If you had your heart set on a white iPhone 4, you're in for an even longer wait. First, Apple announced the iPhone 4 in your choice of black or white. Second, it surprised us with no availability of the white model at the June 24th launch. Now, Apple says you have to wait until late July. Why?

According to Apple:

"White models of Apple's new iPhone 4 have proven more challenging to manufacture than expected, and as a result they will not be available until the second half of July. The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected."

We're just wondering, why did Apple not know about manufacturing challenges of white iPhones when it announced them a couple of weeks ago? Hadn't the company already begun manufacturing them at that point?

A design manager who seems to know what he's talking about told Gizmodo:

"The process to make the back of the glass black is an electroplating process. This creates a very durable consistent and smooth black finish. To make white on the other hand you have to paint the back of the glass with white paint. It is difficult to create a smooth opaque look with the white. Also if the white paint goes on too thick it is difficult to glue the glass on because the glue will stick to the paint, but the paint will pull off of the glass."

Never mind all that — in a couple of days you can have any color iPhone 4 you want, as long as it's black. After all, that's the "more popular" model. Maybe that popularity had something to do with the impossibility of pre-ordering or reserving a white one.

Via Gizmodo