Apple fans fly to Dubai to get first iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max

September 21

8:20am
Apple's new flagships started flying off UAE shelves on Friday, with a familiar face once again kicking off sales.
The trillion-dollar company welcomed a good-sized crowd at the Apple Store in The Dubai Mall as expected. Crowds were also present at its other outlets in the UAE, In Dubai's Mall of the Emirates and Abu Dhabi's Yas Mall.
Bakhit Alsubousi, who came in second last year, was Number 1 this time around.
As always, there were fans who flew all the way to the UAE - one of the markets that regularly get new iterations of the iPhone first - just to satisfy their tech craving.
Vlad, who came with his friends all the way from St Petersburg, Russia, was in line as early as 11am on Thursday.
8:01am

7:50 am

7:20am

Vlad is the first man in the queue waiting to get his #iPhoneXS. He was outside the store since 11am on Thursday. (Photo by Shihab/Khaleej Times)

LIVE BLOG - https://t.co/M8hbpFQBt3 pic.twitter.com/Ny5eqnwGnN
- Khaleej Times (@khaleejtimes) September 21, 2018

7:15am

Eager buyers wait to get hands on the first pieces of #iPhoneXS at the Apple Store in #Dubai. Many had camped outside the store the whole night. (Photos by Shihab/Khaleej Times)

LIVE BLOG - https://t.co/M8hbpG8cRD pic.twitter.com/T9hVwOpqiH
- Khaleej Times (@khaleejtimes) September 21, 2018

7:05am
Friday, 6.30 am

A few hundreds have made the patient wait to be the first ones to get the new #iPhoneXS devices at The Dubai Mall. (Photo by Alvin R. Cabral/Khaleej Times) pic.twitter.com/iuDtz2aM5K
- Khaleej Times (@khaleejtimes) September 21, 2018

Also read: Get iPhone XS Max in Dubai for Dh210 per month

September 20

Hundreds of die-hards queued up at the UAE's three Apple Stores last night at The Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, and Yas Mall in Abu Dhabi - eager to be among the first to get hold of the tech giant's latest devices.
They are still in the queue to be among the first ones to get their hands on the latest iPhone.
The 5.8-inch iPhone XS, 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max and Apple Watch Series 4, which were unveiled last week started selling at 8AM on Friday, in line with recent tradition and global rollouts; the UAE is once again among the first territories to have the devices available.
We are getting you the live action at the Apple store in The Dubai Mall.

A few of the customers had queued up as early as mid-Thursday, apparently not minding the higher price tags.

The 5.8-inch iPhone XS, visually similar to last year's iPhone X, comes in three storage options - 64GB, 256GB and a new 512GB. Prices are at Dh4,229, Dh4,859 and Dh5,709, respectively.
The iPhone XS Max, Apple's largest smartphone to date, also comes in the same capacities. It has tags of Dh4,649, Dh5,279 and Dh6,129.

Also read: New iPhones in the UAE will not have this key feature
A third mobile, the entry-level iPhone XR, is scheduled to be released on October 26. Pre-orders begin on October 19.

Crowds throng the Dubai Mall late evening on Thursday ahead of sales of Apple's latest models. (Photos by Mohammad Mustafa Khan/KT) https://t.co/WujwPmOhID pic.twitter.com/d5vMFKhC0a
- Khaleej Times (@khaleejtimes) September 20, 2018

The Apple Watch Series 4, meanwhile, is the first redesign of the company's wearable timepiece, and now comes in bigger 40mm and 44mm sizes, replacing its predecessors' 38mm and 42mm, offering 35 per cent and 32 per cent bigger displays, respectively, giving almost bezel-less displays.
The 40mm model starts at Dh1,599, while the 44mm option begins at Dh1,999.
alvin@khaleejtimes.com