Some people will go to extreme lengths to get their hands on the very latest tech, although there's something about Apple kit that adds an extra sheen of lunacy.

We've reported on the man who started queuing outside his local Apple store in Dallas, USA, a week ago, in order to get his hands on an iPhone 4 he's already pre-ordered. And there are tales whizzing around the globe about Apple fever taking firm hold ahead of the planned launch tomorrow (24 June).

However, we have heard of none more extreme than the path chosen by iFixit.com, who sent one of its staff to Ginza in Japan, hoping to take advantage of the 16-hour time difference (to California) in order to be one of the first with a freshly-minted iPhone 4.

However, the iFixit team needn't have gone to such lengths, it just so happened that handsets were being delivered by FedEx a couple of days early, and an engineer at a Silicon Valley start-up allowed them to play with his. By play, we mean completely dismantle.

During the teardown, the team discovered that the A4 processor in the iPhone 4 has 512MB RAM, rather than the 256MB in the iPad. The upgrade may have been a late call by Apple, because pics of the prototype showed a similar 256MB.

The iFixit boys will also be performing an in-depth silicon analysis of the A4 processor and the new gyroscope, but you can check out how they're getting on in their in-depth guide at any time.

Additionally, Boy Genius Report posts that iOS 4 (the operating system currently doing the rounds on 3GS phones and soon-to-be on the iPhone 4) has already been jailbroken. Dev-Team has used its PwnageTool 4.0 to crack the OS, although it is a lengthy and hazardous process at present. It's still pretty darn quick of the team though.