The British Launch of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus Was Disappointing

There was the usual cheering, the opening of the doors, and exhausted customers slowly trickling in to get their hands on the latest Apple handset.

But this time, the atmosphere was suppressed, the excitement softened, the queue not so impressive.

Apple flagship store on Regent Street, London, there were almost 30 people queuing before the store opened Friday for the launch of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.

Just seven people stood at the front of the queue, while 20 others were lining up round the corner. All around, flocks of photographers, reporters, PR people, security staff, and Apple people.

Once inside, the ratio of customers to photographers/employees was massively in favor of the latter. In the previous years, hundreds of people would huddle outside the store with a new Apple release.

Salam Bin Mohammed, 24, from Stratford, was the lucky first in the queue. He purchased a gold iPhone 8 Plus and a space grey iPhone 8 Plus.

“It’s a good phone, the camera quality is nice and the wireless charging is the next level thing in this,” Bin Mohammed, who’d been queuing since 10 p.m. yesterday, said.

“I was excited about no more using the plugs but the pretty disappointing thing is the iPhone jack.”

The slightly disappointing response for the iPhone 8 is connected to two main factors. First, many of the phones’ features — renewed speakers, camera, design — look incremental for people who already own the iPhone 7.

The genuine upgrade is the extra-solid, more strong glass back, which allows for wireless charging. But the curves and styling are pretty much the same and most importantly, people are naturally more excited about the possibly groundbreaking though pricey iPhone X, which will be released at $999 in November.