People check out the new iPhone XS and XS Max at an Apple Store in Summerlin on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
Courtney Woodall leaves the Apple Store in Summerlin after buying four new iPhone XS on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
James Vakos leaves the Apple Store in Summerlin after buying his new iPhone XS on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
People line up outside an Apple Store in Summerlin to buy the new iPhone XS and XS Max on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
People line up inside an Apple Store in Summerlin to buy the new iPhone XS and XS Max on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
Apple customers shop in the Highland Village Apple store on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018, in Houston. The newly released products included the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and the Series 4 watch. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Highland Village Apple store staff rally before open its doors for customers on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018, in Houston. The newly released products included the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and the Series 4 watch. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A customer looks at a new iPhone XS Max on display at an Apple store in New York on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison)
The Highland Village Apple store welcomes early customers to purchase new products on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018, in Houston. The newly released products included the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and the Series 4 watch. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via AP)
A customer looks at the new iPhone XS Max at an Apple store in New York on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison)
Customers look at new Apple iPhones on display including the iPhone XS, front, at an Apple store in New York on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison)
Customers look at new Apple watches including the Series 4 at an Apple store in New York on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison)
A customer stares at his phone while waiting in line outside of the Apple Store at the Garden State Plaza on the day the new iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max were released, Friday, Sept. 21, 2018, in Paramus, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Customers wait in line outside of the Apple Store at the Garden State Plaza on the day the new iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max were released Friday, Sept. 21, 2018, in Paramus, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Customers wait in line outside of the Apple Store at the Garden State Plaza on the day the new iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max were released, Friday, Sept. 21, 2018, in Paramus, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Customers wait in line outside of the Apple Store at the Garden State Plaza on the day the new iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max were released Friday, Sept. 21, 2018, in Paramus, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Customers look at new Apple iPhones including the iPhone XS, left, iPhone XS Max on display at an Apple store in New York on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison)
Apple’s newest iPhones hit stores Friday, but many Las Vegas residents didn’t have to worry about the hours-long wait made famous by the tech company.
At the Summerlin Apple store, customers said their wait times often lasted less than 15 minutes after reserving the phone ahead of time.
“The process was painless,” said James Vakos, 66, a resident in Summerlin as he sported an Apple watch and white Apple store bag. “I probably waited in line five minutes before I got called into the store.”
Apple’s newest phone in stores starts from $999. The iPhone XS replaces the iPhone X with a display that largely runs from edge to edge, getting rid of the surrounding bezel along with the home button. Many tasks require swipes rather than presses and the fingerprint ID sensor is replaced with facial recognition to unlock the phone.
The iPhone XS MAX goes for $1,099. Essentially the “Plus” version of the iPhone XS, the phone is about the size of the Plus, but with more room for the display.
Las Vegas resident Jade Yap, 41, said he’s tried other smartphone brands in the past, but the seamless integration between Apple products keeps him coming back.
“I tried switching to Samsung, the Note, then I found out it’s hard to convert to another product,” he said. “Everything’s so intertwined nowadays.”
The timing of the new releases came just in time for Las Vegas resident Stephen Black, 32, who dropped his iPhone 6 in the bathtub two weeks ago.
“I’m excited,” he said. “We have everything Apple.”
Apple will release the iPhone XR next month, with a price tag of $749. As with the XS models, buyers will get an edge-to-edge screen to minimize wasted space. There’s more display than the regular XS, but the phone itself is also larger — just not as large as the Max. The XR won’t have the dual-lens camera, though Apple says it can offer the blurred-background effect with software.
