Pre-orders for the newly announced iPhone 4S to kick off shortly

Oct 7, 2011 06:39 GMT  ·  By

Days after launching the iPhone 4S, Apple has taken down its online store to accommodate pre-orders for the new device in the countries chosen for initial shipping.

I’d speculate there’s more ‘in-store’ but, sadly, there’s nothing on the horizon that could count as a reason for Apple taking its store offline.

Most likely, the single reason for the move is iPhone 4S pre-orders, which Apple confirmed would kick off around 3 a.m. in the States.

Unlike previous years, iPhone buyers now have a choice of three carriers, all of which try to entice customers with an attractive offer.

For example, Sprint, the new iPhone carrier this year, offers an unlimited data plan, albeit only through October.

AT&T will leverage the 14.4 Mbps data transfer advertised by Apple for the iPhone 4S, while both Verizon and AT&T offer free hotspots with some of their plans.

UPDATE: Apple store back online with iPhone 4S pre-order availability.