The fabled white iPhone 4 is back in the news again, thanks to some Apple Store placards that say the smartphone will hit stores in spring 2011. Trouble is, the discovery isn't actually new. Apple confirmed the spring 2011 release more than a month ago.

"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 October 27 e-mail.

The white iPhone story got rolling again this weekend when 9to5Mac on Saturday posted a photo of Apple Store signage that includes some fine print about the device. "The white iPhone 4 will be available spring 2011," the placard reads.

So those hoping for a white iPhone in their stocking will (again) be disappointed. Perhaps a Chrome OS device instead?

Perhaps you can get one a little bit earlier in Europe, though. The Seattle Times reports that a news producer ran into a man at a local coffee shop carrying what looked like the white iPhone 4. The man told the producer that he was testing it for Apple and that it would be released in Europe in February. Stay tuned.

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 year, 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.

Last month, a 17-year-old kid from Queens started selling white iPhone 4 conversion kits that can turn your black iPhone 4 into one of the white devices.