Actor Jason Bateman has apologized to hundreds of Apple fans who were left fuming when he cut to the front of a long queue to pick up the new iPhone 4.

The 'Up In The Air' star was among an estimated 2,000 people who had lined up outside the Apple store at The Grove shopping mall in Hollywood last Thursday, eager to get their hands on the new phone, which went on sale that morning.

Bateman's celebrity status won him special treatment when an Apple employee noticed him in the queue and allowed him to walk straight into the shop to make his purchase - but his actions were met with angry boos and jeers from waiting customers.

The actor originally blamed the paparazzi for his queue-jump, but now he has publicly apologized for causing any offence.

In a post on his Twitter.com page he writes, "Correction - If there were boos, I didn't hear them. If some were mad, I didn't see them. I wish I had. If you're out there, I'm sorry."