UAE residents can pre-order their gold iPhone 8

Even if you don't queue up at a UAE Apple Store to be among the first to get the next iPhone, you'll still get that edge over others if you opt for this bling.

iPhone fever is fast heating up. And for all those with a little - no, actually, a whole lot - to spare, the people at Goldgenie are back to offer you something really shining.
The luxury gift brand on Wednesday announced that it is now accepting pre-orders for "possibly the first and only available gold-embellished iPhone 8".
In other words, even if you don't queue up at a UAE Apple Store to be among the first to get the next iPhone, you'll still get that edge over others.
So far, no prices have been dropped on the reservation page - all that it says is that you have to "register your interest and be the first to know when we launch in 2017 where you can secure your new Gold iPhone 8 for only a 50 per cent discount".
To give you a clue, however, a gold iPhone 6s (the 4.7-incher) will set you back £2,397 (around Dh11,500); of course, you'll need to pay the 50 per cent deposit first to get the ball rolling. The most expensive listed option for this segment is the iPhone 6s Plus Diamond RockStar Limited Edition, which is at a cool £9,700 (about Dh46,500).
So, yeah, you get the idea.
Oh, and aside from 24k gold, you can also choose from rose gold, platinum, diamonds, croc skin, carbon fibre or a combination of them if you really feel like spending for more bling.
The iPhone 8, Goldgenie says, is its "biggest challenge to date", thanks to the device's abundance of glass elements. Still, they're confident they can turn it into "something, the likes of which" have never been seen before".
And it looks like Goldgenie all but confirmed the rumoured iPhone 7s, because they also have an order page for it (despite all the leaks, nothing's official until Apple actually unveils it).
Well, as long as you can afford it, no?
- alvin@khaleejtimes.com