iRobot: How one Australian woman beat the queues for Apple’s latest iPhone at Sydney launch

Don’t want to wait in line for your new iPhone? Why not send your iPad instead?

One Australian woman decided to dispatch a “robot” to do the queueing for the release on Friday of Apple’s new device in Sydney.

Lucy Kelly, 22, was the face and voice of the unusual-looking device – an iPad attached to a remote-controlled Segway-style scooter – which she parked outside the store 27 hours before the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus went on sale.

“It’s a clear demonstration of the future and what’s coming,” Kelly said after becoming one of the first owners of one of each of the new phones.

The device waited with other Apple fans until doors opened at 8.00am on Friday and was one of the first inside before being taken upstairs – via a lift in its case – to make Kelly’s purchases.

Kelly, whose face appeared on the iPad screen, was able to speak to Apple staff and give her permission to use the credit card she had stuck to her small scooter.

The marketing manager said the idea came about as she was lamenting to her boss that she couldn’t be in two places at once – spending two days in the queue as well as being at work.