apple store

Here's a list of retail stores that will be selling the iPhone 4S on October 14. This is not a complete list, just some suggestions on other places you can go if you don't have an Apple Store near you. All Apple locations will be opening at 8 am local time on Friday, October 14, and will be offering a free Personal Setup service.

AT&T, Verizon and Sprint stores will also be carrying the iPhone 4S, but are not a great option. If you have to buy it directly from your carrier I would call ahead to make sure they plan to have a lot in stock.

The iPhone 4S is $199.99 for the 16GB model, $299.99 for the 32GB model and $399.99 for the 64GB model. All prices require a new or upgraded contract.

Having sold over one million iPhone 4S pre-orders, Apple has decided to open their stores early to meet the demand of the best selling iPhone ever.

“We are blown away with the incredible customer response to iPhone 4S,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The first day pre-orders for iPhone 4S have been the most for any new product that Apple has ever launched and we are thrilled that customers love iPhone 4S as much as we do.”

All 245 Apple retail stores in the US will open at 8 am local time on Friday, October 14. Good news if you plan to get up really early or camp out the previous day. Bad news if you have to work, or are a late sleeper.

Apple asks that you upgrade your existing iPhone to iOS 5 and bring it along if you plan to replace it. You will also need the social security number of the account holder, photo ID, your carrier password and Apple ID and password.

A bevy of new information points to early September as the release date for Apple's next generation iPhone. AT&T stores are telling managers to wrap up employee training in anticipation of an increase in customers this September. The report, filed by BGR claims AT&T has begun to communicate "launch plans" to its stores regarding the iPhone 5.

Similarly, Apple stores in the UK and US have been beefing up staff and asking former employees to return. The program is typically invoked for holidays, back-to-school sales and new product launches, according to MacRumors.

Apple is now offering unlocked iPhone 4 models in the Apple Store. "Unlocked" means you can use AT&T or T-Mobile's network in the US without having to sign a two--year contract with either carrier. Unlocked doesn't mean "jailbroken," you still have to buy apps and receive software updates through Apple via iTunes. Another catch is that the unlocked iPhone doesn't support T-Mobile 3G download speeds and won’t operate on Verizon or Sprint at all.

To be clear, the iPhone will "work" on the T-Mobile network, meaning it can be used. However, you'll be stuck on the slower EDGE network, which most individuals will find practically unbearable. When given the option of a brand-new Android smartphone on T-Mobile's 3G and 4G network, you'd be hard pressed to find a compelling reason to use an unlocked iPhone on EDGE, regardless of how much we all love the iPhone.

The tenth anniversary of Apple's retail stores is on Thursday the 19th, and employees have been told nobody can take time off between the 20th and 22nd. In fact, all Apple stores have scheduled employees to work overnight between Saturday and Sunday, with mysterious packages and locked training files arriving at locations. What does Apple have up its sleeve to celebrate the 10th anniversary?

BGR reports a new product launch could be underway, or even the installation of NFC wireless payment terminals. Even though the latter would make sense, it's not clear what near-field communication technology Apple would adopt, especially since no iOS devices currently have NFC capabilities installed. Current information from analysts indicates that Apple is likely to wait until the iPhone 6 to integrate NFC into their mobile phones.