Brian Shiller, 34, celebrates Friday as he leaves the Georgetown Apple Store with his new iPhone 6.
Techies camp out for Apple iPhones the way rock fans camp out for concert tickets. Jason Burrell, 25, became the first person in Washington, D.C., to own the new iPhone 6 after being ushered into the Apple Store in Georgetown, taking video with his iPad as he proudly walked to the cashier while being cheered on by a crowd of excited staff. Burrell had been camping in front of the store for a solid 24 hours, since 8 a.m. Thursday.
After leaving the store with his iPhone 6 he told U.S. News he was going to run home to clean up and then head to his job on Capitol Hill to show off the new gadget - despite not having slept much. Each time Apple made a new generation of phone Burrell has bought it -- except for incremental updates like the iPhone 5S.
“I didn’t get the iPhone 5S, I thought the fingerprint sensor was an incremental change,” he says of the 2013 phone that introduced the Touch ID sensor. “The fingerprint sensor and the Apple Pay feature seem a good combination. The camera and the battery life seem to be better as well.”
Apple aficionados in the District seem to agree: The lines for the iPhone 6 started forming at 8 a.m. on Thursday, while last year, people started lining up for the then-new Phone 5S at 6 p.m. the night before.
The newest iPhones offer a variety of new features including Health Kit software to power fitness apps and an Apple Pay mobile purchasing service that debuts in October. Supplies of the new phones in stores are expected to sell out Friday, and demand for pre-orders often make it difficult to get a phone in the first two months of a new iPhone launch.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus set a record for the tech giant, which sold more than 4 million of them in 24 hours on Sept. 12 when they became available for pre-order online, the company reported.
"IPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are better in every way, and we are thrilled customers love them as much as we do,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a press release.
With a carrier contract, the iPhone 6 costs $199 and the iPhone 6 Plus is $299. (Without a contract, the iPhone 6 costs $649 and the iPhone 6 Plus costs $749.) Both new phones have larger screens to meet consumer demand for easier browsing. The iPhone 5S has a 4-inch screen, but the new iPhone 6 has a 4.7-inch screen, and the iPhone 6 Plus sports a 5.5-inch screen. The phones come in gold, silver and space gray instead of just the usual black or white.
Those who were fortunate enough to order online on Sept. 12 waited in a much shorter line near the Apple Store for pre-orders, but the campers got to enter the store first. Tim Shea, 28, began waiting for his iPhone 6 in the pre-order line just an hour before the store opened Friday, but says he camped out to buy the first iPhone in 2007 and has bought every iPhone since then except for the iPhone 4S.
Wearables are Apple’s next product category, and Shea says he also plans to buy the new Apple Watchwhen it comes up for sale in 2015. Apple plans to unveil more details on the watch and its features in the coming months. Smart watches and wrist bands have not caught up with smartphones as a “must-have” product but Shea says he enjoys using his Jawbone, which tracks his sleep and walking patterns to help him adapt his schedule and personal health.
“I want to get the sport band model, since that is supposed to be the most durable,” Shea says, referring to the different options of wristbands offered by Apple. “I think Apple has an allure, so people are going to want it anyway.”
Many people who camp out for the latest phones each September have been using the iPhone since its debut in 2007, including Emmett Williams, 24, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, who camped out for the fifth time Friday.
“It’s something I’m used to now. I bring snacks and dress for the weather,” says Williams, who camped with a lawn chair and a hoodie sweatshirt since 5 p.m. on Thursday. “Everyone who is the owner of an Apple product should experience it and have fun with it.”
Restaurants nearby some Apple Store locations have offered refreshments to campers in recent years, and Apple staff help their loyal customers wake up each year with pastries, coffee and juice. There is a great comradery among people who wait in line overnight, Burrell says. They talk, watch football or Netflix on their laptops or iPads – and, once they get to know one another, hold spaces in line when someone has to go for food or to the bathroom.
“Wear layers and research where the bathrooms are – that’s important,” Burrell advises those who are already thinking of being the first to buy Apple’s next big gadget
By Tom Risen
Source : http://www.usnews.com/
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