Hundreds wait for new iPhone in Palm Desert

Nearly 350 people waited for the doors to open at the Apple Store, El Paseo Village, in Palm Desert early Friday morning.

The masses were waiting to buy the new iPhone 6 or its larger sibling, iPhone 6 Plus.

The first person in line sat at the doors on Thursday at 10 a.m.

Employees offered treats to ease the wait — water, orange juice, snacks, even parasols when the sun came out.

One man put an ad on Craigslist, offering $250 to whomever was willing to hold his spot. The man, who wished to be anonymous, offered his minion $100 up front, pizza and beer delivered for dinner, and the remaining balance the next morning. “John Doe” said it was, “the best $250 he ever spent,” and that’s not including the phone.

Others were ditching work to buy the phone or buying with the sole intent to resell at upwards of $1,000 on eBay.

Daniel and his son Christopher idolize Steve Jobs, and were willing to wait 10 hours while on vacation from New York to get the new phone.

“The phone has a much better battery life, and of course the screen has a much higher resolution, and the antenna has improved significantly,” explains Daniel.

Tyson Nielsen was the seventh person in line, and said his Space Grey iPhone 6 Plus was worth the wait.

“Apple does it right,” he says. “People want to talk about Android did it first or whatever; Apple did it better.”

Learn more about the iPhones here.

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