Apple store in Istanbul sees first queue for iPhone 8

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

Apple fanatics queued up to buy the new generation iPhone 8, which went on sale in Istanbul at midnight on Oct. 20. Apple fanatics queued up to buy the new generation iPhone 8, which went on sale in Istanbul at midnight on Oct. 20.

“I have been waiting for this for many months. I am very happy,” said one excited customer Aslı Köklü.

Long queues were formed in front of GSM operator shops to buy the first iPhone 8s in the Kadıköy district of the Asian side of Istanbul before midnight.

When the clocks hit midnight, customers were let in to purchase the new product, which ranges in price in Turkey from 4,199 Turkish Liras to 5,549 liras.

Apple introduced the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus on Sept. 12 at its annual shareholders meeting in Cupertino, California. 

The device resembles the iPhone 7 line but have a glass back for wireless charging. The company said it was working on a new device, called the Airpad that would charge all newer Apple products.     

The wireless charging uses a standard called Qi, also used by Samsung, and will work with third-party devices.

The new phones, including the recently-publicized iPhone X, all feature Apple’s first proprietary graphics processor, which provides greater speed, improved cameras and some features for augmented reality apps. 

The company had previously used graphics chips from Imagination Technologies Group PLC, which put itself up for sale earlier this year after Apple said it would make its own technology.      

Apple is moving to design more of the internal components of the iPhone, squeezing some suppliers but giving Apple control of key technologies.

The cheapest of the iPhone 8 models have 64 gigabytes of memory, up from 32 gigabytes in previous models, and went on sale in the United States for $699 and $799.