Best Buy to take iPhone 4 pre-orders alongside Apple tomorrow

Best Buy announced Monday that it will be an authorized participant in Apple's iPhone 4 pre-launch on Tuesday, in which customers can visit one of its retail locations to reserve one of the new handsets for pickup the following week.

Beginning tomorrow, June 15, customers can pre-order a 16 or 32GB iPhone 4 at any Best Buy or Best Buy Mobile standalone store nationwide then return to the same store on Thursday June 24 to take receipt of their new phone.

"It's exciting to have an opportunity to launch this iconic device with this pre-sale," said Shawn Score, president of Best Buy Mobile. "Adding the iPhone 4 to our stores alongside other great smartphones like the HTC EVO from Sprint and HTC Incredible on Verizon, gives customers a great opportunity to view each side-by-side and get the mobile phone that works best for them."

Best Buy joins rival specialty electronics retailer Radio Shack, who last week confirmed to AppleInsider that it was also authorized by Apple to gather iPhone 4 pre-orders from its customers.

As part of its effort, Radio Shack has reportedly been considering opening some of its shops a couple of hours early tomorrow to field pre-order signups from customers.

Come June 24th, iPhone 4 will also be available nationwide at AT&T and Wal-Mart locations. Unlike Best Buy and Radio Shack, however, Wal-Mart will not pre-sell the device to customers. Meanwhile, AT&T has said little about if and how it will field pre-orders.

Follow AppleInsider on Google News

19 Comments

masternav

said about 13 years ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsmythe00

Anyone planning on getting the EVO instead of the iPhone? I was looking at the EVO yesterday and it looks pretty good. It lacks the polish, ease of use and overall general high quality of the iPhone but some features you just can't overlook.

The tethering devices for example. I have a wifi iPad and love it but while camping over the weekend it would have been great if I couldve accessed the net on it. That Qik app on the droid also seems to be more...usable than the iPhone video.

BTW I'm an iPhone 3g user. I'm not an apple koolaid drinker as some people frame Mac users to be, but I and am pro Mac ever since getting the iPhone

...but concerned about the whole updating thing. Seems so far that the carriers are more about me buying a new phone rather than releasing the OS updates on schedule. I tend to keep my smartphones for a while, so this is an issue for me. This is a throw-back to the way the carriers like to do business - and I don't see Google driving significant changes in those behaviors. OTOH, The UI for EVO is very nice and its good to see hardware that complements the Android current features.

As I've mentioned before, there is this nagging little thought in the back of my head about Google and their business. NOTHING is free. Don't care what Google says - somehow I am paying for Android - and I suspect it is by letting them collect data and use my personal data for their ad revenues.

So there is my experience, my reservations, and I suppose why I will get an iPhone 4 ultimately instead of an EVO. Better the "demon" you know than the one masquarading as an "angel", to my mind.

imongoose

said about 13 years ago

The Best Buy iPhone warranty looks pretty good.. covering a lot, but not full submersion, losing it, and theft. However, losing it or it getting stolen is slightly alleviated by using MobileMe to find it.

Does anyone have strong opinions/ knowledge about the different warranties? This will determine whether I preorder from Best Buy or through apple.com.

jmmx

said about 13 years ago

This is exciting. What it means is that Apple is really going for it. They believe that they are prepared to meet demand, whatever it may be. Pre-orders help a lot because they can see a distribution pattern. Add to this that ATT is letting a lot of folks move up early, and it is clear that:

The sale will be a blowout.

ctwise

said about 13 years ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsmythe00

No. Just this morning my wife phoned me about something our youngest was doing. Would have been a perfect video call moment.

The EVO gets as little as 4 hours of battery life according to TechCrunch. If you're not in a 4G area it's better but still, and I quote, "miserable". And that's without tethering.

The iPhone 4 has a better screen - it actually fits in your pocket - and has "polish, ease of use and overall general high quality". My wife, who is a technophobe of the first magnitude loves her iPhone. We can share apps with the same id and soon we'll be making easy video calls.

apple4life07

said about 13 years ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Meanwhile, AT&T has said little about if and how it will field pre-orders.

Check out http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=1574.

AT&T has put specifics on its website. You can pre-order via the website or in-store starting tomorrow, and you can pick up your pre-order at a store or have it shipped directly to you. The link above includes pricing details for the phone and plans, as well. I think this is pretty clear.