The iPhone 4 line in Boulder, Colorado
Like other Apple product launch lines, people brought along their laptops and iPhones to stay occupied while they wait for the store doors to open at 7AM. One person even brought a 32-inch flat panel TV, DVD player and some movies.
The FlatIron Crossing Apple Store in Broomfield iPhone 4 line started at about 3PM, and by 11PM had grown to about 60 people. Since the store is inside a mall, the fact that people were lining up the night before the launch was surprising.
There weren’t any TVs in the Broomfield line, although someone brought their guitar to entertain the crowd. Security left a section of the mall open so customers could come inside to recharge their electronic devices — a friendly gesture that they’re trying for the first time with the iPhone 4 launch.
Near the front of the line at the FlatIron Crossing Apple Store
While the people lining up at Apple Stores will be some of the iPhone 4’s early adopters, they aren’t the first to get their hands on the combination iPod and smartphone. Customers that pre-order the iPhone 4 started receiving theirs as early as Tuesday, and more saw theirs arrive on Wednesday.
Apple and its iPhone partners began accepting pre-order sales and reservations on June 15 for the June 24 launch. Demand was substantially higher than expected, forcing Apple to push the delivery date for later pre-orders out to July 14, and AT&T along with Best Buy promptly shut down their pre-order programs.
Apple will open its doors at 7AM local time to begin processing iPhone 4 reservations.