The iPhone 4S, as many predicted, has seen a high degree of pre-order sales several days before Apple"s smartphone ships to stores. 9to5Mac.com reports that Apple"s online store is currently showing shipment times of between one to two weeks for the iPhone 4S. This time period is apparently the same no matter what the model or the wireless carrier. That means that if you order an iPhone 4S now from the Apple online store you will have to wait until sometime after the product"s official launch date of October 14 to receive it.
Earlier this week both AT&T and Sprint had indicated strong pre-order sales for the iPhone 4S with AT&T specifically claiming it had received 200,000 pre-orders for the device in just the first 12 hours.
Of course, there is one way to get the iPhone 4S on the day of its release: you can head to your local Apple retail store or the official stores for AT&T, Sprint and Verizon on that day to pick up the device. Keep in mind that on all of the previous launch days for the iPhone there have been long lines in front of these brick and mortar stores that start hours or even days beforehand. It"s currently unknown how many iPhone 4S units will be made available for sale at each of the retail locations.
Apple will likely announce how many iPhone 4S units it has sold so far during its regular quarterly financial announcement, which should be revealed soon after its release in just a few weeks.