It should come as no surprise to anyone that people have been queuing for several days in various cities around the world to make sure they get their (by that time almost certainly) grubby hands on the iPhone 7 before anyone else.
Such is the insatiable hype that surrounds any Apple product launch.
What has surprised even us, though, is that people are reportedly being PAID just to keep somebody else’s places in the queue. Get rich or sit in one place for days trying.
The new phone hits shops on Friday September 16, and according to Bloomberg News intern Harvard Zhang, fans are being asked to cough up some serious cash if they want to be one of the lucky few that get hassled so incessantly by news reporters on launch day that they end up dropping the fucking thing.
Case in point:
Zhang tweeted a photo he took outside of Apple’s flagship store on 5th Avenue in New York. The 13th (and final) spot in the queue was for sale at $300 (£225). The ‘pro line sitter’ in 11th was apparently being paid more than $3,000 to maintain another prospective buyer’s spot.
iPhone 7 line in NYC. Pls pay $300 for 13th spot+chair, end of queue. Pro line-sitter in 11th said it's a $3K+ job. pic.twitter.com/OVykKC1azU
— Harvard Zhang (@harvardzhang) September 10, 2016
He added that the first queuer arrived on August 25, way before Apple’s newest handset was even unveiled. The line-sitter was paid $3,400 for a week.
If that level of fanfare just isn’t bonkers enough for you, what about New Zealand mobile network Spark, who are giving the first 100 people to pre-order their own personal robot to watch their spot in the queue.
In 2007 we queued for the phone. In 2016 the phone queues for us! pic.twitter.com/BDzFX9pB0b
— Spark NZ (@SparkNZ) September 9, 2016
For all you normal people, most online retailers are still taking pre-orders, but various reports suggest the jet black model is particularly sought after. If you still haven’t decided whether or not to make the upgrade plunge, why not remind yourself of all the new features the iPhone 7 brings to the table.
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