The new Apple iPhone 15 models are on sale in Singapore on Friday, Sep. 22, 2023.

Queues, predictably, started to form outside the Apple store in Orchard Road, as well as outside the Courts outlet at The Heeren on Sep. 21.

8world News reported that hundreds of people began waiting outside Courts as early as 4:30pm on Thursday.

It began to rain at about 8pm, but those in line were not deterred.

A check by Mothership at around midnight on Friday showed scenes of people milling about and waiting outside both venues.

Those in line included tourists with suitcases from Vietnam, the Chinese media reported.

Some of them were looking to buy the phone for themselves, while others were going to flip the product back home for about S$300 profit, or more than 30 per cent higher than the retail price in Singapore.

The manager of the Courts outlet also told 8world News that it started putting up notices in Vietnamese, as well as English and Chinese, this year to ensure that there is no miscommunication.

A TikTok video posted on Thursday night also showed a queue of a few hundred people outside the Orchard Apple store after they got in the queue proper.

The clip estimated that there were about 300 people and some of those in line were identified as Vietnamese nationals.

@khoingong Hàng trăm người Việt đợi mua iPhone 15 tại Singapore #LearnOnTikTok #edutoktech #tiktoktech #thanhcongnghe #edutok #education #apple #iPhone15 ♬ nhạc nền - Khôi Ngọng

The latest iPhone 15 models will only be out in Vietnam a week later, the person filming the TikTok video explained.

Top photo via Tan Min-Wei & @khoingong