If you’re hoping to get your hands on Apple’s latest iPhone before the ship times begin spiraling out of control, be prepared to stay up late tonight. As MacRumors notes, both Verizon and Sprint have announced that pre-orders will begin at 12:01 AM Pacific Time / 3:01 AM Eastern Time.
While neither AT&T nor Apple has confirmed when they will begin taking pre-orders, it seems unlikely that Apple would allow carriers to begin taking orders before they open up orders themselves. Likewise, it’s unlikely that AT&T would allow their competitors to get ahead of them by starting pre-orders at a later time.
Midnight pre-orders are pretty standard for Apple, and iPhone 4S pre-orders began at midnight last year. All things considered, it’s pretty safe to say that the 12:01 AM PT pre-order window will probably hold true across the board.
Get ready for a long night, or set your alarms to make sure you’re awake! Apple’s pre-orders have a tendency to sell out pretty darn fast!
Update: Apple has confirmed to WIRED that the iPhone 5 will indeed launch at 12:01 AM PT
