Underpromise and Early Deliver: Apple Says Some iPhone 4 Pre-Orders Coming Tomorrow

Here’s a nice surprise for early adopters who managed to successfully place an iPhone 4 order on the first day it was possible to do so: Some of you may receive your device a day early. According to an email notification from Apple (AAPL) to some pre-order customers, iPhone 4 delivery “will occur on June 23rd.” That’s tomorrow, not the originally promised delivery date of June 24.

Dear Apple Store Customer,

You recently received a Shipment Notification email from Apple advising you that your iPhone has shipped.

This email is to confirm that your delivery will occur on June 23rd. Although Apple and FedEx tracking information may currently indicate a later date, you can check the FedEx website the morning of the June 23rd to track your package to your doorstep.

In the event that you will not be available to accept delivery on June 23rd, it may be more convenient to use our pre-sign delivery option by visiting our Order Status website at http://www.apple.com/orderstatus.

Sincerely,

The Apple Store Team

The reason for the change in delivery date isn’t clear, though it might be that Apple is hoping to protect its servers from meltdown by staggering initial iPhone activations over two days.