New Zealanders finally got their hands on the new iPhone 5 this morning as fans queued over 12 hours for Apple's latest release.

In familiar tradition, tech lovers jammed the streets for the midnight launch, with All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu among a host of famous faces celebrating the release.

Telecom and Vodafone held events at four locations through out the country, with the telcos turning queues into parties as fans waited for the world's most valuable company's most anticipated release.

As reported in the Dominion Post, Kiwi Marc Johnson was the first in line at Telecom's Wellington store, arriving at 2:30pm - a full ten hours before sales began.

Yet Johnson's dedication was eclipsed by Aucklander Daniel Walsh, who according to the New Zealand Herald, queued since midday yesterday to get his hands on the device at Telecom's Victoria Street office.

The launch was helped along by rugby great Lomu, a self-confessed 'gadget geek', who competed with waiting customers on a video game based on him as the clock ticked towards midnight.

With Kiwis now on board, Apple continues to increase the five million sales of its new iPhone 5 which it posted in just three days of trading last week.

Such interest has exceeded the initial supply and while the majority of pre-orders have been shipped to customers, many are now scheduled to be shipped in October.

Designed to be the thinnest and lightest Apple device ever, the iPhone is already available in the U.S., UK, Australia, Canada among others, becoming available in 22 more countries including New Zealand tonight, with over more 100 countries expected by the end of 2012.

The company released pricing for the device which is available in either white - silver or black - slate and on offer to Kiwis for a recommended retail price of NZD$1049 inc. GST for the 16GB model, NZD$1199 inc. GST for the 32GB model and NZD$1349 inc. GST for the 64GB model.

Did you queue for the new iPhone 5? Will you be buying one? Tell us your thoughts below.