CNET reporters take to Apple stores in New York, Paris, and San Francisco for the public debut of the iPhone 5.
Media circus: Hours before the iPhone 5 goes on sale, the facade of Apple's 5th Avenue store in Manhattan is obscured by a giant black cloak. Much of the view is also blocked by a row of satellite trucks parked in front.(Credit: Greg Sandoval/CNET)
What can you say about a device that has been written about as much as the iPhone 5, other than to note that it's finally here and lots of people across the globe seem to want it?
The smartphones, which are thinner, lighter, and faster than previous versions, are due to go on sale at 8 a.m. local time in multiple countries.
CNET reporters and photographers will be on hand at Apple's flagship Manhattan store on Fifth Avenue, which is expected to see long lines that include a group of more than a dozen protesters from Occupy Wall Street.
We'll cover similar events at Apple's Grand Central store in New York and other Apple stores in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Calif., and Paris. On hand for CNET in New York this morning is Greg Sandoval at the Fifth Avenue store and Shara Tibken and Sarah Tew at the Grand Central Station store.
The iPhone will also go on sale this morning at Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Radio Shack. Retail outlets of AT&T, Verizon and Sprint will also sell the device.
For a final check of the prices: Apple is selling unlocked 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models for $649, $749, and $849 respectively. With a two-year contract from a participating carrier, the same models go for $199, $299 and $399.
In the United States, Apple is supposed to have the weather on its side. The forecast for much of the country is dry with moderate temperatures. Perfect shopping and line sitting weather.
Check in often as we'll be updating this blog regularly.
7:50 a.m. ET Grand Central Store: Grand Central houses NYC's newest Apple store, but it's also a busy hub for commuters taking the trains to work. Many are stopping at the steps to Apple's store to ask how long the line is and what the wait is like. One man said he just was curious about how many people would wait, while another asked if it would be possible to be helped in the store today for something else. Store employee tells him he's welcome to wait in line, but it's not going to be quick. The man opted to leave and come back another day.
7:48 a.m. ET Grand Central Store: Apple started moving the first people in line to wait on the balconies along the Store. Excitement has picked up as customers get closer to open at 8 a.m. Yousra Atmen, Karim Haraoui and Zakaria Reda traveled all the way to NYC from Morocco, just to buy the new iPhone 5. They're each getting one phone for themselves and say just want to have the newest Apple device possible. Atmen, 24, says she loves how smart the devices are.
7:47 a.m. ET, NYC Fifth Ave. store: So that's how they did it. Michael Marrero, 23, just told me the secrets to line sitting more than a week at an Apple store. Marrero started camping out last Thursday the 13th. He and some of his fellow line sitters rented a minivan and used to it to stay out of the rain and cold. There wasn't enough room for everybody and the rules of the line mandate that someone always be waiting in line to watch belongings and guard the turf. He said that the group took a chance and illegally parked the van most of the time. Amazing. In this city and no tickets. Let's hope he's as lucky with his iPhone 5.
7:45 a.m. ET, NYC Fifth Ave. store: 15 minutes to go before the doors open. Time to stake out a spot in the media line.
7:32 a.m. ET, NYC Fifth Ave. store: Apple employees are handing the prized tickets. Those guarantee the bearer that there will be an iPhone available for purchase. I think people here value these things. Every time I turn my camera towards anyone here, they immediately flash their tickets.
Jessica Mellow flashes her sure-thing tickets outside the Fifth Avenue Apple store in NYC.(Credit: Greg Sandoval/CNET)7:25 a.m. ET, NYC Grand Central Store: Starting the line outside last night is causing a little confusion this morning about who's actually first. Shivanand Majraj, a 28-year-old NYC bouncer and college student, said he was first to arrive at about 7:30 p.m. last night, but he's now about third in line. Instead, Alex Cardenas, 38, is now at the head of the line. Both say they're buying iPhones because they love Apple products. Majraj, who has owned every iPhone, is dumping his unlocked 4S on T-Mobile's service for a new iPhone 5 under contract with AT&T. Cardenas is also opening a new contract for his son, with his son getting his old 4S. 7:22 a.m. ET, NYC Fifth Ave. store: Steve Wozniak, one of Apple's co-founders just sent a nice e-mail reply to an interview request. I wanted to know what he expected from the iPhone 5 and Apple had met those expectations. Woz says he's been super busy but did wait all night for the phone. He said he did get the phone "with some difficulties."
This is the rest of what he said: "From what I can tell, the iPhone 5 is a different size with a different SIM card and different power/data connector. It also has some camera/photo improvement/fix. It also has LTE. I don't know of other differences so it's mainly the size. iOS 6 has many new features but I already had that on my iPhone 4S. One question that I'll have to get answered when I return is whether the Verizon iPhone 5 is a world phone model."
7:15 a.m. ET, NYC Grand Central Store: It's pretty steamy for the line in New York's train station. Customers started waiting last night outside the building but couldn't enter Grand Central until the terminal opened this morning at about 5:15 a.m. They're now lined up along the hot train tracks, a big contrast from NYC's cool weather outside. Apple store employees are keeping them hydrated with plenty of bottled water.
7:12 a.m. ET, NYC Fifth Ave. store: There is a lot of police. I don't remember seeing this many at previous Apple product releases here. Is that because more than a dozen members of Occupy Wall Street began camping out two nights ago? They were here protesting Apple's labor practices but I don't see them in line. They may be out of view.
7:05 a.m. ET, NYC Fifth Ave. store: Here we go. The line is building fast at Apple's flagship store in Manhattan. When I got here 90 minutes ago, the end of the line barely went a quarter of the way down 58th street away from 5th Ave. If you know the area, then you know that's barely past the entrance to FAO Schwarz. Now, the line is all the way down the block.
Members of the New York City Police Department patrolled near the Cube at the iPhone 5 launch this morning.(Credit: Greg Sandoval/CNET)Paris: Hours before Apple stores open in the U.S., early shoppers in Paris already had their iPhones in hand. (And some showed up to air gripes they have with Apple. You can read more here: "Apple fans and critics converge in Paris for iPhone 5."
Mikhail Vorobyev, one of the early customers to buy an iPhone 5 at Apple's store in Paris, shows off his new purchase.(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)
SOURCE: CNET
