PHOTO! Jubilant Apple fans around queuing over night to get latest iPhone 5

Triumph of the nerds: Jubilant Apple fans around the world finally get their hands on the iPhone 5

• Fans queuing from London to New York to Sydney cheers by Apple staff as phone goes on sale
• Some hoping to profit from queuing, charging up to £900 for a phone

 

The vigil was finally over for Apple fans today as the iPhone 5 went on sale around the world today.

From London to New York to Sydney, fans have camped outside Apple stores.

As Apple opened the doors of its stores around the world, staff greeted the first customers with high fives and cheers.

The dozens of die-hard Apple fans had swollen into huge queues of hundreds by the early hours of Friday morning, as excitement reached fever pitch hours before the release of the updated handset.

The latest Apple gadget became available from 8am, as hundreds were cheered into the brand's store in Covent Garden, central London.

Apple store workers dressed in blue T-shirts formed a passageway and high-fived customers who had been waiting outside the shop for up to a week.

The phone is already guaranteed to be a best-seller, with the company reporting pre-orders around the world of two million in just 24 hours and many customers not expected to receive theirs until October.

IT businessman Ryan Williams was the first person in the queue and said the atmosphere as he picked up the phone was 'crazy'.

Williams, 22, from Swanley in Kent, had been camping out in Covent Garden for a week with his friend Peter King.

But the pair were not doing it just for their love of tech - Mr Williams auctioned off the first iPhone to hit the UK's streets to raise £1,000 for charity.

He said: 'I didn't expect that kind of entrance to be honest with you, I thought I was just queueing for a phone but it was absolutely mad.

'It was a crazy thing to queue here for a week but it was really good fun, I would definitely do it again, we've raised so much money for Cancer Research UK as well which is absolutely fantastic.

'I was just trying to utilise the fact that there's so much publicity around iPhone queueing, so if we could build on that and raise money for charity at the same time, we were doing it for a good cause.'

Although the majority were there to get their hands on their own new iPhone, the anticipation surrounding its release has reached such levels that many were prepared to sell their place in the queue for four-figure sums.

The frontrunners for the gadget had been queuing for days and despite a cold snap last night, said the enjoyed sitting with their mates knowing they are going to make 'more than a weeks wages' for their troubles.

In the UK the iPhone 5 went on sale at 8am for between £529 and £699.

On Regent Street in London, the two friends at the front of the queue are doing it for a cause - using the money they'll make for the phones or their coveted space to help get women off the streets and into work.

George Horne, 23, from Leicester, working for crowdfuelledcauses.com, said: 'It's a piece of cake doing this, it gets easier every time. 

'We're going to sell the phones and use the money for the cause.

'We've been offered £500 on top of the phone - someone approached my friend and offered it to them, but we want four figures.

'If I could get about £5,000 I would be ecstatic, just so happy.'

Richard Wheatcroft, 30, owner of crowdfuelledcauses.com, said when they get the phones, they will probably sell them on eBay if they cannot get an offer on their spaces.

But some savvy youngsters hope to make more than that from queuing for friends.

Freelance graphic designer Peter Mitchell, 18, of Epping, has been queuing in Regent's Street since Monday for two of his friends. He said: 'This is the third time I've done this and although the cold is quite bad I know a lot of people here.

'I'm here for two of my friends - one's paying me £500 and the other £200. I've pre ordered mine already so that'll be sent to my house.

'They've given me the money for the phones so I get the £700 to keep, so when people laugh at you, you're actually laughing back at them because I'm walking away with more than a weeks wages.'

Today, hopefuls were approaching the makeshift pen housing the 'Apple community' and offering £500 for places in the queue, or £800 for an iPhone.

Other in the queue are already there on behalf of friends.

Ethan Martin, 21, got friends to hold a place in the queue for him before turning up at midnight last night, and is either waiting for an offer from a passer by, or will make £200 from someone he knows.

The 21-year-old marketing assistant from Oxford said: 'I'm hoping to get an offer of about £900 to wait in the queue and pick a phone up for someone, or I can get £200 from someone I know and they'll pay me to buy two phones.

'I got here at midnight and I'm already bored s***less. I'm far away from home and I don't like the urban lifestyle in London.

'Tonight will be all night, we're going to crack out the Jack Daniels and have a drink and I'll try and find someone at the back of the queue to sell the phones to.

'There's a lot of money in this - you can sell them on eBay, but you have to pay them ten per cent. It's easier to just go to the back of the queue and sell it there for between £530 to £700 for a basic one."

The boys ignore tourists stopping taking pictures, laughing and joking as they use a nearby shower, or play on their iPads.

While industry experts have suggested that android phones like the Samsung S3 now match the iPhone, Apple fans in the queue at 1am on Friday morning still had faith in the iconic product.

Consultant Matt Taylor started queueing at lunchtime on Thursday, around 19 hours before the doors of the Regent Street store opened at 8am today.

The 28-year-old, from Ipswich, said: 'I missed the pre-ordering, so if I wanted one on launch day I had to queue here or wait for several weeks.

'Everyone likes to be part of it. I've heard it referred to as a 'following', and that's what it seems to be.

'The S3 has made it more of a level playing field now and both phones have features which the other one dosnt.'

Harry Newton, 18, who is sixth from the front of the queue outside the Apple store in Regent Street, will spend £600 on Friday morning on the 32GB iPhone 5.

He said: 'There's a great community spirit here. I know several of the people here from previous Apple launches.

'I wouldn't be queueing here if it wasn't fun. The 4G aspect of the phone will be great, and Apple have created a smartphone with the best screen ever.'

Michael Roberts, 22, of Hampton Court, says he will keep one of the phones for himself and sell the other to someone at the back of the queue.

The video maker for YouTube said: 'I've been here since Monday and I've done this for four years now so I'm quite an expert and know what to expect.

'I'm always in the top five in the queue which is quite nice. When I first started doing this I was right at the front but I've worked my way down.

'I'm doing this for my own benefit. I'm getting two, keeping one and selling the other one to someone at the back of the queue.

'I've sold my spot in the queue for £900 before and have been offered £500 for my space this time but I can sell a phone to someone at the back for more money.

'I'll make a good amount.

'I don't get bored doing this because I know all the guys and I'm used to it.