Apple Officially Releases iPhone 7 to Massive Crowds
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The iPhone 7 officially went on sale in 27 countries today, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, the United States, the UK, and a number of others. Although the massive crowds camping out in front of Apple Store locations have largely been quelled internet pre-orders, many stores still saw hundreds of customers – both looking to pick up pre-orders and looking to buy an iPhone in store – lining up long before the doors opened.
Apple Stores in Australia opened the doors up to customers first, with 16-year-old Marcus Barsoum snagging the first iPhone globally – a matte Black iPhone 7 – after camping out for three days outside of the George Street Apple Store in Sydney. According to CNET, Barsoum claimed that he and his friends were “hoping for the 7 Plus in the Jet Black, so we were devastated,” adding that he is “personally happy” after getting his hands on a matte Black iPhone 7.
Barsoum wasn’t the only one disappointed he wasn’t able to purchase a Jet Black iPhone, or an iPhone 7 Plus for that matter. Although it was announced yesterday that Apple had sold completely out of their stock of all storage options of the iPhone 7 in Jet Black, and all storage and color combinations of the iPhone 7 Plus, many of those who spent their last several days waiting in line outside of Apple Stores around the world missed the memo.
Luis Lorenzo described his disappointment to CNET at his inability to get a hold of an iPhone 7 Plus after waiting outside of the flagship Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. “I’m disappointed because I waited so long for the iPhone 7 Plus. They sold out completely and I was second in line at the flagship store.” Customers are still able to purchase an iPhone 7 Plus online, but ship dates have been pushed back several weeks for most models, and all the way into November for Jet Black models.
Apple Stores in the UK and several other European countries managed to avoid the crowding with a policy where iPhones were only available to customers who pre-ordered the devices online – no walk-in purchases allowed.
Announced on the 7th, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus feature a new, powerful A10 Fusion chip, an updated display, stereo speakers, a water-resistant design, and upgraded cameras, with the Plus model featuring a dual-lens camera capable of true optical zoom.
Amid much controversy Apple also made the decision to get rid of the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack found on every previous version of the iPhone, opting instead to include EarPods in the box that connect via the Lightning port. Although many critics speculated that sales of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus would be lackluster due to the lack of any ground-breaking new features on the devices, initial sales seem to be very strong. Apple has yet to release any sales numbers, but with the Jet Black iPhone 7 models and all iPhone 7 Plus models selling out prior to the official release, as well as many carriers reporting record-breaking pre-sale numbers, the iPhone 7 may prove to be the most popular iPhone yet.
