iPhone 4S launch turns into remembrance for Jobs

Associated Press

NEW YORK

It wasn’t just the latest iPhone that drew people to Apple stores Friday.

Many consumers waited in lines for hours — sometimes enduring chilly temperatures and overnight thunderstorms — to remember Steve Jobs, Apple’s visionary who died last week.

The company’s first iPhone release since Jobs’ death turned into another tribute. Some customers even joked that the new model 4S stood for “for Steve.”

Tony Medina, a student from Manhattan, stood outside Apple’s flagship store on New York’s Fifth Avenue for nine hours, waiting through rain. He originally had planned to order the phone online but decided to join a crowd of about 200 people to honor Jobs.

“For loyalty, I felt I had to do the line,” he said. “I had to say thank you.”

The new phone, which went on sale Friday in seven countries, is faster than the previous model and comes with better software and an improved camera. Yet the unveiling comes at a time when Apple is finding it difficult to maintain the excitement of previous iPhone introductions.

For starters, the phone is more widely available than in the past. In addition to Apple stores, it’s also sold by three wireless carriers: AT&T Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless. Some Best Buy, Target and Walmart stores also carry the phones, as do authorized resellers.

Buyers also were able to pre-order the phone on Apple’s website and have it shipped to their homes or offices.

Many diehard Apple fans and investors were disappointed that Apple did not launch a more radically redesigned new model — an iPhone 5. It’s been more than a year since Apple’s previous model was released.

That also may have contributed to smaller gatherings at some Apple locations.

Many said the event resembled a remembrance to Jobs, who died a day after Apple Inc. announced the new phone.