Line grows at Apple's flagship Fifth Ave cube in anticipation of Friday launch of new iPhones
With less than 24 hours remaining before the launch of the newest iPhone models, more customers have begun to call the pavement with a view of Central Park their temporary home.
AppleInsider reader Ryan dropped by the Midtown Manhattan store on Thursday and captured some images of the scene along Fifth Avenue, where television stations have begun to arrive and customers are waiting to be among the first in North America to get their hands on an iPhone 5s or 5c. Analysts have predicted that Apple could sell up to 8 million of the new devices on launch weekend.
Lines first began to form at Apple's flagship Fifth Avenue store, covered by a giant glass cube, earlier this month, before the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c were even officially announced. Camping out at the store for Apple's latest products has become something of a tradition among fanatics.
Despite investors' dissatisfaction with the pricing of the new lower-cost iPhone 5c and Apple's refusal to reveal preorder numbers, reviews of the handsets have been effusive and surveys show that demand remains high.
The iPhone 5s and 5c go on sale in Apple's retail stores at 8:00am local time Friday in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the U.S. and U.K. Apple's online store will begin taking orders at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time, and the phones can also be purchased from Apple's carrier partners.
AppleInsider reader Ryan dropped by the Midtown Manhattan store on Thursday and captured some images of the scene along Fifth Avenue, where television stations have begun to arrive and customers are waiting to be among the first in North America to get their hands on an iPhone 5s or 5c. Analysts have predicted that Apple could sell up to 8 million of the new devices on launch weekend.
Lines first began to form at Apple's flagship Fifth Avenue store, covered by a giant glass cube, earlier this month, before the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c were even officially announced. Camping out at the store for Apple's latest products has become something of a tradition among fanatics.
Despite investors' dissatisfaction with the pricing of the new lower-cost iPhone 5c and Apple's refusal to reveal preorder numbers, reviews of the handsets have been effusive and surveys show that demand remains high.
The iPhone 5s and 5c go on sale in Apple's retail stores at 8:00am local time Friday in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the U.S. and U.K. Apple's online store will begin taking orders at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time, and the phones can also be purchased from Apple's carrier partners.
Comments
When do you think the phones ordered online at 12:01 AM will be delivered in the US?
/s
Samsung certainly has enough employees that they can pay a few hundred to stand in a line for a day or two.
Constable said:
But... but... but no one is going to wait on line for iPhones anymore. Nobody wants a smartphone with a TINY 4" display when all the high-end Android smartphones come with displays 4.7" and up. Heck, the iPhone 5c is just last years iPhone 5 dipped in plastic. Those people waiting on line could get two Samsung Galaxy S4s for the price of one iPhone 5s and enjoy Air Gestures. Most of the analysts say these new iPhones will be sales flops because their prices are too high for poor people. Why buy any iPhone when you can buy an Android smartphone for $50 OFF-CONTRACT. Apple is doomed.
You forget that Steve Jobs would have done it different and better.
So much for doubling down on secrecy!!!
Sorry- what's a thread without that though?
Sorry- what's a thread without that though?
Gotta double down on IGZO before the LiquidMetal iWatch comes out, otherwise Apple will be doomed.
Sheep /s
The line isn't that long honestly. This is just a slow news day for AI so they need to fill the headlines with something.
Are you the president of the local Debbie Downer club or something? What a miserable life not being happy or satisfied with anything and finding fault with everything remotely positive.
Gotta double down on IGZO before the LiquidMetal iWatch comes out, otherwise Apple will be doomed unless Steve were in charge.
Fixed
No?
Ooops, sorry, that was Samsung.
You forget that Steve Jobs would have done it different and better.
Just imagine the hopelessness that must certainly be pervading Redmond, Washington.
If Ballmer were still alive, he would be extremely jealous.
Some dance on both sides. They think they are keeping intelligent Apple fellows 'faithful and honest'. Blah!
Shipping was 7-10 days when the Apple Store on-line reopened. I wonder how much stock is there at B&M?
The line isn't that long honestly. This is just a slow news day for AI so they need to fill the headlines with something.
Are you the president of the local Debbie Downer club or something? What a miserable life not being happy or satisfied with anything and finding fault with everything remotely positive.
What a miserable life only being happy when only positive comments are made about your religious devotion to an electronics company. Traditional religion is bad enough, but is this now where we're heading: where we think of corporations as infallible and where they can't be criticized (if it's the religion we've chosen)? Is there going to be a civil war within ten years between Apple and Samsung devotees? Will they have to live in different neighborhoods? Will they then eventually demand independence from each other?
The fact is that Adonis is completely correct. It looks like about 30 people on line. I've seen more people on line at fashion shops for teens when they have a flash sale. That doesn't mean the new iPhones won't be successful -- I'm sure they'll be enormously successful, but it does mean that it's perfectly reasonable to state that a small group of sad looking, badly dressed morons who are waiting on line overnight for a phone that they could have ordered online is not a legitimate news story. I'm no Samsung fan, but when they make fun of these idiots, I have to admit that they're a deserving target.
And if you're interested in positive spin, the media has pretty much become anti-Apple, looking for any fault they can find. My bet is that they use this small line as a negative story, not a positive one. Today's NY Post has a cover story about the server problems at Apple, expressed with all the glee they would have if a Democrat got caught with their pants down.