OnePlus 9 Pro base model is still nowhere to be found

It has barely been two weeks since OnePlus announced its early 2021 champs but it seems that the OnePlus 9 series has been struck by the company's notorious launch day bad luck. If asked, OnePlus probably would prefer that people buy its top-of-the-line and most expensive OnePlus 9 Pro model, one that came with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Not everyone, however, might not be too keen on its price tag but you might not have any choice anyway since the more affordable base model seems to still be missing in action.

Just as there are two OnePlus 9 phones, each of those has two configurations, making for a total of four choices. Both the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro have base models with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage and they also have ones with double the memory available. Unfortunately for interested buyers of the OnePlus 9 Pro, only that one is available.

All throughout the pre-order period up to its general availability, Android Police noticed that the OnePlus 9 Pro has been available in one and only one model. That's the $1,069 with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. No trace of the base model can be found even from OnePlus' other retail channels like Amazon, Best Buy, and B&H Photo and Video.

The company hasn't canceled the phone yet, it tells the site, and it still plans on selling the $969 phone. It will be available in the US and Canada, even, just that there is no timeline for that yet. No reason has been given either, though it wouldn't be a surprise if the global chip shortage will be held responsible.

In the meantime, OnePlus has already rolled out an update for all OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro phones. The update, which brings OxygenOS to version 11.2.2.2, brings Android's March security patches, some bug fixes, and improvements to the camera's performance.