PHOTOS: The iPhone X is on sale now - and people queued up for days to buy it

The iPhone X is on sale now - and people have queued up for days to be the first to get their hands on it.

At Apple Stores from Singapore to San Francisco, long lines have snaked around city blocks as die-hard Apple fans queued to be the very first to buy the new Apple smartphone. It's a bizarre consumerist ritual that has become synonymous with Apple's mega-hyped and carefully stage-managed product launches.

Announced in September, the iPhone X is the first major redesign of the iPhone in years, with an almost edge-to-edge screen, facial-recognition technology, and an increased emphasis on augmented reality. It became available to preorder last Friday but sold out within minutes - prompting some Apple customers to queue for days to try and get one.

Business Insider went down to Apple's UK flagship store in Regent Street, London, to check out the surreal spectacle for ourselves.