iPhone XS release: Diehard Apple fans queue for new smartphones, which can cost up to £1,449

Mark Blunden @_MarkBlunden21 September 2018

Tech fans queued through the night to be the first to get their hands on the latest - and most expensive - version of Apple’s iPhone.

Customers lined up outside the company’s UK flagship store in Regent Street to get the new iPhone XS and XS Max and were cheered by staff when the doors opened at 8am.

About a dozen buyers without a reservation turned up to queue through cold and windy conditions on Thursday afternoon.

“I just came really early, I was here at half past one in the afternoon,” explained the first customer to buy the handset.

“It’s completely sad but I needed an upgrade,” said a 19-year old student who also queued overnight.

Jean-Yves Figiel, 33. was among the first to get his hands on the new phone
Evening Standard

Jean-Yves Figiel, 33, from Westminster, was collecting the Max 256GB model en route to his IT job.

He said: “It’s amazing, it was definitely worth it. I started with the first iPhone and since then I’ve bought one every year.

“I’ve tried the competition and it’s just not as seamless or user-friendly.”

A customer carries out a 'drop test' on his new iPhone (Getty Images via Mous )
Getty Images via Mous

The XS and XS Max start from £999 and £1,099 respectively. The updated Apple Watch Series 4, which costs £529 for the 4G version, also launched today.

Meanhwhile, some fans were testing the handset's durability with a so-called 'drop test'.

With the ability to pre-order and reserve a slot to collect the latest phones, fanfare at the Apple Store was less than earlier years of the iPhone, which saw hundreds of hopeful customers camping outside overnight.

Competitor Huawei tried to muscle in on today’s launch by “trolling” Apple with a van parked off Regent Street offering free fruit juices and a place for people to charge their mobiles.

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