Technology

Devotees brave rain as Apple iPhone 6s goes on sale in Australia

Jessica SierJournalist

Updated Sep 25, 2015 – 1.16pm, first published at 8.55am

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There were shrieks, cheering and a barrage of foot stamping as the now-familiar queues of Apple faithful braved the rain to be among the first to get their hands on the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.

Hundreds lined up outside the George Street Apple Store in Sydney, with the priciest iPhones yet attracting the usual mix of fans, tech geeks and businesses on the hunt for a bit of free publicity.

Among the more novel was a robot with a tablet attached, saving the place of Lucy, whose face smiled out from the warmth of her couch at home, while her colleague braved the rain in the street.

Customers waited in the rain in Sydney to be the first to buy Apple's new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Jessica Sier

"People keep telling me I'm the smartest person here," she said through the screen. "I'm starting to believe that – it looks cold out there."

Loving the brand

Vitor Epiphanio, 18, had camped out in front of the store since Monday, marking his place in the steadily growing line.

"I just love the brand," he said, grinning. "There's a feeling of family when you go into these stores. I'm so excited for the new handset, but not half as excited as the new iPad actually. That's going to be great."

The new iPhone 6s has prices of $1079 for the 16 gigabit version, $1229 for 64GB and $1379 for 128GB. The larger 6s Plus will cost $1229, $1379 and $1529 for 16GB, 64GB and 128GB respectively.

Apple has almost doubled the speed of its new iPhones, added toughened glass, 50 per cent more pixels and 4000-pixel video shooting to the rear camera, a new flash to the front camera, and Force Touch technology, which it is calling 3D Touch.

The 3D Touch uses pressure sensors behind the screen to measure how hard your finger is pressed on the screen, meaning more actions can be performed by different types of touches and swipes.

Among the more novel in the line-up was a robot with a tablet attached, saving the place of Lucy, whose face smiled out from the warmth of her couch at home. Jessica Sier

Big expectations

Apple never releases sales forecasts, but research firm Telsyte predicts 1.9 million iPhones of all models will sell in the second half of 2015, out of a total of 4.5 million smartphone sales in Australia.

Telsyte managing director Foad Fadaghi said the new nature of 3D Touch would take a while for customers to get used to, but would differentiate the iPhone from rivals.

"It's something you'll have to try before you buy, but it's obviously a very strong feature that will lock people into the Apple ecosystem," Mr Fadaghi said

"It will be like it not having a right click after a while. People will find it hard to go back to even an old Apple device."

Staff wait to let in the waiting iPhone 6s buyers in the George Street store in Sydney. Jessica Sier

It is probable that many of the new iPhone owners drying off after standing outside for hours would have lined up for the new phones regardless of some of the new features.

"We've been here since four this morning," said Shu Ngygen, 26, who was hundreds of places off George Street around the corner.

"It's been a bit cold, but it's always nice to get these things in person."

Customers try out the new 3D Touch technology before buying their new phones. Jessica Sier

Apple's new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are the most expensive models yet. Jessica Sier

Jessica Sier is the North Asia Correspondent for The Australian Financial Review. She is based in Tokyo, Japan. Jessica has previously written on technology, global capital markets and economics. Connect with Jessica on Twitter. Email Jessica at jessica.sier@afr.com