Mumbai (Maharashtra):

Apple’s much-anticipated iPhone 15 series went on sale in India on Friday (September 22).

Apple’s much-anticipated iPhone 15 series (iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max) as well as the Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 were announced on Tuesday (September 12) at their “Wonderlust” event.

Long queues of people were seen outside the Apple store at Mumbai’s BKC – India’s first Apple store. People were also seen standing outside the Apple Store at Delhi’s Select Citywalk Mall in Saket.

#WATCH | Maharashtra | Long queues of people seen outside Apple store at Mumbai’s BKC – India’s first Apple store.

Apple’s iPhone 15 series to go on sale in India from today. pic.twitter.com/QH5JBAIOhs

— ANI (@ANI) September 22, 2023

Rahul, the first customer today at the Apple Store at Select Citywalk Mall in Saket, said, “It was a great experience. I was in the queue since 4 am and then purchased the phone. I have always had top phones with me. I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max and an iPhone 14 Pro Max. After the 15 series was announced, I wanted to get the iPhone 15 Pro Max – that too before everyone else.”

A customer outside the Apple store at Mumbai’s BKC shared, “I have been here since 3 p.m. yesterday. I waited in the queue for 17 hours to get the first iPhone at India’s first Apple store. I have come from Ahmedabad…”

Another customer, Vivek from Bengaluru added, “I am happy I am getting my new iPhone 15 Pro. I am very excited…” Aan from Ahmedabad says, “I flew in yesterday. I was here at the store at 5-6 o’clock. I was at the store opening a few months ago where I was fortunate enough to meet Tim Cook for the second time.”

#WATCH | Apple’s iPhone 15 series to go on sale in India from today. Visuals from the country’s second Apple Store at Delhi’s Select Citywalk Mall in Saket. pic.twitter.com/1DvrZTYjsW

— ANI (@ANI) September 22, 2023

iPhone 15 and the iPhone 15 Plus, both versions come up with the dynamic island feature that first debuted on the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max and the USB-C type charging.

As per The Verge, an American technology-based website, the iPhone 15 also has an OLED Super Retina display, which supports Dolby Vision content with 1,600 nits of brightness. The peak brightness of this display is 2,000 nits in sunlight, double that of the iPhone 14.

Apart from this, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus also has an improved camera system.

The main camera sensor is moving to a 48-megapixel one, up from the 12-megapixel one found on the previous iPhone 14. There’s also a 12-megapixel telephoto and improvements to the portrait mode mean you won’t have to manually switch to portrait mode anymore, reported The Verge.

The iPhone 15 has a 6.1-inch screen while iPhone 15 Plus comes with a 6.7-inch screen.

Both versions will be available in pink, yellow, green, blue, and black colours.

The iPhone 15 is priced starting at USD 799 for a 128GB model and the iPhone 15 Plus starts at USD 899 for a 128GB version.

iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max

The 15 Pro starts at USD 999 with 128GB of storage, and the Pro Max at USD 1,199 with 256GB of storage. Both will be available for preorder this Friday and on sale September 22, as per The Verge.

Both are powered by the A17 Pro chip, which Apple says has the fastest performance in any smartphone and can even challenge some high-end PCs. Along with a redesigned GPU, Apple seems to think these devices could be poised to level up the kinds of games you can play on your phone. Also, both phones have a USB-C port on the bottom rather than the old Lightning port, reported The Verge.

Interestingly, the ring/silent switch is gone, replaced with an “Action Button”. With the new, button that you can customize to run shortcuts, bring up accessibility features, open the camera, turn on the flashlight, and more.

The Pros both have Super Retina XDR displays with ProMotion and support both the always-on display and the new StandBy mode in iOS 17.

Camera functions have been improved. On the iPhone 15 Pro Max (but not the regular iPhone 15 Pro), there’s a new telephoto camera, with a new tetra-prism design, increasing the zoom up to 5x (the iPhone 15 Pro maxes out at 3x).

But the main, wide camera, as well as the ultrawide camera (which are the same on both the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max) have received significant improvements as well.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Apple Inc.’s latest iPhones and watches went on sale Friday, a test of whether a new smartphone design and modest smartwatch changes can help return the company to growth.

The devices are going on sale in about 40 countries in its first wave, including in Australia, Hong Kong, mainland China, the US, UK and France. The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models will represent Apple’s biggest sellers throughout the rest of the year – and the ability to both create and fulfill demand for the products will make or break its holiday period.

So far, the new devices have fared well for Apple, based on the initial online sales of the product. New online orders for the highest-end iPhone 15 models won’t arrive for customers until at least mid-November in several countries, while reservations for in-store pickups quickly sold out.

Initial buyers of the latest iPhone typically order it online, making it harder to gauge demand based on the length of lines. Aside from the first two iPhone launches in 2007 and 2008 – as well as the iPhone 5s debut in 2013 – Apple has offered preorders for the iPhone with delivery on launch day.

Still, long lines for the iPhone 15 formed in Dubai, Australia and China, indicating that those who could not secure day one orders online are still willing to brave long nights and early hours to be one of the first to own a new iPhone – and even a new Apple Watch.

China is of particular interest because the government is expanding a ban on iPhone use in certain agencies and state-owned enterprises and rival Huawei Technologies Co. just introduced its highly touted Mate 60 Pro. Still, customers flocked to Apple stores in cities like Beijing as sales began. The China market accounts for about a fifth of Apple’s revenue.

Among the crowd at an Apple store in Sydney was Colin Seton, who has been buying Apple products since the mid-1980s. Seton was waiting in line to purchase the new Series 9 Apple Watch.

“I own most of what Apple sells,” he said, gesturing toward his satchel, containing his AirPods, iPhone, MacBook Air and iPad. “It’s a walled garden, but I don’t mind paying a premium for a product if it’s good.”

Felix Hoffman was waiting in line for a new phone after giving up his old one when he left his job in real estate. Being between jobs didn’t stop him from splurging A$1,849 ($1,184) on the new iPhone 15 Pro. “I just don’t like buying old tech,” he said.

While the iPhone 15 Pro has seen strong early demand, the company’s other new products have gotten more muted response online. The regular iPhone 15 and 15 Plus models, in addition to the new AirPods with a USB-C case, Apple Watch ULTRA 2 and Apple Watch Series 9 are still seeing strong availability, aside from certain Apple Watch band configurations.

The iPhone represents about half of Apple’s overall revenue and the company is banking on the device to help it break a streak of sales declines and return to growth during the critical holiday period, which is its first quarter of fiscal 2024.

With iPhone sales beginning Friday, the company will see about a week of revenue from the latest models within its fourth quarter sales, which it typically reports in late October.

Wall Street is currently expecting Apple to report revenue of about $89.3 billion for the current period, with $43.6 billion of that coming from the iPhone. That would be a decline from last year’s revenue of $90.1 billion, with $42.6 billion coming from the iPhone, during the fourth quarter and would mark its fourth quarterly decline in a row.

But Apple has more reason for optimism over the holiday quarter, which runs from October through December. Sales of iPhones that feature new designs typically spur more upgraders than in years with more minor tweaks. The iPhone 15 Pro’s design marks a significant change with a shift to a titanium design that Apple is focusing on in its marketing.

Apple also likely won’t have to contend with any major supply chain snags that hurt the early sales window for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max last year. Foxconn, the manufacturer of Apple’s highest-end iPhones, was forced to shut its facilities in China for several weeks last year due to the country’s former Covid Zero policies.

In addition, the company has upped the starting price of the iPhone 15 Pro Max this year by $100 after eliminating a smaller storage tier offered in past years. Combined with exclusive features like improved zoom in the camera, this year’s Pro Max model has the opportunity to be a larger-than-usual revenue driver for Apple.

–With assistance from Gao Yuan and Lulu Shen.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)