Live: iPhone 6 goes on sale in UK and around the world
- Apple's new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are eagerly awaited by tech fans
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have gone on sale in Australia, Japan and across Europe.
Thousands of fans have queued outside Apple Stores across the world for hours - and in some cases days - to be the first in line to buy Apple's new smartphone.
One young man in Perth, Australia was so excited at being one of the first paying customers on the planet, he immediately dropped it on the concrete pavement - live on television.
The new devices went on sale in the UK at 8.00am.
10:07 am
Three days in a queue?
A man queued three nights in the Bullring in Birmingham to get his hands on the new iPhone 6.
Self employed builder Andy Walford said it was worth the wait.
He told our sister paper the Birmingham Mail: “The last night was the hardest, I think because of the excitement."
He queued since 11am on Tuesday. And it's the second time in a row he's been first in line.
Read the full story in the Birmingham Mail
9:19 am
Tensions in Lakeside
We are hearing reports of tensions in the queue overnight at the Apple Store in Lakeside.
Some customers, including Jason Ablitt, queued up for seven hours and found the process to be completely disorganised. “No-one seemed to know what was going on.”
Ablitt tells us he arrived at midnight and joined a queue with around 50 people in front of him. There was lots of barging and aggression and he says that a man threatened to push him over the rails.
The police were called and Ablitt ended up being sent to the back of the queue.
Apple staff reassured people in the queue that there would be enough stock for everyone, but after four hours the phones had run out.
Ablitt believes that most people in the queue were buying in bulk to sell them on. “So anyone actually wanting the iPhone had no chance.”
9:16 am
Huge crowds
London's Covent Garden looks like this at the moment thanks to hundreds of people desperate to get their hands on the iPhone 6:
OMG covent garden! (photo stolen from someone else on Twitter I now can't find and credit). #iphone6. pic.twitter.com/MtPrLJ46e0
— David James Lennon (@cowboystyle) September 19, 2014
9:04 am
Innocent spoof ad
Innocent Drinks has created this joke ad promoting a newly designed juice bottle. Well played!
— James Herring (@TaylorHerringUK) September 19, 2014
9:00 am
Queue & A
Over the course of the day we are carrying out mini interviews with people waiting in line at Apple Stores across the world.
Here’s one with Michael Issac, a comedian from Chicago, who is waiting in line in Merrillville, Indiana.
Why have you decided to get in line?
I have an iPhone 4, need I say more?
Has anything weird or surprising happened in line?
A lady was talking very loudly about watching out for "stranger danger" at 1am. Thank goodness she left.
What's been the highlight of being in line?
The guy right in front of me has been really cool. He helped me make my decision to get the iPhone 6 Plus
What swayed you? Isn't it a bit big?
I've wanted an iPad mini so I can give my iPad to my children. The iPhone Plus eliminates that now. Plus, I have long hands.
What’s keeping you busy?
Eating trail mix and writing the comedy set for my Last Comic Standing audition.
How much longer to go?
5.5 hours and I’m 11th or 12th (if stranger danger lady comes back)!
You can follow Michael on Twitter @michaelissac
8:22 am
Charity funds
A campaigner has sold his slot in the queue outside London’s Regent Street Apple Store in order to raise money for a youth charity.
Martin Houghton-Brown — CEO of Depaul UK, which helps keep young people off the streets — queued up all night so that he could then sell his position in the queue for £570.
The same charity will also be auctioning off another iPhone 6 on eBay.
We @DepaulUK just sold out spot in the que to Adam for £570 for young people who face sleeping in unsafe places pic.twitter.com/16cBx4ExZc— Martin HB (@hblondon) September 19, 2014
8:08 am
Manchester
Here are Manchester's hardcore Apple fans:
250 or so queuing for an iPhone 6/6 Plus at Manchester Arndale Centre Apple Store. pic.twitter.com/jij5NyjnuD— Martin Bryant (@MartinSFP) September 19, 2014
8:00 am
Go, go, go!
Apple Stores across the UK are now open. This is the situation in Leicester:
Queue at @Highcross #Leicester for the #iPhone6 and #iPhone6plus. Pre order queue isn't too long, so glad I did! pic.twitter.com/BP8bWofoSG— SuperSaf (@SuperSaf) September 19, 2014
7:55 am
iPhone or #indyref
7:53 am
UK launch
10 minutes until lift off people! Meanwhile, in Birmingham:
"@Bullring: The #iphone6 queue has been building over night and is now way past the bull! #bullring pic.twitter.com/EVuGWoGBUb" @50hzgamer— Peter Eggison (@PeterEggison) September 19, 2014
7:40 am
Question
What does it take to queue up all night for a new smartphone? Determination? Madness?
Let us know what you think.
7:28 am
Regent Street queue
Wowser. Check out the queue at London's Regent Street store:
Queues huge at apple regent street already - backing up into Hanover square pic.twitter.com/XIANxWofsV
— Jason Mesut (@jasonmesut) September 19, 2014
7:23 am
Snoop Dogg
This is what Snoop Dogg has to say about the iPhone 6:
7:18 am
Queue hyperlapse
To get a sense of the size of the queue in Sidney, here's a pretty cool hyperlapse video of the 1,200 people waiting in line. Supposedly it took more than five minutes to walk in real time.
7:08 am
iPhone 6 satire
In case you aren't enamoured with the wall to wall iPhone 6 coverage, you can enjoy some light relief with this spoof by College Humour. It includes the line: "The podcast app won't be a big festering turd."
6:48 am
With just over an hour to go until the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus go on sale in this country, here's a look at how the devices were launched in Japan.
This time it's the Shibuya Apple Store - where there were no giant cardboard iPhones or creepy face masks, just some very serious looking Apple fans.
6:36 am
If the new iPhone is a little too pricey, or if you just didn't make it down to the queue on time, you can either wait or get yourself an alternative device.
You could choose a Samsung, or an HTC - or even a Windows Phone if you absolutely had to.
But why not try something a little different, like the NoPhone?
It's a "technology-free alternative to constant hand-to-phone contact that allows you to stay connected to the world'
In other words, it's a phone-shaped block of plastic.
6:17 am
The Scottish referendum wasn't enough to stop people clamouring to be first in line in Glasgow.
Here's a look at the immense queue as it is now.
Could this be responsible for Glasgow's lower than expected turnout?
5:58 am
Here's a lovely video of the queue at the Apple Store in Perth, Australia.
The iPhone 6 went on sale in parts of Australia at 11pm last night our time.
5:52 am
Here's a view of what the queue at the Apple Store on New York City's Fifth Avenue was like yesterday.
It's a very, very long line.
Imagine what that's like today.
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