12.34pm: It appears the queue outside the Apple Store Sydney is still appalling. Reports on Twitter are saying that it is still snaking halfway down King Street. Thought you'd quickly pop out to pick one up in your lunch break? Maybe best to think again - here's what you face:

You're not going to get much better luck online though. A Telstra spokesman has just confirmed the telco's online store has now sold out of all it's iPhone 4S models.

11.46am: The security guards are keeping a close eye on numbers heading through the doors of the Apple Store Perth. Trent, who was waiting since 2.30am WST, was already trying out the new phone before he left the store. "Will you marry me?' He asked the new voice activation feature Siri (not to be confused with Tom Cruise's daughter Suri). "We hardly know each other," the sassy device replied.

The first queue jumper made an appearance 45 minutes after the doors opened. He was sent almost 700 metres away, to the back of the second line, as tears welled in his eyes. Shame on you for attempting to gate crash Perth's shiny altar of the Apple. "I can't believe he did that, that was so stupid," the crowd said in chorus.

Queue is moving quick and the handful of customers seem happy with the new member of the smartphone family.

11.21pm: An ecstatic 17-year-old Mitch, who was first in line in Perth, has emerged from the Apple store holding two new iPhone 4S handsets and $2000 less in his pockets. "Wow, this is epic," he said.

11.10am: Perth joins the party as the iPhone 4S goes on sale in Western Australia. The Apple team at the company's flagship Perth store are cheering like a footy team heading into the grand final. Unfortunately no one resembles Chris Judd. The crowds are so big the queue had to be split in two and is now holding up morning traffic.

11.02am: The first customers through the doors at Sydney's Optus store in George Street were greeted by enormous penguins. But how do you operate an iPhone with flippers?

10.52am: Fairfax deputy technology editor Ben Grubb's initial impression of the "personal assistant" voice recognition app Siri is that it is pretty cool. It appears to understand his and other Australian accents in the office quite well but does sometimes get phrases wrong. Ben found that if you enunciated words more than usual it tended to work better. When he asked it when the Sydney Harbour Bridge was built it gave him the completion year - 1932. But when he asked it where to find a local pub, it said it could only do that type of searching in the US. It did this with all local business searches he tried. This is hugely disappointing if the app can’t be used for searching for things nearby in Australia, especially since Siri makes use of the iPhone 4S GPS. 

10.20am: Less than an hour to go in Perth and more than 300 people are waiting patiently outside the city's Apple Store. Radio stations are trying to tempt people out of the line for prizes. Mitch, who is first in line, is having no part in it. He's had every iPhone ever released. He just showed WAtoday.com.au reporter Jenna Clarke how to save battery life on her dodgy handset. He didn't find it funny when she mentioned that those in Perth might be sold the Nokia 3200 because we're three hours late to the launch party.

10.10am: The fighting has already broken out to claim the title of the first owner of an iPhone 4S.

Blogger Ruby Jacenko claims she was the first Australian to get her hands on an iPhone 4S, publishing photos of herself with the device on her blog yesterday. She did not explain how she got the early access.

10.03am: In Melbourne, most of the action has been out of the city. At 8pm yesterday, about 30 people were already camped outside the Apple store in Doncaster, a crowed that had swelled to over 100 by 10pm. A similar number of people were queued outside Chadstone's store, patiently waiting to be among the first Melburnians to get their hands on the phone.

By the time Chadstone store flung opens its doors this morning, the mall was teeming with hundreds of people who were greeted by clapping and cheering Apple staff. Many of those queued at Chadstone said they admired late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died last week.

In central Melbourne, the queues were more subdued. Small orderly lines had formed outside many phone stores in the city, while several hipsters was seen skating through the Bourke Street Mall clutching their new devices still in boxes. Telstra staff said about three people arrived at its flagship Bourke Street store by 5am. They were given numbers in line, and passed the morning listening to the band Sparkadia who were brought in for the launch.

At 9am, about 20 people were lining up outside the store, as well as across the road at Optus' main city store. With no official Apple store in the city centre, many headed down to My Mac on Flinders Street - only to be greeted with a sign on the door saying it had not yet received any iPhone 4S stock.

Four university students who turned up at My Mac 8.30am, when the store was still closed, were dismayed. "We've been up all night," one said. "But we were studying," he added. "Do you know where we can get one?"

10.01am: Vodafone had a smattering of celebrities at its iPhone 4S event in Sydney.

9.48am: Senior patent lawyer Mark Summerfield, from Watermark in Melbourne, has questioned patent blogger Florian Mueller's claims that yesterday's Apple v Samsung ruling on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 could end up seeing all Android products blocked from the market.

Mr Summerfield said the decision to grant the injunction on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 only applied to that product and if Apple wished to obtain an injunction against any other Samsung devices it would need to go back to the courts to replay the entire process again.

9.42am: Customers appear to be experiencing the full spectrum of service picking up their iPhones this morning. While people arriving at the Apple store were treated to applause from staff, smh.com.au reader Justin had a more subdued experience at the Optus shop.

9.39am: Will Siri take to the Australian accent? That's one of the burning questions on everyone's lips today.

Earlier this morning smh.com.au reporter Ben Grubb observed Telstra employees trying to get the iPhone 4S's new personal assistant to understand them. It didn't work out too well for them. Another tech journalist said they were struggling to get it to understand them as well.

We just got our review unit and will test it out about the office and let you know how we go. Is what some perceive to be the iPhone 4S's killer app a dud when it comes to Aussie accents? Let us know in the comments.

9.33am: The queue outside the Apple Store Sydney is getting really silly now. The real fanboys have got in and out with their new phones and now the general public are starting to descend. The queue keeps getting bigger and stretches from George Street right around the block to York Street.

The enthusiasm continues across the Nullarbor Plain. Two hours until the doors open, the first five people in line at the Apple Store Perth have made themselves at home with a thermos and blankets. The first guy in line has been here since midday yesterday, and struggled through with his resolve intact after temperatures dipped to below seven degrees last night.

9.24am: We've just launched a new poll - did the iPhone 4S meet your expectations? Cast your vote now.

"My iPhone is dead," says Cristian Conrads while waiting for the new model in Brisbane. His 3GS came into strife when he had the old battery was replaced a couple of months ago. "When they changed the battery it killed the wi-fi, it killed the GPS." (None of which has curbed his enthusiasm for the new iPhone 4S handset.)

9.15am: The iPhone 4S should be a hit regardless of what competition is out there but Apple has recently used the legal system to make life even more difficult for its rivals. Patent expert Florian Mueller, who has been covering the Apple vs Android patent battles around the world with a fine-tooth comb, has published an ominous post stemming from Apple's victory over Samsung in the Federal Court in Sydney yesterday.

While the injunction only blocks sales of  Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1, Mr Mueller said the touchscreen patent Apple used was so broad that it could potentially be used by Apple to block all Android products from entering the market.

"After today's decision, I believe no company in the industry be able to launch any new Android-based touchscreen product in Australia anytime soon without incurring a high risk of another interim injunction," he wrote yesterday. "The two patents on which today's ruling is based aren't Galaxy Tab 10.1-specific at all. They will affect all Android-based smartphones and tablet computers, across all vendors."

9.10am: Brisbane is next cab off the iPhone rank. About a dozen people are waiting outside Brisbane's Queen Street Mall Optus store, including a woman who does not want to be named because she doesn't want her boss to know the real reason why she'll be late to work today. Ask her how long she has been in the line and she swiftly consults her soon-to-be-replaced iPhone 3GS (she got here an hour and a half before the 8am Brisbane launch). "Message everybody and download all of the apps" is how this fan plans to break in her 4S.

Peter Lok, who has spent an hour and a half at the front of the queue outside Brisbane's Queen Street Optus store, reckons this iPhone model will be special given the recent passing of Apple innovator Steve Jobs. "I think this iPhone will be special in that respect because it's the last product he worked on," Mr Lok says. "I knew I wanted to get one straight away."

9.08am: Telstra often creates elaborate food ornaments for Apple launches – the last one was a croquembouche made out of apples – and it's making no exceptions with the iPhone 4S. This time around it has baked an iPhone 4S cake.

8.53am: Apple appears to have been surprised by the level of demand as supply chain sources are quoted in the Commercial Times claiming that Pegatron Technology has received orders to build another five million iPhone 4S handsets. This is in addition to the 10 million it had already been contracted to produce. Pegatron is the smaller of Apple's two main manufacturing partners, the other being the infamous Foxconn.

The big US carriers – AT&T, Verizon and Sprint - sold out of their entire pre-order stock ahead of the launch, Bloomberg reported.

8.51am: Mike Daisey, who has been touring the world (including Australia) with a monologue highlighting the terrible conditions in which Chinese factory workers toil to produce the latest Apple gadgets, is ditching his Apple fanboy status. He has been upgrading the software on his Apple products but hasn't bought a new device since touring Apple's factories to investigate how they are made. ''It ruined my hobby ... I don't take the pleasure that I used to from my devices at all,'' he told the Associated Press on the eve of the iPhone 4S launch.

8.43am: Want to see what the iPhone 4S looks like under the hood? iFixit has published a teardown, analysing every single chip.

8.37am: Some very happy iPhone fans out there.

A different scene at Vodafone's main George Street store in Sydney, which has plenty of balloons but not so many customers. The first customer we approach in the line, Chris, who didn't want his last name revealed, said his friends were telling him to switch to Telstra because of dropped calls and reception issues he was having with Vodafone. He said it was just easier to stay with the telco as he was already a customer. He currently has an iPhone 3GS. The other seven or so customers we approached did not want to talk to us.

8.25am: People are already messing around with the most-anticipated feature of the iPhone 4S - the "Siri" personal assistant.

The artificial intelligence system is surprisingly competent at answering requests such as "where can I buy drugs" and "I need to hide a body". It offers some very useful suggestions to the latter question, offering up different options for body dumping including reservoirs, metal foundries, mines, dumps and swamps.

People are already offering the services of their Siri online - ask it a question and see what it says.

8.18am: People will be keenly watching stock levels today, given Apple's habit of selling out of phones soon after launch. We are hearing unconfirmed reports that the Apple George Street store has sold out of 64GB white models. An Optus spokeswoman said for pre-orders the 64GB models ran out earlier in the week. Telstra yesterday announced that it had also sold out of 64GB models in both black and white. Both Optus and Telstra have said they have had tens of thousands of pre-orders all up. Stock could sell out at the marquee Apple stores but the carriers all expect to have plenty of in-store stock for people to pick up.

Telstra spokesman Peter Symons said the carrier was well-stocked, but they were still anticipating temporary stock shortages.

8.14am: So how much will this phone set you back?

The phone can be bought outright from Apple stores for $799-$999. On a plan, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone have the lowest cost plans, starting at $29 a month, but this will likely not provide enough calls or data for most users. Analysts have remarked that Telstra's plans are much more reasonable this time around and are good value when considering Telstra's faster, more reliable network. Optus and Telstra are neck and neck with pricing – Telstra's $59 plan just edged out Optus but late yesterday Optus changed its prices to put it back in front.

8.02am: Loud cheers are heard as Sydney schoolboys Tom and Wil enter the Apple Store in Sydney. The Telstra store across the road had a delayed launch - about 20 seconds after Apple's. Police officers are repeatedly asking pedestrians to move and not stop and watch unless they are in line.

The queue outside the Apple Store Sydney is, quite frankly, ridiculous.

There are only about 40 people queuing up outside the nearby Telstra store. But size isn't everything...

7.59am: Employees on all floors of the Apple Store in Sydney are applauding as the crowd counts down. One pedestrian walking past was overheard saying all the hype was "ridiculous". They may have a point.

7.55am: Everyone wants a piece of the Apple party this morning, with Groupon guerilla marketers crashing the party.

7.53am: Apple's retail network has expanded across the country in recent years, but at what cost to the independent operators? While the company is celebrating the launch of its latest wonderphone at its Bondi Junction store, it is a decidedly less celebratory scene at the mymac shop around the corner.

7.50am: Australian Apple fans on the east coast will be the first in the world to buy an iPhone 4S, two hours ahead of Tokyo, according to an Apple rep. The queue at the Apple Store Sydney has now expanded to about 400 people just 10 minutes ahead of the doors opening.

7.41am: A long queue has also formed outside the Apple Store at Bondi Junction. Security guards estimate the queue is at least 300 strong.

Cousins Ben and Chloe, both 14, are here with their dad and uncle, Gavin. They have been queuing since 3am.

"I'm Chloe's dad and Ben's uncle so I drew the short straw to come and stand with them," said Gavin. Ben, who reviews gadgets on his YouTube channel "brandhittech" said he sold his iPhone 3GS to buy the next model. "It's just simple. All other phones are laggy. Apple is just perfect," Ben said. Chloe said she begged her dad to take her to the launch so she could get her hands on the new features boasted by the phone, including the "Siri" personal assistant and new iOS5 operating system.

7.31am: Jaime Deurx, 35, is waiting outside the "pop up"Samsung store we reported on earlier this week, which is seeing Samsung give away 10 $2 Galaxy S II smartphones each day of this week just metres away from the Apple store. He is getting the $2 smartphone for his sister, who is a single mum and cannot afford a new smartphone at the moment.

6.25am: People have paid tribute to the late Apple founder Steve Jobs, who passed away last week, laying flowers at a makeshift shrine that has formed outside the Apple store.

6.24am: We find Wil, second in line at the Apple store, has taken a very public nap. We asked to use this photo when he woke up a few minutes later and he let us.

5.26am: We meet Paul Fransisco, 29, outside Telstra's George Street store in Sydney. Mr Fransisco has been in line since 4am and is first in the queue. There are three others next to him. He is currently using his old iPhone 3G but did have an iPhone 4 up until only a couple of months ago but had to surrender it to Vodafone as he broke his contract with the company because of poor coverage. He wants the iPhone 4S mainly because of its new "Siri" voice recognition app. He was disappointed the iPhone 4S didn't make use of Telstra's new 4G network.

5.11am: A group of friends play cards while they wait in line.

5.05am: We travel closer to the front of the Apple George Street line and meet David Rawsthorne, 43, on King Street. He is with his wife Sue, 37, son Jacob, 14, and daughter Juanita, 12. Sue has been in line since 8.30pm last night. Sue's daughter, son and husband joined her at 10.30pm. They've travelled from the NSW suburb of Lithgow and this is their third family outing to an Apple launch. The last two launches they went to were for the iPhone 4 and iPad 2. Mr Rawsthorne said his kids - who were both asleep when we spoke to him - "love" coming to the launches. "We were going to [have them stay at] my wife's parent's place and they said 'no' - they wanted to come down." David currently owns an iPhone 4, his wife a 3GS and his son a 3G. All three plan to buy the new iPhone 4S. His daughter will get his old iPhone 4 as a result. "My wife and son said they were sick of [their current models] and they wanted to buy out their own phone and I said 'save up and buy them' and they did."

4.54am: Mid-way through the queue at Sydney's George Street Apple store we meet James and Tamsyn Vohradsky, 19 and 15 respectively, from Wollongong. James tells us his parents were at first reluctant to let the two line up. They both arrived at 11.30pm last night and will each be purchasing an iPhone 4S. James, who studies medical and radiation physics, describes himself as an "Apple fanatic" and "fan boy". He's owned 2 iPhone 3G smartphones, 1 3GS and an iPhone 4. He lost the first iPhone 3G he owned.

3.14am: Vodafone, which is selling the iPhone 4S on a number of plans, sent out a media release last night saying it would have "Aussie celebrities" at its 287 George Street Sydney store at 8am today. It will be interesting to see how many people turn up and buy an iPhone 4S from the telco considering recent issues with its network.

Here's the list of "celebrities" who will greet Vodafone customers: Ant (Mix FM Ant & Becks Show), Tim Commandeur (Operator Please), April Rose Pengilly (model), Danny Clayton (Channel V), Jane Gazzo (Channel V), Charli Robinson (Austero presenter- The Dirt), Zoe Balbi (TV host), Nikki Phillips(model), Jaynie Seal (TV presenter), Wayne Cooper (fashion designer), Jason Sullivan (The Block), Carmelo Pizzino(Dancing with the Stars), Peter Morrissey (designer), Erika Heynatz (singer), Elka Whalan (Olympic swimmer). 

Telstra, which is also selling the iPhone 4S on a number of plans, also sent out a release saying it would bring to its 400 George Street store, which is opposite Apple's flagship store, "home-style comforts to the crowd and see Sydneysiders treated to breakfast". It would also have the Australian band Gypsy and The Cat playing at its store.

2.47am: Sydney school boys Tom Mosca, of West Hoxton, and Wil Batterham, of Chatswood, both 15, remain at the front of the George Street Apple store line. They've been there since 10.30am Tuesday. Behind them is 18-year-old Beau Giles, of Newtown. Mr Giles has posted a photo to Flickr showing the queue for the flagship Apple store bending around George Street and onto King Street, then York Street. Earlier Wil estimated on Twitter that there were 75 in the line. Both Tom and Wil are taking the week off school to be in the Apple line.