“Feel the atmosphere here, that’s what I like,” said Harry Sung as he stood in the middle of a bustling Apple Fifth Ave flagship store. Moments earlier, Sung picked up the first burgundy iPhone 18 Pro Max of the day after being ushered into the glass building by none other than new Apple CEO John Ternus.
It was a big day for Sung, who scored his second year in a row as the first Apple customer on iPhone launch day, and an even bigger day for Ternus, who hosted his first iPhone launch store event as CEO.
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(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for Ternus, who officially took over for former CEO Tim Cook (new executive chairman) on September 1 and a week later unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro line, new AirPods, new Apple Watches, and the exciting foldable iPhone Duo on stage.
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On this day, that flexi phone was nowhere in sight. Still, the atmosphere was electric, and it felt, for those of us who have attended iPhone Store launch events for nearly 20 years, like the old days.
When I caught up with Ternus at the store, he told me the day was going to be “exciting,” and I could tell he was still reeling from the store opening ceremony.
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(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
Around 8 a.m. ET, Ternus appeared behind the frosted glass doors of Apple’s Fifth Avenue flagship store and then opened the doors. He stood for a while, and waved to an enthusiastic crowd, behind which was a small cluster of protesters who, among other things, shouted about the working conditions of iPhone manufacturing. As the groundswell of excitement grew around Ternus, the protesters lost steam.
Ternus then turned to the long line of iPhone customers waiting outside the store, many of whom had pre-ordered the phone last week, and began greeting them. First was Sung.
In his arm was a binder full of maps detailing the 120 Apple Stores he visited around the world. Sung later told me that he had met Ternus once before at another product launch at Apple’s “100th Store,” where he had Ternus sign the book. The inside cover also has more than half a dozen signatures from other Apple executives (This is not surprising. In another part of the store, I witnessed Apple’s head of retail Deirdre O’Brien sign a MacBook.)
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(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
Ternus posed with Sung outside the store and then turned his attention to the next customer.
After collecting his iPhone 18 Pro Max, Sung briefly appeared outside the store and held up his purchase. The crowd cheered again.
Later, when I asked Sung, 21, how he secured his pole position, he told me that he first ordered his burgundy 256GB iPhone 18 Pro Max online (he never leases and always buys), and then he arrived at the store at 8:30 PM ET yesterday — and waited.
I asked Sung, who is a native of China but currently lives and attends college in New Jersey, if he has ever owned an Android. He shook his head and then told me that his first iPhone was the iPhone 15.
Why is Sung visiting all these shops though, and why was he here now? Sung looked at me like I was dancing lobsters on my head. “I love Apple,” he told me, as if nothing were more obvious.
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