White iPhone Reports Set UK Launch For This Week

The white iPhone, rumoured to be arriving imminently for the past 10 months, may be going on sale this week, according to tips received by two gadget websites.

Engadget on Friday reported that the white iPhone had been received by Vodafone UK, and posted images of a 16GB version of the device in its packaging.

On sale this week?

The device was reported to be scheduled to go on sale by Vodafone UK this week, according to Engadget.

A second report, from 9 to 5 Mac, posted a memo from Netherlands phone retailer BelCompany suggesting a 27 April launch date for the white iPhone in that country. The memo said 16GB and 32GB handsets would be received in its retail outlets, with the 32GB models being limited to one handset per shop, according to 9 to 5 Mac’s translation.

“New supplies will be scarce/very limited,” said the memo. “If the supply is exhausted/sold out, inform the customer that new deliveries are expected in four to five weeks time.”

In the meantime, the elusive product is being kept in the retailer’s safe, according to the Website.

In March, Apple marketing executive Philip Schiller tweeted that the white iPhone 4 would be available “this spring”. According to unnamed sources talking to both Bloomberg and Reuters, the white iPhone is currently in production and will be available on both Verizon and AT&T.

In the face of unexplained delays – and rumours of persistent manufacturing issues – Apple had repeatedly pushed back the device’s release date over the past year. In October 2010, a “source with connections at Apple” told the Cult of Mac blog that ambient light leaked into the white iPhone 4’s case, affecting its ability to take “accurate pictures”. Apple planned on delaying the device’s release, the blog added, until it could isolate the camera sensor from ambient light.