11, these new iPhones deliver an amazing augmented reality experiences like nothing you've ever seen before. I think you're really going to love this feature. We've added new keyboards for India so we now support 11 local languages, and iPhone now takes dictation in Hindi.

We're excited to be building so many new relationships in India, including tens of thousands of developers across the country now writing apps for iOS.

I want to thank everyone again for joining us on this journey and being here today. I wish I could be there with you.

Enjoy iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 plus. I wish everyone a very happy and safe Diwali."

Offers on iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus

Apple iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus comes in two variants, 64GB and 256GB. The 64GB iPhone 8 costs Rs. 64,000 and the 256GB model is priced at Rs. 77,000. The iPhone 8 Plus 64GB is priced at Rs. 73,000 and the 256GB model costs Rs. 86,000.

Reliance Jio is selling the new iPhones via Jio.com and Reliance Digital stoimg. The telco is offering Rs. 10,000 cashback on purchasing the new models using Citibank card. Taking advantage of its strong 4G network, buyers will get a special tariff, which gives 90GB data, free SMS, unlimited calls and access to Jio apps with a validity of 28 days for Rs. 799.

The company is also offering 70 percent cashback if they return the handset after a year. To claim this, buyers need to install MyJio app and use a Jio SIM card for a year. For instance, the iPhone 8 Plus 256GB is priced at Rs. 86,000 and the cashback offer will give buyers back Rs. 52,976. The GST on the new iPhone is Rs. 10,320, which is not a part of the cashback, and customers will get equivalent amount of vouchers that can be used to upgrade to the next iPhone or buy any other product at Reliance Digital within 6 months.

Similarly, Flipkart is offering Rs. 10,000 cashback on Citi Credit and World Debit Cards, while Amazon India is offering up to Rs. 16,500 discounts on exchange.