Handset not expected to arrive until late July

At least one white iPhone 4 has surfaced in the wild, several weeks ahead of Apple's revised release schedule. The second color choice was omitted from early pre-orders, leaving customers to buy the black variant or wait a month to buy the white scheme. Unlike earlier iPhones, the latest model features a white panel on the facade as well as the rear panel.

The company recently admitted that the white components, shown in unboxing images posted on the Japanese site Impress, were "more challenging to manufacture than expected." Further details remain unknown, although the white and black glass panels are both produced from the same strengthened glass, likely to be Corning's Gorilla Glass or a similar material.

Apple still lists the white iPhone 4 as unavailable for pre-order. The company has yet to provide a specific launch date, but it is expected to ship sometime in the second half of July.

by MacNN Staff