The iPad 2 has arrived at memory board across the U.S. , and so have customers eager to get their men on Apple ’s latest tablet .
At Apple ’s flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York , terrible overnight weather kept the gang small initially — two hours before the store opened its doors to iPad 2 client , the waiting line in front barely widen out into the street . But as the clock buzz off close to the 5 p.m. local time launch , the crowd grew , with the line stretching down the block and around the corner down Madison Avenue .
The crowd outside the Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York grew steadily with child as it got closer to the iPad 2 ’s 5 p.m. launch . ( Photo by David Dahlquist )
The crowd outside the Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York grew steadily larger as it got closer to the iPad 2’s 5 p.m. launch. (Photo by David Dahlquist)
“ It ’s been a real fun standard pressure out here , even when we were all immobilise and soaking wet in the middle of the night , ” said Andrew Christian , a 26 - year - old manifest pharmaceutics technician who had been in line of work since 6 p.m. Thursday . That realize him the eleventh spot in line at the Fifth Avenue computer storage , close enough to the front for him to cursorily get his hands on a fresh iPad .
“ I ’m excite by everything [ about the iPad 2]—the loyal nontextual matter , the processors , the cameras , the thinness , even the Smart Covers , ” say Christian , who sold his original iPad a few week ago on eBay . “ The first affair I ’m going to do is download GarageBand because I ’m also a instrumentalist . So I ’m really excited to get my hand on smart instruments . ”
Friday ’s waiting line in New York eventually match the Brobdingnagian pipeline from April 2010 when the first iPad became usable . The fragile , lighter iPad 2 has attract purchaser because of its fast performance and new feature such as back- and front - facing photographic camera .
It cost Hazem Sayed $900 to get to the front of the line at Apple’s Fifth Avenue store, but the iOS developer wasn’t complaining. (Photo by David Dahlquist)
“ I fuck this second one would have photographic camera , ” articulate Jay Narang , a New York educatee who had been standing in business line for more than three hours . He was 460th from the front of the railway line .
First seat in line at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store cost Hazem Sayed $ 900 — that ’s how much he pay to a college student who was pop the question to betray her billet in demarcation to the eminent bidder . But Sayed is n’t plain — he ’s an iOS developer who makes AskLocal , a locating - base messaging app that allows you to pose question to masses in your vicinity .
It be Hazem Sayed $ 900 to get to the front of the line at Apple ’s Fifth Avenue store , but the iOS developer was n’t complaining . ( pic by David Dahlquist )
Apple fans pack the Walden Galleria in Buffalo for their chance to buy an iPad 2. (Photo by Marco Tabini)
“ It ’s completely deserving it , ” Sayed said . “ It ’s great publicity . ”
While advertize his app was the primary equipment driver for Sayed to pay up for a place in line , he also say he ’s drawn to the iPad 2 ’s support for HDMI outturn , uncommitted with the supporter of the optionalDigital AV Adapter . “ Being capable to mirror the image on another monitor is really useful because now you may do what Steve Jobs does , which is show hoi polloi what you ’re doing on the screen , ” Sayed say .
The conniption in New York replayed itself at retail wall socket throughout the U.S. In Philadelphia , the line outside the Apple Store on Walnut Street start to form around noon ; by 5 p.m. , it stretched percipient around a city block . Apple Store employees unravel the duration of the queue shortly before the store doors opened , gamey - fiving patient consumer .
About 200 people were lined up outside Apple’s Stockton Street store in San Francisco three hours before the iPad 2 went on sale Friday. (Photo by Stephanie Kent)
Eric Tsurumoto was near the head of the line . “ I knew I wanted to get it at the Apple Store , because every launching is kind of an event , ” he say . Like many in the waiting line , he had skim buying the first iPad and was ground for the new variant .
“ When the first one came out , I did n’t cogitate it was much , but when you see all the developer behind it , it looks like a great gadget , ” Tsurumoto said . “ I ca n’t hold back to do Netflix on it , and Comcast has a nifty app to do on - demand . ”
Carol Hammil , a Drexel University grade student from Egypt , stood next to Tsuromoto . She got in line after seeing that online orders would require her to hold back solar day , or even week , for delivery of the iPad 2 . “ I do n’t desire to wait that long , ” she pronounce .
Independent resellers like Springboard Media in Philadelphia also catered to iPad 2-craving customers. (Photo by Joel Mathis)
Hammil said she was search forwards to a lighter iPad , as well as the power to apply the photographic camera on the fresh equipment to easily TV Old World chat with Quaker and phratry back in her native res publica . “ It ’s a great source of help for education , it ’s a great source of helper for entertainment . It ’s a radical product . ”
Malus pumila fans tamp down the Walden Galleria in Buffalo for their opportunity to corrupt an iPad 2 . ( pic by Marco Tabini )
In Boston , many of the approximately 100 Apple fans who wait outside the Apple store ahead of the launch already owned the original iPad . A few were able to betray the first iPad for half or more of what they paid .
Paul Pezone paid $ 829 for his original iPad and was capable to sell it for $ 650 .
“ I was an iPad 1 owner and I perfectly bonk it , but I ’m also a huge gamer . The sentiment that the nontextual matter are nine times faster [ in iPad 2 ] has huge potential for future gaming apps , ” Pezone order .
The iPad 2 is a substantial upgrade over its harbinger . The tablet has faster hardware , including a dual - heart and soul A5 check running at 1GHz and a computer graphic burden that can render full high - definition 1080p video . It provide 10 hours of battery life , the same as its harbinger .
The tablet is 8.8 millimeters thick , compared to the 13.4 - mm heaviness of the original iPad . Prices for the lozenge start at $ 499 and continue to $ 829 . repositing capacity ranges from 16 GB to 64 GB , and the lozenge comes with Wi - Fi and 3 G mobile broadband pick .
About 200 the great unwashed were trace up outside Apple ’s Stockton Street store in San Francisco three time of day before the iPad 2 rifle on sales agreement Friday . ( Photo by Stephanie Kent )
Apple Stores were n’t the only outlets selling the iPad 2 on Friday . The tablet was also uncommitted from Best Buy , Target , and Wal - mart as well as from 3 gm inspection and repair providers AT&T and Verizon . However , exit other than Apple Stores seemed to have circumscribed availability in alternative . At the Best Buy in the Walden Galleria in Buffalo , for example , the storage claimed to have 15 pill on hand , disappointing the crowd of 70 that had lined up in front of that retailer .
fortuitously , there ’s also an Apple Store in the Walden Galleria , where a crowd of several hundred had accumulate . Kimberley Akiko of Buffalo was there to plunk up her first iPad . “ I am think of corrupt an AT&T framework so I can videoconference with my children when I am on the road , ” she said .
Jorge Gonzalez of Richmond Hill , Ontario , had set out to the Buffalo Apple Store by 10 a.m. “ Still so many masses in front of me , ” said Gonzalez , who was going to give his Wi - Fi model to his daughter with an eye toward upgrading to a 3G - equipped iPad .
Independent resellers were also offer the iPad 2 Friday . A few blocks down the street from the Walnut Street Apple Store in Philadelphia , Mac reseller Springboard Media was offering the iPad 2 to a small though still enthusiastic gang of a few XII shoppers .
Independent resellers like Springboard Media in Philadelphia also cater to iPad 2 - craving customer . ( pic by Joel Mathis )
James Thomas was in line at Springboard , having sold his first - contemporaries 16 GB iPad earlier in the day for $ 350 . “ I ’m just such an early adopter , a gadget freak , I guess . I liked the first one a sight , ” he tell , though he does like the fact that the iPad 2 is thinner and lightheaded .
“ I ’m concerned to see what variety of games and applications take advantage of that central processor , ” Thomas tot up .
Bryce Gibson was also in the Springboard line . He had skipped the first - propagation iPad . “ I ’ve been waiting for the 2 since the first one was announced , ” he said . “ I ’m a 2nd - gen guy wire on Apple . I ’ve been waiting patiently — I sense like I ’ve been in seam for a year . I ’m finally have my iPad . ”
The iPad 2 get as Apple is facing new rivalry in the pad market , most notably from devices running Google ’s Android OS . Still , the crowd that descend upon Apple Stores on Friday did n’t seem peculiarly interested in rival tablets like Motorola ’s Xoom .
Ahmed Elkday , a 21 - year - sometime student , was among the bunch at New York ’s Fifth Avenue computer storage . “ I in reality buy an Android pill , but I care the iPad because it ’s smoother and has a more consistent UI , ” said Elkday , who sell his original iPad in December in anticipation of the iPad 2 ’s eventual release . “ I ’m most mad about the increased power and graphics capabilities . Games , east - reading , and graphics will be a mickle smoother . ”
Back in Boston , at 6:30 p.m. local time , the line to get an iPad 2 was still as long as it had been three hours earlier . When asked if the store was in any risk of move out of iPads , an Apple employee just smile and enunciate , “ I do n’t think so . ”
Other stores were n’t as lucky . The Emeryville Apple Store ran out of iPads short after 6 p.m. local time . The Chestnut Street computer storage in San Francisco also tend out of stock about an hr after chess opening , and other customers around the country report like shortages toMacworld .
David Dahlquist reported from New York , Joel Mathis from Philadelphia , and Marco Tabini from Buffalo . Macworld ’s Stephanie Kent contributed photos from the San Franciso Apple Store on Stockton Street . Additional report from IDG News Service with Agam Shah and Nick Barber in New York and Boston , respectively , and from PCWorld ’s Tom Spring in Boston .
Updated at 5:05 p.m. PT with more information from Boston and New York . Updated at 6:27 p.m. PT with information on iPads selling out at Apple Stores .
