It's not clear how many devices Apple had in stock; a spokesperson declined to say. But after about half an hour, there were still hundreds of people queuing, and with reports of short supply and online order delays of weeks, it seems likely that some are going home empty-handed.
We spoke to him while he was in the queue, and he wasn't phased by the high price. "It's only £1,000 man, I'm getting two, man!" he said.
Adam seemed to disappear; instead, the first customer was Marco Pierre White Jr., the son of a celebrity chef.
Angela Ahrendts, Apple's head of retail, has been pushing a new "town square" aesthetic for Apple Stores, and it was on full display on Friday. Some customers and employees sat around chatting in an odd faux-casual manner.
And then on the hour, the doors opened — and the first customers were ushered inside, greeted by a wall of cheering Apple employees as if they had run a marathon.
Maybe two-dozen customers were let inside to buy iPhones, while hundreds waited outside.
As it approached 8 am, when the devices went on sale, Apple employees inside got increasingly enthusiastic, cheering, clapping, and waving.
When we popped down on Thursday night, one man in the queue said he had already pre-ordered four, and was buying another two for his family. Another guy didn't even want one, but had been asked to queue to get one for his boss.
And of course, the media was there too, documenting the scene and interviewing the customers.
The keenest Apple fans came stocked with supplies: Sleeping bags, camping chairs, food, and even tents.
Apple offered some people at the front of the queue wristbands so they could leave overnight and come back in the morning — but some refused to take them, preferring the experience of waiting overnight.
The first in the queue, Adam, said he'd been there since Tuesday. He actually first turned up on Sunday night but saw there wasn't a queue yet, and decided to come back later.
...And another 200 or more forced to wait around the corner.
There were only around a dozen people queuing outside the Regent Street Apple Store...
Source: Business Insider India