The iPhone 7 has launched in Australia at last, and while there were no 7 Plus models in stores, buyers were still keen for Apple’s latest and greatest.
Once a year, iPhone buyers who missed out on pre-ordering get one more chance for launch day iPhone love – standing in a queue outside an Apple Store.
There are quite a few Apple Stores in Australia, and iPhone launches never fail to draw a crowd waiting to buy, customers picking up pre-orders and a contingent of media waiting to capture the frenzied scenes of joy.
The joy comes not only from customers, some of whom end up waiting for at least a couple of days, but also from the Apple Store staff who are always super pumped by senior Apple Store staff into whooping and cheering not just the launch, but all those customers.
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Now, today’s launch was a little different from previous launches.
As Apple announced yesterday, the iPhone 7 Plus in all capacities and colours was sold out, which would clearly have dampened enthusiasm for those who specifically wanted to buy that model, so lines would have been shorter just because of this fact.
Also the "regular" iPhone 7 in jet black was also sold out, which again would have disappointed some who specifically wanted that model, rather than the matte black model or any other.
After all, one of the best ways to show people that you are among the first on the planet to have a new iPhone is by having a heretofore unavailable colour, thus making it unmistakable that you are among the iPhone technorati, the cool set who were able to secure a brand new iPhone on launch day.
Not everyone cares about that, of course, but for those that do it’s obviously an important thing, and as you’ll see in the video below, the first people to get their iPhones were clearly very, very happy people.
Exactly when more stocks of the clearly popular iPhone 7 Plus models in all colours and sizes, and the Jet Black models across the 7 and 7 Plus will be available is not known, but with online order delivery times already stretching into November, getting the iPhone you want this side of Christmas may well prove to be more difficult than with any previous iPhone launch ever.
You can compare today's iPhone 7 launch (video below) with the videos from the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus launch in my article from 2015 here.
So, without further ado, here’s the video of today’s iPhone 7 launch. Watch from the 10-minute mark to see the 30 seconds before the store opens, and watch from 17 minutes and 40 seconds to see the first in the queue get set to exit the store triumphantly with their new iPhone 7 purchases.
This video shows the queue at the Sydney CBD Apple Store on the corner of King and George St in Australia. I start at approx 7.45am showing where the queue started (at that time).
Once I got to the front of the doors where the other media is located, I stopped recording. I added under a minute showing you what the environment looked like at that moment.
Then there's a 10 or so minute section which is the count down to the 8am opening – you can see and hear the Apple Store staff cheering, and the first people going in. Watch from the 10-minute mark to catch the last 30 seconds or so before the store doors open.
Then next bit of video shows the first customers getting ready to triumphantly exit the store with their new matte black iPhone 7 purchases – this happens from approx 17 minutes and 40 seconds.
The video after that is a couple of minutes inside Telstra's flagship store on George St, opposite Apple's flagship Sydney store.
The last bit of the video shows what the queue outside the Apple Store looked like at approximately 8.24am.