About 500,000 copies, compared to the normal circulation of 80,000, reached newsagents in the city at midnight.
-You never know when the newspaper will die.
As Hong Kong residents, we must preserve history and persevere for as long as we can, says reader Tsang, who does not want to give his full name, and who bought several copies of the magazine.
People stood in line to buy the magazine and in some places it ran out, reports the BBC.
Presented in court
On Thursday, five managers at the newspaper were arrested in a police raid, and many computers and hard drives are said to have been seized from the editorial office.
Assets linked to the newspaper worth 18 million Hong Kong dollars - just under 20 million kronor - were also frozen.
Two of the managers at the newspaper will be brought to court on Saturday, the police announce.
According to the newspaper, it is editor-in-chief Ryan Law and CEO Cheung Kim-hung.
The leaders are suspected of violating the controversial security law, which has been criticized for restricting the freedoms of Hong Kongers and impoverishing the region's former relative independence from Beijing.
This is the second time that the police have attacked the newspaper.
In August, a first raid was made, and then the magazine's owner, the media mogul Jimmy Lai, was arrested.
He has been imprisoned since December and has had his assets in the country frozen.
The union continues
The newspaper's union promises to continue reporting.
"Even if it is difficult in the current circumstances, we will continue the work with the goal of publishing our newspapers as normal," it said in a statement.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab writes in a Twitter post:
"The raids and arrests at the Apple Daily in Hong Kong show that Beijing is using its national security law to target dissenting voices, and not to deal with public security."