People, robot wait in line for new iPhone 6s in Palo Alto

Byby Katie Utehs KGO logo
Friday, September 25, 2015
People, robot wait in line for new iPhone 6s in Palo Alto
Apple's new iPhone goes on sale Friday morning and people are already waiting in line.

PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) -- Apple's new iPhone goes on sale Friday morning and people are already waiting in line.

The line for the iPhone 6s is already snaking around the block at Palo Alto Apple store with people staking their claim more than 24 hours in advance. But physically waiting in line is so iPhone 6.

Brianna Lempesis is in San Diego, but her BeamPro Remote Presence Device, a fancy name for robot, is standing on a Palo Alto sidewalk.

"I'm in line like everybody else, I just have a different body," Lempesis said. "I am number 15 in line. Some people have left chairs here and they're not really here, so I feel like I'm being really fair by being here and I'm committed to being here the entire time."

Number 16 in line, David Eaton, is a seasoned iPhone camper.

"I expected to be in line, you know, next to physical people and it's been a more entertaining afternoon because she's been here," Eaton said.

People stop to say, hi, take a picture of the robot, or ask the age old question, why wait in line?

"We all could have ordered online, but this is really an experience," Lempesis said.

It's also a chance to meet Apple CEO Tim Cook. He's opened the store at 8 a.m. for prior Apple releases. It's possible he'll do the same for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

"I'd be like, 'Tim, fist bump!' and see if he'd go for it. I don't know if he'd go for it," Lempesis said.

Apple is on board with selling a phone to a woman piloting a robot.

"As long as you can provide a way to pay right? I'm a customer like everybody else," Lempesis said.

A customer in spirit, just not in body and it will be interesting to see how she carries the phone out of the store.

Cook tweeted out a photo of one of the very first people in Australia to buy the new iPhone 6s.

If you end up standing in line for the iPhone, we'd love to see your photos. Share them with us on social media using #abc7now.