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While yesterday's visit to the iPhone 6 line at Apple Fifth Avenue was relatively calm (albeit crowded), this morning's scene was anything but. We arrived shortly after the store began selling the newest phones at 8am, and couldn't find the end of the line—and that's because it runs up Madison Avenue to 77th Street, an Apple employee outside Crate & Barrel told us (meaning they're standing outside that rumored Upper East Side location).
Unfortunately for those standing in line, the staff has zero idea how long it'll take customers to get into the store—which is otherwise closed for non-iPhone related business—from any given point (this is not Disney World, after all). And there's no scientific way that people are being let into the store—just "in chunks," we were told.
Related: How a Professional Line Sitter Preps for the iPhone 6 Launch
There's a separate line forming on the plaza for pre-orders, but it's not clear if they're being let in before others on the regular line. What is clear is that there's about two dozen blue-shirted employees whose current task appears to be cheering for those who come out of the store with their brand new purchases. And just across the street from them, a media holding pen has been set up for interviewing those customers.
Related: McDonald's Gives Apple Pies to the iPhone 6 Queue
"It's crazy out here," a guy in line on 59th Street said to no one in particular as we walked by. "It's crazy out here!" he then repeated to us. Crazy, indeed—if there isn't a group smoking from a hookah in one spot, then there's McDonalds giving away free hats to another. Stay tuned for another update later this afternoon.
· iPhone 6 Lines at Three NYC Apple Stores Are Already 300+ Deep [Racked NY]