The wait is finally over for people hoping to get their hands on the new iPhone.
The phones are only available at Apple stores right now, and they did not start offering them until this morning, but customers started lining up as early as 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Westfarms.
Mandy McKenna, of Waterford, got in line at 2 a.m. and is interested in the video features.
"That's going to be the coolest thing, that I can like talk to my boyfriend who lives in Florida and we can both be looking at each other," she said. "I'm sort of a tech junkie, so I like having the newest stuff out there, but this phone, it's the best smart phone out there right now."
Before doors opened at 7 a.m. for pre-orders, there were hundreds of people in line. General Manager Kevin Keenan told Macworld that more than 500 people were in line at that time. Doors opened at 10 a.m. for those who did not pre-order.
The iPhone 4 has about 100 more apps than the previous version, reviews are good and interest has been so intense that phone lines and the Web sites offering the phone were overloaded, forcing the company to suspend pre-orders.
Jason Pilares, of Canton, is intrigued by the video capabilities.
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"I really like how they now have the front and back facing camera so you can Skype people," he said.
Jimmy Donahue, of Vernon, has never had an iPhone before, so this is a major upgrade. The network and the strength appeal to him.
“The applications, you name it, they have it. It's awesome," he said. "I'm going to have to go in my house for about a week and just learn how to use this phone just to call someone. It's ridiculous, but it's going to be great."
There are already 50 million iPhones in use worldwide and some Wall Street analysts predict that there might be an additional 37 million phones on the market by September.
AT&T will begin delivering phones for customers who pre-ordered, but will not begin selling the phones in stores until June 29.
There are three Apple stores in Connecticut. There is one at Danbury Fair Mall in Danbury and another at Stamford Town Center in Stamford.
At Danbury Fair Mall, people have been waiting in line since about 4:30 a.m.
A post on CNN’s iReport says customers snuck in overnight to secure a spot.
Danbury Fair Mall management could not confirm that, but said it’s been busy, that people are waiting in line and that the Apple Store in service ice cream and water.
