The new iPhone 12 and 12 Pro were both released worldwide on Friday and as expected, buyers are out in numbers to purchase the new device according to reports. Meanwhile its worth noting that things have changed due to the COVID19 pandemic which had swept the entire world.
Eve though reports about queues in China wasn’t as great due to the customers preferring to shop online and get their new device delivered to their homes for them, people in other places still don’t mind going out in large numbers to get their hands on the new device which had garnered a lot of momentum in the media since the beginning of the year giving it a favorable condition to launch.
Apple fans in Sydney, Australia there is reports according to tech media source CNET stating that there were fewer people on queues at the Apple Store in the Central Business District compared to the number of customers the previous year which showed the bad effect of the coronavirus pandemic with the need to be socially distant from other people.
According to the report, one of the shoppers Jun who was interviewed stated that he had marked his place since 11:30 pm the previous night as buyers had already queued up at the Sydney’s Apple store since 8 am when the store was opened. He bought both the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro and what will bring him back by November 13th is when the next iPhone 12 Pro Max is released.
As far as world cities go, Sydney is one of the least affected by COVID-19. New South Wales, the state of which Sydney is the capital, has recorded a total of 4,363 cases and 53 deaths. By comparison, New York has had 260,000 cases, London has had 39,400 and Tokyo, 29,350.
Coronavirus not stopping queue at Sydney Apple Store for iPhone 12. First guy in line has been here since 1130 last night pic.twitter.com/pIZGvdwPVp
— Daniel Van Boom (@dvanboom) October 22, 2020
Customary applause for Sydney’s first iPhone buyers pic.twitter.com/o14OkHAjjE
— Daniel Van Boom (@dvanboom) October 22, 2020
Meanwhile Apple is said to have safety measures put in place in order to keep its employees and customers protected from the coronavirus. There were checks for temperature as well as masks being required before anyone is allowed into the Sydney store.
There are also masks being provided at the entry which is meant to help the one-on-one specialists while giving guides to customers as the number of people allowed into the stores are being limited.
Scene at the Apple Store Upper West Side this morning as the #iPhone12 goes on sale. Just reservations are being allowed in, so no big lines like prior iPhone launches. pic.twitter.com/MEYG01MfdE
— Eli Blumenthal (@eliblumenthal) October 23, 2020
Jun said he’s concerned about the coronavirus, but said he trusted Apple to enforce social distancing in line and in the store, gesturing at a customer 1.5 meters behind him.
Away from Australia and straight to the UK, in London, Apple Store located at the Regent street aw an influx of people who were reportedly waiting to get their own iPhone 12 device when the global sales of the device went live yesterday Friday. But the number of those who were on queue wasn’t made known by Apple itself.
Whereas in New York, there was said to be about 50 people on a line who were socially distanced right at the front of the Apple Store at the Fifth Avenue. Meanwhile there were even fewer number of people on queue at the Upper West Side where there is another Apple Store in the city.
Meanwhile there at the Apple’s Store at Union Square in San Francisco, there is a stricter measure to be put in place which includes disallowing customers to enter the tore freely and browse around.
The company books 15-minute “check-in windows” for customers picking up devices or wanting to shop one-on-one with an Apple Store employee. People save a bar code to the Apple Wallet on their phones and check in at their allotted time at barriers outside the stores. When customers are allowed in, guards takes their temperature and direct them to a table to get help from a store employee.
Since the option to get your new iPhone delivered to you when you shop online, this had put a reduction to the number of people who flock in to purchase iPhone in real life and this had even prompted analysts to say that will be the end to iPhone launch ceremony whereby hundreds of people would queue to get their hands on their new iPhone.
“The experience is good here,” said Mitch, who came to the store to pick up his new iPhone before work. “Every time I pick up a device here, it’s actually so good. They sit you down, everything comes out to you. They walk you through the whole process.”
Out of the four new iPhones that was launched just a week ago, only two of it had been released which are the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro while the smaller iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max will both be released later by November 13th.
Analysts had predicted the iPhone 12 series will help Apple gain momentum in the 5G industry as survey showed people were generally positive about the new device which had some newer design aesthetics inspired by the olden iPhone 4 and 5 and all the device comes with OLED display and 5G network capability which is pretty cool.