There was a muted reception at the Apple Store in London’s Regent Street as the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus were launched to unusually little fanfare.
Apple fans in years past had been seen in long lines down the street, patiently camping ahead of the store’s opening to be among the first to purchase a new device.
For the iPhone 8, however, there were more staff inside the store than punters queuing, and the Apple team’s enthusiasm for their customers saw them applaud the 13 who quickly piled inside.
At the front of the queue was 24-year-old Salam Bin Mohammed, who said he had been waiting since 10pm the night before to get an iPhone 8 Plus.
He had slept in his brother’s car, he said, and queued because it was the 10th anniversary of the iPhone and he had been using the iPhone for eight years.
Image: First in the queue Salam Bin Mohammed, 24, poses with his new iPhones
Despite reports of stock limitations affecting the launch, Mr Mohammed was not in fear of failing to acquire a model.
The first person in purchased two of the £799 models – one in gold and one in space grey.
“Whichever is nice I’m going to keep and the other one I’ll give to my mum,” he said.
The flagship device announced by Apple earlier this month was not the iPhone 8 – but the iPhone X (pronounced iPhone 10) which Apple fans may be waiting to purchase in November.
With an edge-to-edge display, the iPhone X will also be the first to feature Apple’s new facial recognition technology which users can use to unlock their phones and create animated emojis.
The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus will introduce wireless battery charging, as well as the new A11 Bionic processor, which Apple says will make it up to 70% faster than the iPhone 7.
Source: Sky