I had hoped to give detailed, specific instructions on how to pre-order an iPhone 4 today so that you can have one as soon as they come out next week. Unfortunately, as of the time that this post is going live (just after midnight Central time) this is still very uncertain. Here is what I know:
- The two best, comprehensive posts with details on how to pre-order an iPhone 4 seem to be this post from Chris Ziegler at Engadget and this post from Jeff Gamet at The Mac Observer. Both say that there are several options including the Apple, AT&T, Best Buy, Radio Shack and Walmart stores, plus the online Apple and AT&T stores.
- Gizmodo’s Kyle VanHemert also has a good post on how and where to get an iPhone 4. First, Gizmodo suggests that you pay $5,000 to a guy in a bar…. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
- But just to make things confusing, Rene Ritchie at TiPb writes that you might not be able to pre-order at stores other than an Apple Store. Hmm.
- And then there is the question of when today you can start to get an iPhone. Michael Rose at TUAW tries to tackle this issue, but raises more questions than he answers.
- If you want a white iPhone 4, you might need to go to an Apple Store. Kyle Matthews of modmyi.com asserts that you can get any color iPhone you want at the AT&T store, as long as it is black. You’ll have to wait for white.
- What if you are not yet eligible to upgrade your iPhone at a subsidized price, but your spouse is? According to Glenn Fleishman at TidBITS, you can upgrade your phone instead of your spouse’s phone. Just make sure that you clear that with your beloved spouse first, or you might be using your new iPhone … while you sleep on the couch.
To everyone who plans to pre-order the iPhone 4 today: GOOD LUCK!
After failing to get anything other than the “We’ll be back soon” screen on my PC, for laughs I accessed apple.com on my 3Gs and at 6:35 EDT and was able to order through a few screens (asking for existing AT&T info, my phone number, last 4 of my Social, and billing zip code, and which 4 I wanted to buy…. only black is available) but got into a loop and the session expired. I’m back to the “We’ll be back soon” screen.
I’m on AT&T at 7:50 EDT and am ordering a white 32GB iPhone 4.
False alarm: White is “Coming Soon” on the AT&T website. I can pre-order black now but I’m going to wait.
apple.com is now up at 8:00 EDT for pre-order but black only.