Apple Store
Customers line up outside Apple stores as iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro pre-orders start arriving. (Photo: Emanuel Ekström/Unsplash(BY CC 2.0))

Apple fans line up outside Apple stores as iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro pre-orders begin arriving in other countries.

New Zealand and Australia are the first countries to celebrate the New Year annually and as it turns out, they will be the first to hand-out new iPhone 12 models to waiting customers. Reports say that as early as late Thursday, customers in Australia and New Zealand start forming lines outside Apple stores in these countries in anticipation of Friday's launch day of iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro models.

According to CNET editor Daniel Van Boom, the first person in line at the Sydney branch of the Apple Store was already there since 11:30 p.m., Thursday, so he could be among the first in the world to get his hands on the next-generation device from the Cupertino-based tech giant. A few minutes later, reports started pouring in about more customers forming lines outside Apple stores in Australia and New Zealand.

Customers in New Zealand and Australia are traditionally among the first to get their hands on new Apple devices, in this case, the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro models. Forming lines outside Apple stores in different parts of the world has become a sort of tradition for Apple fans whenever the Cupertino giant releases new hardware. This explains why customers in New Zealand and Australia have started forming lines outside Apple stores in those locations as early as Thursday, most of which are between 12 and 15 hours ahead of many states in the US.

    Most of these customers who formed lines outside Apple stores in Australia and New Zealand to get their hands on their pre-ordered iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro models have also started snapping and posting photos of themselves while waiting in line. They are also among the first to post photos of new Apple devices on different social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. One Instagram user who goes by the handle "jiriteach" picked up his Graphite-color iPhone 12 Pro from the Apple Store in Wellington and immediately posted videos and photos of him unboxing the new handset.

 

In Australia, customers who formed lines outside the Sydney branch of the Apple Store applauded as the shop opened its doors for them on Friday morning. Apple Store employees joined in the applause. In Japan, customers also started uploading photos and videos on social media as a long queue formed right in front of the Shinsaibashi Apple Store in Osaka. In Fukuoka, Chuo Ward, photos show both Apple fans and news media queuing in front of the Apple Store branch there. As of posting, there are no reports yet of lines forming at various Apple retail store locations in the U.S.