Pre-Order

Apple fans who expected to get their hands on the iPhone 4 next Thursday may end up disappointed. The system crashes caused by 600,000 pre-orders have resulted in inconsistent confirmation emails as AT&T's pre-order system remains temporarily closed for business.

Apple now lists the iPhone 4 as shipping July 14, almost three weeks after launch day. Best Buy has suspended pre-ordering and has warned customers with a pre-order that they are not guaranteed an iPhone 4 on launch day. Instead, the pre-order will put them in a queue to receive their devices as soon as inventories are replenished after June 24.

Well, that didn't take long. Only hours into the iPhone 4 pre-order period, US pre-ordering is down. Whether you're attempting to pre-order through Apple or AT&T, for the time being, you're likely to find yourself unable to complete the process. What's the reason? Overload. As has happened multiple times in the past, either Apple, AT&T or both, underestimated the technical requirements necessary to handle demand for the iPhone.

Many of you who have recently tried the Apple Online Store route have like found yourselves staring at a spinning cursor as the Apple store attempts to contact AT&T to determine your eligibility for an iPhone upgrade, which in turn determines the price that you'll be charged to complete your pre-order. Unfortunately, after what seems an eternity of staring at that spinning cursor, most are met with the message seen above, which apologetically informs you that "Your request couldn’t be processed. We’re sorry, but there was an error processing your request. Please try again later."

Apple officially takes pre-orders for the iPhone 4 tomorrow, June 15. The device will ship on June 24 with iOS 4 and redesigned hardware. Pricing with a two-year AT&T Wireless service contract comes in at $199 for the 16GB model and $299 for 32GB. It's also possible to purchase the iPhone 4 without a contract but this adds $400 to the price.

Pre-ordering will begin tomorrow in four countries, with 18 additional countries following in July. iPhone 4 can be pre-ordered from Apple Stores, Best Buy and Radio Shack. Pre-ordering will also be available online from Apple and AT&T. In addition to these locations, Wal-Mart will carry the iPhone 4 on launch day, June 24.