iPhone-hungry crowds pack Apple stores worldwide [Photos]

iPhone Series 16 day in photos — Customers line up outside of the Regent Street Apple Store in London on Friday.
*Photo: Apple*

As you probably already know, loads of new Apple hardware went on sale Friday in Apple Stores worldwide. Apple celebrated the iPhone 16 launch with photos of crowded stores from … all over. The photos and social media posts seem to contradict initial reports of lower-than-expected preorders on new iPhone 16 handsets.

Many of the pics show customers gleefully getting their new iPhones, Apple Watch Series 10 wearables, the new black titanium Apple Watch Ultra 2, AirPods 4 and new colors for AirPods Max.

See photos and videos from Apple’s iPhone 16 launch day below.

iPhone 16 launch day: Photos from Apple Stores all over the world

Gone are the days when anxious Apple fans would camp out for days to be among the first to get their hands on an iPhone. Apple’s shift to online ordering a few years back helped put a stop to that messy ritual. However, thousands of people still show up on iPhone launch days — they are parties for Apple initiates, marathons for Apple staffers, and unparalleled events from a retail perspective.

As Apple showed Friday with a multitude of international photos showing throngs of shoppers (despite reports of lower-than-expected preorders), customers still flock to Apple Stores and carrier outlets to explore and purchase new gear on iPhone launch days. This year, specialists helped customers trade in old devices, find carrier deals, set up new devices and learn about Apple Intelligence (AI built for iPhone, iPad and Mac, most likely arriving in early October with the release of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1).

As per usual, Apple CEO Tim Cook got in on the act with a high-profile stop, this time at the flagship Apple Fifth Avenue store in New York City. He posted a video to X.com:

From the all-new iPhone 16 lineup built for Apple Intelligence to the stunning new Apple Watch Series 10 and groundbreaking AirPods models, there was so much to be excited about today. Grateful to be with our incredible teams & customers celebrating at Apple Fifth Avenue! pic.twitter.com/SLR5rGUQW2

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 20, 2024

In downtown San Francisco, the Apple Union Square store visited by Cult of Mac Editor-in-Chief Leander Kahney was doing a lot of business, although he said there was “no rioting or anything interesting.” In Georgia, Cult of Mac writer Ed Hardy saw a lengthy queue of anxious Apple fans early Friday morning.

“When I got to the Cumberland Apple Store, they’d set up space in the mall for long lines of people, which I thought unnecessary — there were only about 50 people waiting,” he said. “When I left about an hour later, there were at least 200 people in a line stretching far down the mall.”

Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman quoted an unnamed Apple Store employee as saying the iPhone 16 launch day brought the “biggest line we’ve had in a long time.”