Apple has delayed its white iPhone again, this time until spring 2011.
"We're sorry to disappoint customers waiting for the white iPhone yet again, but we've decided to delay its release until this Spring," an Apple spokeswoman said in an e-mail.
Apple did not elaborate on why it's delaying the release of the white iPhone 4 one more time. During the MacBook Air/Lion event at Apple this month, however, Apple chief Steve Jobs said the white iPhone was delayed because the button manufacturer and the case manufacturer couldn't get their shades of white to match. This is third time the company has pushed back the launch.
The announcement comes one day after the white iPhone made an appearance in the Apple Store app. Customers looking to reserve the iPhone for pickup at a nearby Apple store were given the option to reserve the white version. The app was later updated with a note under the white iPhones that said "not available to reserve" (see slideshow below).
The white iPhone has been troubled since the start. When Apple announced its next-generation iPhone in early June, it said the iPhone 4 would be available in black and white models. By month's end, however, Apple issued a statement that said the white models "have proven more challenging to manufacture than expected." At the time, Apple promised to release them by the second half of July, but by the time July 23 rolled around, Apple said the white iPhone would not actually be available until the end of the year.
Earlier this month, British gadget blog, Pocket-Lint said Apple delayed the white iPhone because the white home button doesn't quite match the white on the phone's faceplate.