iPhone 6 fans start queueing for new Apple smartphone days before it has been unveiled

Though they're not just there for their health - many are being paid by companies and websites to tout their wares in TV interviews

Like salmon migrating back to the riverbeds they spawned from, the annual queuing-of-the-nerds ahead of a new iPhone launch is a natural event that inspires awe, wonder and more than a few questions.

How do they know where to go? What mysterious force calls them back year after year? Why – in the face of such hardship – do they even bother?

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Well, okay, so it’s not worthy of a David Attenborough voice-over, but reports are in: those super keen Apple fans have already begun queuing up outside the company's flagship store in New York ahead of the iPhone 6 launch on September 9th.

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The eager consumers were first spotted by tech investor Dan Benton, although if previous iPhone launch schedules are anything to go by they’ve still got quite a wait on their hand. – Apple tends to turn its new smartphones out to the baying crowds to buy ten days (give or take) after the initial unveiling.

However, the early queuing isn’t just the result of gadget-zealotry – many in the line have joined for commercial reasons. The couple at the front of the line – Moon and Jason Ray – are there to promote an app named VideoMedicine (it lets you Skype your doctor) to roving TV crews.

“Basically we’re just going to be here soaking up as much press as we can and getting as much air time while having the adventure of a lifetime,” Moon Ray told CNBC.

Another line-waiting duo, cousins Brian Ceballo and Joseph Cruz, are in line to represent an electronic goods reseller BuyBackWorld. In addition to having their food and iPhones paid for by the company the pair, who actually arrived first, also received $2,500 from the Rays to switch places.

There are also rumours that Apple will be unveiling a new wearable – the fabled iWatch – although if they do, it’s likely not to go on sale before the beginning of 2015.