Apple iPhone 4S Launch

In typical Apple style - the launch date of the next iPhone is being kept a very closely guarded secret. 

Initially there were many reports of a September launch, with rumours rife that Apple is busy recruiting extra staff to cover in September. Operators AT & T are apparently also banning holidays for this month. Deutsche Telekom is also said to be taking pre-orders and reservations from its customers. But still no whisper of a release date from Apple….

A leak from Best Buy indicated that they anticipate taking pre-orders for the Apple 4S in early October and that Sprint, Verizon and AT & T would be carrying the device. There is also a rumour of an “Apple installation fixture” planned for October 21st, which would make an October announcement date appear to stack up.

With so much speculation flying around it’s difficult to know what to believe. But you’ve only got to type Apple iPhone 4S into your search engine to see what two burning questions iFans are desperate to have answered. 

•    When will Apple make an announcement about the iPhone 4S?

•    When can I pre-order or buy the Apple iPhone 4S?

We think we’ve discovered a pretty reliable way of working this out. If we take a look at Apple’s past behaviour, they tend to follow a well-defined and timed process when they announce and launch any new products. Of course, with the departure of Steve Jobs, the hyper-secretive ex CEO and founder of Apple, there is no guarantee that new CEO Tim Cook will want to follow the same pattern. However, given how tightly timed and controlled Apple are known to be around their product launches, we think it unlikely that Apple will stray too far from their tried and tested format with the announcement of the Apple iPhone 4S. After all, the marketing hype generated by their deliberate secrecy has always worked for them in the past.

We predict that the Apple iPhone 4S will be available to all on Oct 7th

Why do we think that? Well, let’s take a backwards view at the events that will lead up to this date.

September 28th – Apple iPhone 4S will be available to order on-line. Apple might take some pre-orders on the same day as the announcement, but they didn’t do this with the launch of the iPhone 4. Based on past behaviour, probably the best we can hope for is that you will be able to pre-order the iPhone 4S, 8 to 10 days prior to general availability.

September 21st – Apple will host their autumn press event in San Francisco. These events have typically taken place at the Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts. Going by the iPhone 4 release this will be about a week prior to being available to pre-order, so we reckon the 21st will be there or there abouts for the release of the iPhone 4S.

September 14th - Apple is very well aware that the eyes and ears of the world press will want to be upon them at the launch of the latest new product from the Apple stable. In order to ensure that the most high profile and influential members of the press industry are there to hear the exciting news first hand, invites will be sent about week prior to the event. This means that everyone will have time to rearrange their diaries and book flights to California. No-one will want to miss the most anticipated and important date of the year for the mobile industry, with the announcement of the Apple iPhone 4S.

All in all, we think this is a pretty good stab at what the release timelines for the Apple iPhone 4S will be, by making predictions based on their previous approach to important product launches. We may be out by a day or two, but we’re quite confident that when all is revealed, we won’t be far wrong with the Apple iPhone 4S.