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iPhone-mania arrives again [The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.](Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 19--BLOOMINGTON -- Jenny Stokes wanted a cell phone that would take great photos of her 2-month old daughter, Harper. So she joined about 125 people in line Friday morning at AT&T Mobility, 305 N. Veterans Parkway, Suite 102, Bloomington, hoping to get the latest Apple iPhone. "Our society uses technology for everything, this is the newest and best thing out there," she said. "Now I can store photos of my daughter and I won't have to bust out a camera anymore." The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus officially hit the market Friday. The iPhone 6 screen has a 4.7 inch-display and starts at about $199 with an upgrade. The iPhone 6 Plus has a larger 5.5 inch-screen, and starts at $299 with an upgrade. Both phones offer increased storage, longer battery life, a new design, ID touch pad technology, payment features and improved cameras. By 8:30 a.m., the iPhone 6 Plus was sold out at the store. That's what Stokes wanted, so she was forced to order one and wait, but was still able to pick up the smaller iPhone 6 for her brother. The store had 20 employees working Friday morning, about double the amount on a regular day, said Chris Reichert, retail sales manager. "For the last seven years, we've had a line," he said, of Apple's annual iPhone release. "As we were leaving (at 8 p.m. Thursday) and locking the doors, there were people getting in line. Customers could pre-order the phone starting Sept. 12. Delivery of the pre-orders started this week. The store offered customers coffee, donuts and water. "It's exciting. It's a new phone and it's got a lot of great features," Reichert said. Reichert declined to say how many of the phones the store had in stock. "Some people treat it as Black Friday, they like the crowds and other people just want to get the latest and the greatest phone," he said. Tim Serapin of Normal joined the line at 7 a.m. "The pre-orders are so back-logged that you would have had to wait weeks to get the phone," he said. The larger screen, additional storage capacity and the Apple Pay digital wallet were appealing to Serapin. "My phone is always maxed out. I get sick of always deleting things," he said. "My life revolves around my phone, I am constantly reading news and looking things up." The camera capabilities drew Wendy Ives of Bloomington to the line at 7:30 a.m. She wanted a phone that could take good pictures for her sister's wedding in two weeks. She was also due for a phone upgrade. "The iPhone 6 is going to be much better. It is definitely worth standing in line for," Ives said. "I use my phone so much more than my laptop, especially when I travel." Meanwhile, at the Verizon Wireless Digital Store, 107B Mall Drive, Normal, the store only had enough new phones to cover pre-orders, said Isaac Albright, sales representative. "We've been doing a lot of pre-orders daily and all of those orders have come in, it has been really busy," he said Friday afternoon. Since Sept. 12, the store has done about 100 pre-orders, Albright said. "It has been pretty chaotic, we've had a lot of customers coming in and out to get these phones," he said. ___ (c)2014 The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Ill.) Visit The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Ill.) at www.pantagraph.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |