This isn’t the first time Apple has had issues with a new iPhone. Granted the other were once the phone’s were already in user’s hands, and that may in fact still happen, but this is only the second time Apple’s offered pre-ordering on an iPhone so work with me here…….

June 2007 – The very first iPhone launched on a Friday at 6 PM. This brought a host of criticism from consumers who were concerned about the lack of support they might receive going into a weekend. It took only 40 minutes for AT&T’s computer’s to go down, over-whelmed with volume. But as first generation product launches go the first gen. iPhone faired well.

July 2008 - The second generation iPhone, the 3G, had all sorts of issues when it first launched. Many users faced activation issues and delays when they tried to activate their new phones. At the time AT&T reported a global problem with Apple’s iTunes activation servers and stores were unable to activate purchaser’s new phones in store instead telling consumers to go home and try it there. Apple had made the move from allowing users to activate their phones at home as they did for the very first iPhone to requiring it be done in a store. However, the problem was equally prevalent for those at home as well.

June 2009 – Users experienced similar activation issues with the iPhone 3Gs. Now though they were experiencing them at home as Apple had allowed phones to be delivered to the buyer’s house and activated there. Not as widespread as the 3G launch but there nonetheless. Some users were told it could take up to 48 hours for their new 3Gs to activate.

Today – The Apple Store opens sometime after midnight EST to allow people to begin pre-ordering the new iPhone 4. A few people are successful but the store quickly goes down. Then it’s back up and then down. Now it’s back up but no one seems to be able to place an order. The issue seems to be related to the AT&T verification process and when it needs to verify if the buyer is eligible for an upgrade. Not to mention the surprise that many consumers had when they were informed that the white version of the phone wouldn’t be available for pre-order at all.

So how do today’s events stack up against some of the other issues Apple’s run into with the release of their three previous models, or any other Apple product for that matter? In my eyes this is one of, if not their biggest screw up to date. Mostly because Apple simply doesn’t make big errors like this one. Most of the other issues we’ve seen with an iPhone launch were easily corrected. This one’s still going 12 hours strong.

What does surprise me is the lack of any sort of statement from either AT&T or Apple regarding today’s events.

Leave me a comment below with your thoughts.