iPhone 3GS launch: Apple Store Miami Beach

by Justin Horn on Jun 19th, 2009 @ 7:22 pm

The When Will Apple crew headed down to the Miami Beach Apple Store located on world famous Lincoln Road to cover the iPhone 3G S launch (and pick up the new phone for ourselves of course). Even though this launch wasn’t as big as the iPhone 3G (read more about last years launch) due to preorders, best buy, and walmart, it was still an interesting one…as almost anything on South Beach is (especially after 2am). Fun stories, pictures, and videos await your below…so let’s get started!

The day really started around 3:15AM EST when we got on the MacArthur Causeway, one of only three roads onto South Beach, and found it closed. So we made our U-turn and headed back toward the mainland of downtown Miami to take one of the two remaining options. We successfully made it on to Miami Beach via the Venetian Causeway. We later found that road was closed due to a carjacking / head on crash / police shoot out right there on MacArthur…only hours before we got there!

From CBS4 news in Miami:

According to Miami Beach police Detective Juan Sanchez, taxi driver Robertuad Toussaint was carjacked late Thursday at 3rd Street and Alton Road on South Beach by a man armed with a gun. The suspect hit Toussaint in the head with the gun and took off with his taxi, said police.

The carjacker then fled across the causeway, which links Miami Beach and downtown Miami, but he was driving west toward Miami while in the eastbound lanes, against traffic.

Police said the man crashed head-on into another car, and jumped from the taxi in an effort to flee police. When he got out of the taxi, he exchanged gunfire with officers. He was hit and taken to Ryder Trauma Center where he was pronounced dead.

I decided to take MacArthur on the way back figuring that since it was then about 8:45AM everything would be cleared up (didn’t know it was a shoot out till I got home), but the crime scene was still in full swing. Those trying to get onto the beach via MacArthur were still being turned away, but they were now allowing traffic to exit the beach. Here’s a picture I snapped with my new 3G S of the crime scene truck.

Ok, let’s get back to the good stuff. So we finally made it to the Apple Store a little after 3:30AM! Yeah, we are crazy, but at least there were about 8 other people crazier than us in line. The funniest part is the guy that was first in line got there the night before at 10PM, but he didn’t preorder so we got to skip him. Also, in classic Miami fashion is was 84F (feels like 92F) at 3:30 in the morning! …and yes it felt that hot.

Now onto the best part about waiting in line at the Apple Store in Miami’s world famous South Beach…the crazy drunk people just leaving the clubs at 4 in the morning. There were a few groups that passed by, but the video below was the best of them.

Enjoy!

A little while later the local news showed up…ok well not really. It technically is local news, but just SouthFlorida.com Live. Last year we had NBC here, so this just backs up how this launch wasn’t as big of an event as last years 3G. Later in the day I snapped a picture of their news truck and Chiyin got a picture of me taking a video of them taking a video…that was a mouthful.

As the sun came up on Miami Beach the line grew to about as long as it would get, about 25% (or maybe less) than the length of the line last year. Also, with the sun coming up we were able to really take in the new 3G S window displays.

Now that the sun is up, take a look at the tshirt I made my girlfriend wear.

Alright, it’s about that time. You can also see our new friend and fellow blogger Minelia (in the red shirt) taking video for her blog LaTati.

We then entered the store and were helped by a really cool Apple employee Sven. Unlike the other employees he didn’t try to give us the hard sell on mobile me and cases which was nice. Nicole’s dude wasn’t as cool as Sven!

Ah a fresh new 2 year contract with at&t, the horror!

And of course no Miami Beach iPhone launch would be complete without Mr. Clucky.

Follow me on Twitter @justin_horn

View 5 Comments
Featured post, Humor, iPhone

1.
1. iPhone Launch in Miami Beach - The iPhone Blog Forums

   June 19th, 2009 7:33 pm

   [...] road blocks, drunk people stumbling by the line (and dancing), and of course Mr. Clucky. Enjoy! iPhone 3G S launch: Apple Store Miami Beach | When Will Apple? __________________ Justin Twitter for my blog When Will Appple? http://twitter.com/whenwillapple [...]

2.
2. La Tati

   June 22nd, 2009 12:35 pm

   

   Dear FRIENDS:
   Thanks for your support!!

3.
3. Singapore iPhone 3GS launch line 3000 deep | When Will Apple?

   July 13th, 2009 12:40 am

   [...] The iPhone 3GS launch lines in the US weren’t as crazy as the first two even though it was record breaking weekend for iPhone sales. This was most likely due to the fact that at&t and Apple were taking online orders and many people opted not to stand in line for hours like a crazy person (we here at When Will Apple of course opted to be crazy people). [...]

4.
4. Gaston Sidero

   August 30th, 2009 2:06 pm

   

   I couldn´t get Apple´s email. I need to know the following: a) I want to buy an IPHONE 3GS without contract (that is free)of 32 gigas, to be used in Argentina. I want to know the colour, final price including tax, what accessories could be added and at what final price, handbook in Spanish, handsfree for cars with tax included and saying where can be placed in the car ad if it requires to be connected to the car battery. In Argentina we have 220 volts and this telephone should be UMTS/HSDPA(850,1900,2100 Mhz); GSM/EDGE(850,900,1800,1900 Mhz);Wi-Fi HSDPA(850,1900,2100 Mhz)and (802.11b/g)EDGE, Bluetooth 2.1 4EDR.
   I would appreciate your answer in Spanish, but if it is not possible, do it in English. Another thing: how many days before do I have to reserve it? Thank you. Regards

5.
5. Looking back at last years 3GS launch on Miami Beach | When Will Apple?

   June 23rd, 2010 8:06 pm

   [...] you want to reminisce check out the original post, if not at least check out one of the funnier videos of the [...]

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