A decade on, fans still queue up for Apple’s latest phones. But lines aren’t as long as they’ve been in the past because many are waiting for iPhone X.
Mazen Kourouche (right) and a friend hoist their iPhones in Sydney.
The launch of the new iPhone, an annual rite in the tech calendar, comes twice this year.
As in previous years, the faithful began assembling in Sydney well before doors at Apple’s flagship store opened at 8 a.m. AEST. A line of roughly 50 people quickly formed, but it didn’t snake around as many blocks as it has in the past. That’s because many fans are torn between an iPhone today and a more advanced model in November, when the top-off-the-line and top-of-the-price-range iPhone X hits stores.
Those who did queue in Sydney were excited but didn’t exhibit the same exuberance that’s come to be associated with Apple’s product launches. A trio of YouTubers led the line, all hoping to attract viewers with unboxing and first impression videos.
Mazen Kourouche, who waited 10 days in front of the store to ensure he would be the honorary “first buyer,” led the group and recorded the opening of both a white and black 8 Plus for his subscribers. Kourouche says he’s giving the phones to family members and will upgrade to the X when it comes out.
“I love the glass finish on the 8,” Kourouche, a 20-year-old Sydney student, said while comparing the new device to the earlier 4 model that had a similar exterior. “I appreciate this new glass finish” more than the finish on the recent line, he said.
The 8 and 8 Plus don’t break the same design ground as the upcoming X, which does away with the iPhone’s readily identifiable home button. But they bring new features, including wireless charging, and upgrades to the camera and screen. It also carries a more modest price tag than the X, which starts at a budget-busting $999 (AU$1,579)
The X has a 5.8-inch screen, the biggest Apple has ever made for an iPhone. The bezels are razor thin, and the home button has been done away with. It also has fancy, stabilized front and rear cameras.
In Singapore, Amin Ahmed Dholiya was the first in a line of roughly 100 fans at the country’s Apple Store, which opened earlier this year. The 43-year-old businessman, who started the queue at 7 p.m. Thursday, flew in from India especially to buy an iPhone 8 Plus in gold as a wedding gift for his daughter. (The new iPhones arrive in India on Sept. 29.)
But Varis Sinthopruangchai, 20, an exchange student from Thailand, scored Singapore’s first iPhone 8. Instead of queuing, Sinthopruangchai pre-ordered both the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus in black for his parents. He plans to return when the iPhone X is available.
Varis Sinthopruangchai, 20, an exchange student from Thailand, taking a selfie with his iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus at the Apple Store in Singapore.
At Singtel’s iPhone 8 launch event, Eng Guan Theng bought Space Grey and Gold 8 Pluses, one for him and the other for his mother. The 30-year-old civil servant was switching back to Apple’s mobile phone after using a Samsung Note 5 for several years. .
“It’s the second time I’m getting the iPhone,” Eng said. “I’ve been using Samsung Note 5 and I feel that it gets laggy after awhile, so I decided to go back to iPhone.”
The celebration of the iPhone, which first went on sale in 2007, has changed over the last decade. Hundreds of people jammed Stockton Street in San Francisco to get their hands on the revolutionary device at the inaugural launch. Now, queues to get the latest Apple handset are more modest affairs.
Of course, online pre-orders have changed the game, making the queue a demonstration of fandom rather than the quickest route to getting a device from box to hand. And this year, fans were torn between Friday’s holiday and its return in a month and a half.
Indeed, some people appeared to be making the pilgrimage out of habit and history rather than exhilaration over the prospect of a new iPhone.
Back in Sydney, Marcus Barsoum, a 17-year-old high school student whom CNET spotted last year and the year before, said he was grabbing an 8 Plus so that he could sell it to someone else.
“Man, I just can’t wait for this thing to be over,” Barsoum said 20 minutes before the doors opened.
