The demand for the iPhone 4 has been astonishing. 600,000 pre-orders already and even Apple admitted that this was "far higher than [it] anticipated, resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions".

So the news that AT&T had to suspend pre-orders and now is only processing them with an expected delivery date of 14 July - almost 3 weeks later than the official launch date of 24 June - will not come as a total surprise. Although it is more than a little bit annoying. Especially when many orders were apparently processed and the customers only found out about the delay via an email sent afterwards.

There's also reports that orders made recently to the Apple Store directly are being cancelled as well.

AT&T has come under some pretty severe criticism throughout the iPhone 4's little lifespan. We also reported on how they had messed up royally with security issues with its existing iPhone customers who were trying to upgrade to the next-generation handset.

There's bound to be a few cock-ups with the ordering process with such a high profile and hugely anticipated launch. But Apple and AT&T are multi-billion corporations who really should get their houses in order so as the customers don't bear the brunt of these glitches.

Come on Apple and AT&T, sort it out.

Have you tried ordering an iPhone 4 yet, either in the US, the UK or anywhere else for that matter? Let us know how you got on.