How to Pre-Order Apple’s iPhone 3G S: Complete guide

The countdown to iPhone 3G S official release is about to end on June 19. There’s a rush for Apple’s souped-up smartphone that is said to have a doubled up speed, longer battery life, cut-and-paste, video-recording capability and much more.  You gotta grab one as the flood gates open. If you are the lazy leg who has yet not pre-ordered Apple’s new iPhone 3G S handsets and wanna have the handset by Friday, you are not completely out of luck. Don’t pay heed to the reports that iPhone 3G S pre-order stock is sold out. You need to be Johnny-on-the-spot. I’ll let you know were to look for and when to act.

The sales for iPhone 3G S had begun shortly after the announcement of its release in Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. The device was reserved for both for home shipment and in-store pickup. According to user accounts some of the shipped orders are already en route. One of the emails received by an customer who had pre-ordered for the device read that his iPhone 3G S was on its way from China and a tracking number was included with the message.

Now as I said, if you have’t ordered one, just don’t panic. I’ll give you an idea of how to get the iPhone at POP(point of purchase). Here are some details of the iPhone availability with retailers in U.S

Apple Store

Still you have time to place your order online and collect your phone on Friday. This is what the representatives at numerous Apple Store locations across America confirm. The retail locations would be opened from 8:00 Friday morning.

Wal-Mart

You can’t place any pre-orders for iPhone 3G S with Wally World. It will have the phones readily available on Friday on first-come, first-served basis. So sleep early and get up early and queue up. Check out the time with your local store.

Best Buy

Great! it’s still accepting the pre-orders for the iPhone 3G S. This is where you can queue up for first-come, first-serve on Friday. Best buy doesn’t guarantee that the pre-stocks would be available by 17th june.

AT&T

In case you have placed an order with AT&T before 12 June. You are most likely to get your  iPhoe 3G S on Friday. However, orders placed after 13th, will not arrive before a week. The same rules would apply for those who have placed order via AT&T website, or in-person at a store. The retail locations will be open from 7 am. Friday for those with reservations.

Well, that not all the customers without pre-orders would be allowed in the store from 9 a.m onwards. Obviously, they would receive less priority than those with pre-orders.

Activation Planning

Do you remember the activation disaster during iPhone 3G’s release last year? Apple remembers, and this time they have planned to avoid the activation disaster. For the new iPhone 3G S it’ll be easy. You will get the device and then activate it remotely via iTunes. If the iTunes servers remain stable, your iPhone 3G S would go steady.

With all said and done, getting your much-coveted iPhone  and playing with it might not be a hassle -free experience, so keep your patience.

And if you have read it, you may feel interested in reading: iPhone 3G S FAQ