Die-hard iPhone fans lined up in the rain at the Apple store on Ste. Catherine Street, hoping to get their hands on two new products — the new iPhone XS, XS Max and the Apple Watch Series 4.
“It cost me more than $1,700,” Quan Vu says smiling as he caresses his new iPhone XS Max.
“I know. I know it’s costly for a phone but I think it’s worth it anyway,” he laughs.
For the 11 years of launches, there have been lineups, but those who arrived early Friday morning at the Ste. Catherine Street store were a bit surprised.
“I thought there would be a lot of people,” says Phuc Nguyen who waited with Vu. “Like for example in Singapore there were hundreds of people waiting, but here there aren’t many.”
Most people began arriving just after 7 a.m. and by 8:30 a.m. the lineup had disappeared.
“Previously, the only way to get an iPhone at a launch was to go to the store,” explains tech analyst Rene Ritchie.
Now it’s different.
“You can pre-order, the phone will be sent right to you, and also reservations so you can make a time during the day to show up and get it,” he explains.
But not everyone pre-ordered or made appointments. They say being in line is about the experience.
“Because we meet a lot of people here and we have the same interest,” customer Walid Lefleg tells Global News. “We are usually geeky and we really like it.
“It’s like meeting the same species,” he laughs.