This Wednesday, Apple announced that the long awaited, and highly fabled white iPhone 4 would finally be available for sale beginning Thursday. Debuting nearly a year after iPhone 4’s initial announcement and release, many Apple fans had assumed the colorless phone would never live to see production. Plagued with manufacturing problems from the onset, initial pre-orders for the white iPhone were cancelled and the product was ultimately removed from Apple’s online store. When the company removed all remaining promotional photos including the white phone from its iPhone 4 page, many decided the phone had permanently disappeared.
Though rumor mills occasionally churned—claiming knowledge of the mythical phone’s existence, no concrete evidence was ever discovered. Apple maintained the vague release date of Spring 2011, but were otherwise silent. After the trail went cold earlier this year, many blogs—including ours—ceased coverage on the enigmatic phone. This past week, however, rumors once again began to surface after several European Apple fans began to post photos of seemingly factory sealed white iPhone 4. Duped on the phone’s release date several times before, we were hesitant to predict the phone’s imminent launch until Apple issued an official statement Wednesday morning.
Currently, white iPhone 4 models are available from Apple directly, AT&T and Verizon wireless stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers—including us! Phil Schiller—Apple’s senior VP of Worldwide Product Marketing—offered the following on the phone’s approaching release:
“The white iPhone 4 has finally arrived and it’s beautiful. We appreciate everyone who has waited patiently while we’ve worked to get every detail right.”
When questioned about the device’s numerous delays in a separate interview, Schiller admitted:
“It was challenging. It’s not as simple as making something white. There’s a lot more that goes into both the material science of it—how it holds up over time… but also in how it all works with the sensors.”
The experience with the white iPhone 4 likely taught Apple a few important lessons. Though the company was eventually able to perfect the device’s manufacturing process, the phone has become available ten months after originally announced. For many iPhone users, this was too long to wait. Though the white iPhone 4 will undoubtably see decent adoption rates, its successes would have likely been much higher had Apple managed a simultaneous release.
Had you been holding out for a white iPhone 4? Planning on buying now that they’re available? Comment on the blog and let us know.