Apple’s latest flagship went on sale today (September 16) and is available from £599.
Crowds gathered at the Apple Store in Covent Garden today (September 16) to be the first to get their hands on the latest iPhone 7.
They had braved thunderstorms and showers as the Californian manufacturer’s latest handset went on general sale. The queues had started building since 5pm on Wednesday evening (September 14). It was the only major Apple Store open in the capital, as the branch on Regent Street had been closed for refurbishment. Doors opened at an earlier 8am rather than the regular 10am start.
However, numbers were noticeably smaller than previous launches when Mobile News arrived in the area at 7.30am. Last year’s 6S release outside of the Apple Store in Regent Street had hundreds of customers attending. The Covent Garden store had thousands when the 6 launched on September 9, 2014.
The doors opened at 8am as enthusiastic staff members clapped and cheered the first to enter the shop. One employee told Mobile News that they had completely sold out of all models and it would take up to five weeks for the next available shipments.
Mobile News had spoken to some of those in the queue for their thoughts on the new device. Liz, 54, from the UK (below), said the hardware on the them stood out the most.
She said: “I’m getting the iPhone 7. I’m looking most forward to the improved speed because of the new processor, and the camera. The photographs are definitely going to be much better. I’ve decided to get this phone through the Apple Upgrade system because it’s much cheaper getting it through Apple than anywhere else.”
Julia, 28, from Knightsbridge (right), was similarly excited about the device.
She claimed that alternatives from rival manufacturers had contributed to the decline in crowd sizes. She said: “I’m going for the iPhone 7 in jet black. The feature I’m looking forward to is the bigger storage, so I’ll probably be getting the 128GB model if it’s available. One of my friends is coming from India and he wants the phone, so I just want to please him. I’ll also be getting one for him.
“I think there are no major changes and there are other alternatives available on the market. I’m not really a technical person so that doesn’t matter to me.”
The new phone is available in a regular 4.7-inch (£599) and 5.1-inch Plus variant (£719). CEO Tim Cook hailed it as the best phone the company had ever created when it was unveiled on September 7. It is also available from EE, Vodafone, O2, Three and Virgin Mobile.
