iPhone fans hit Apple Stores as latest handsets go on sale
A dozen eager customers queued at the company’s London Regent Street store overnight.
Apple has released its latest iPhone handsets and an updated Apple Watch in stores across the UK and Ireland.
Droves of iPhone fans queued outside the company’s UK flagship Regent Street store on Friday morning, hoping to be among the first to get their hands on the iPhone XS and XS Max, which chief executive Tim Cook unveiled earlier this month as Apple’s most-advanced iPhone yet.
Most customers pre-ordered their new handsets for collection ahead of the store’s 8am opening, but about a dozen eager buyers without a reservation turned up to queue through cold and windy conditions on Thursday afternoon.
With the ability to pre-order and reserve a slot to collect the latest phones, fanfare at the Apple Store was less than earlier years of the iPhone, which saw hundreds of hopeful customers camping outside overnight.
“I just came really early, I was here at half past one in the afternoon,” explained the first customer to buy the handset.
“It’s completely sad but I needed an upgrade,” said a 19-year old student who also queued overnight.
“It’s gold, what’s not to love?” said another customer who participates in the ritual each year, waiting an hour in the pre-order queue.
“I always like to get a new bit of tech and flash it around the office a little bit.”
The XS and XS Max, which start from £999 and £1,099 respectively, have been available to pre-order for the past week but the XR – Apple’s cheapest new smartphone, at £749 – will not hit shelves until late October.
