Hence the beauty of slick-leave.

The reason why they probably said June 9th is because I would hope that they would get the shipment of the 3G iPhone a few days before the day that it is released....
Maybe June 9th is the day that the shipments will arrive at AT&T stores, so they need as many people as possible to load the boxes and stuff into the stores.....
Heads up cleptomaniac daredevil Apple fanboys! If you want any chance at a free 3G iPhone, June 9th could be the day to strike during the transfer from truck to store.....

Doubly making employees pissed at the man, by disallowing vacations during this part of summer (including July 4).

"Why did they pick June 15 when the keynote for WWDC is June 9?"

Well they are going to need to ship them.

@workingonyourinvoice:

Uh yea,

I was about to say the same thing.

Seems odd, since whenever I ask a question in the store they can never answer it. I would do the opposite and try to get them out of there to clean up the place for the second iPhone launch ha.

It is not like they will be doing anything except saying "plug it in to your computer and download iTunes".

@workingonyourinvoice: Well, usually Steve says "and it's available now," but I guess he can say "it'll be available next week."

" Why did they pick June 15 when the keynote for WWDC is June 9?"

Because it's not coming out June 9th. Last year AT&T did the same thing for the dates June 15th to July 15th, with the releaae date of June 29th. This year it's looking like the release date will be Friday June 27th @ 5pm.

possibly a different event just for the iphone? so WWDC happens on the 9th, and then the iphone launch event is some other day

"Why did they pick June 15 when the keynote for WWDC is June 9?"

A number of reasons.. Apple gave them a release *window*, for one. Or they announce it June 5th, goes on sale June 9th.

So people can't take off for the Fourth of July, probably the biggest summertime holiday in the U.S.? Nice.

@workingonyourinvoice: it's easy enough to ship them beforehand and wait until that to to put on shelves.

@Jason Chen: And didn't the ATT stores get the original iphone like a week after the apple stores? Can't remember, was working too much at the time.

@Geisrud: But then they'd have to rely on the ATT employees to not put pictures of the new iphone on gizmodo. Even the apple stores only got the phones the day before June 29 6pm.

So apple can sell them for a week before ATT starts to discount them.

so don't buy anything until after June unless you want to be a sad sack.

OK, there is a big hole in all of these rumors about iPhone release dates. Any new cellphone operating in the US requires FCC approval, which is a public filing process taking six to eight weeks (typical). The first iPhone was announced in Jan '07, went into FCC review March 8 and wasn't approved until May 17, then went on sale in June '07.

The FCC approval process can not be avoided and means that Apple can't be selling a new 3G phone (in the US) in less than two months or so from now, unless the rules have been changed.

Whatever, it's not like they are doing this during vacation season or anything. Cranky employees. Corporations like the somehow progressive, Apple, and the former monopoly, AT&T, really need to maintain their power to remain competitive. Who gives a shit about the worthless chumps who work for them.

@spincast: I think your problem here is that Apple was very forthcoming with info regarding the still-in-development iphone 1.0, which included the FCC approval process. iPhone 2.0, on the other hand, has been utterly top secret, so I'd guess that the process is already underway, if not complete.

@CampSteve: You haven't worked retail much have you? I've been stuck working new years day before.

@itb: or like with the SDKs apple like to jerk people around with release dates. still i think its time to put current iphone up on ebay.

Good thing I didn't get a job working for AT&T. I'd suddenly become ill in the middle of summer.

@workingonyourinvoice: I've been stuck working New Years several times (after partying until 4-5 in the morning), not that big a deal...just extremely boring.

@workingonyourinvoice: Unfortunately it's not a matter of how secretive Apple is about development details. The FCC process is unavoidable and always public. The process can't be underway without public knowledge.

@spincast: So where does one observe this process while it's underway? I'd be interested to see what's in there.

My understanding that it was for management employees. Isn't there a union contract that's due to expire around that time?

@spincast: The FCC submission is private, only the approval is public. Companies can have the approval delayed to coincide with release dates.

just wait for the apple store (web) to go down. And you'll know when that happens cuz it'll be all over the net.

Seeing as how Independence Day - the most Holiest of Holy Days here in the Americas - happens right dab smack in the middle of all of this - AT&T must be smoking some crack to pass on that ultimatum_

And it's a Retail Job - who cares_

@TedB.: When Higher-ups in AT&T probably threatened any employee talking about future possible iPhones with immediate termination. They probably also have a more general policy on not discussing any products that aren't released and not speculating on if/when they might be released.

@Leonard Nimrod: I always thought they could only keep aspects of the submission private (manuals, specs, etc.) but the submission itself couldn't be concealed.

My bad.

@workingonyourinvoice: Looks like it may be worth getting our hopes up after all.

@spincast: Actually much of the process can be hidden from public view. There are third party companies that will perform all the required FCC certification tests in private to ensure a new device will comply. They work with the FCC to ensure they know how to do proper testing, etc. They won't file anything with the FCC until the company requests it, and the FCC will also keep things quiet for as long as they can. Bottom line is that things can be kept hidden in terms of FCC certification until very late in the game if you know what you're doing.

If I were an employee with vacation plans and AT&T told me that, I'd tell them to suck it. Good thing phone selling jobs are a dime a dozen.

"give me a 3G iphone and I give up my vacation"

Yet another good reason not to work for AT&T...

Wait, when did Apple deny vacation? Because I've been working here some years now and I've never been denied vacation time if I had the hours available...

Though, thanks for reminding me to ask off for the 5th of July... nothing's more annoying than official holiday Day Off, then weekend day on (since someone's gotta work Saturdays), then normal 2 days off...

I'm on board! I'm not taking a vacation from June 15 to July 12. I'll be camping out at the store to get it and I would hate to be relaxing somewhere doing something less important!

a 3G iphone just in time for my bday! :)

As much as I want to rush in when the 3G iPhone comes out, I recollect the severe early adopters tax when the original iPhone came out, and unless AT&T has some promotional new contract deals for the new iPhone, I would rather wait a bit and watch the price drop before getting it. Where's the fun in that you ask. How many lap dances can you buy with $200, that's where.

AS an ATT employee: FALSE.
I have vacation for that week already scheduled.

@CampSteve: if you disagree you can take time off ... permanently. last time i checked no one forces you at gunpoint to work at AT&T. and if they did... you have bigger problems than not getting the 4th off.

Like many of you, I am Amish (Mennonite, actually), and face a shared dilemma: what do we do with our 2G iPhones when the 3G iPhone is released? Rebates? Discounts? Regifting?

And come to think of it, why the hell are we calling it the 3G iPhone anyway? (Aside from the obvious). As the 2nd generation iPhone, calling it "3G" is throwing my sense of semantics into chaos.

Plus, is it not a little disrespectful to define the generation of a gadget by its network rather than itself? Surely if we value all that is good and sacred about the evolutionary development of technology, iPhone progeny should receive their own generational status, like their iPod precursors before them.

2G iPhone FTW!

@TheManator: Generally blackouts only apply to new requests, at least where I've worked in the past.

"AS an ATT employee: FALSE. I have vacation for that week already scheduled." - TheManator

Well, you *did.* :)

@LagunaSol: And if they change it, I will be filing a complaint with the union...and with the state. :)

Was talking to my friend today and...

Him - "My mom cant take a vacation late june this summer its sucks."

Me - "O rly? what company does she work for?"

Him - "At&t"

Me - "crzy"

no lies

Complete Rumor...i work at at&t and if anything we will have all hands on deck the day it is released if anything... this is way out in left field. We didn't even do anything this crazy for the first release which i promise this will not be nearly as big.

Steve Jobs will announce them on the 9th and they will be in the stores by the 15th.

@frigg:

"3G" means that the phone uses the third generation network for mobile communication. I don´t know the name of the network in the US, but here in Europe its calle UMTS. As you can see, calling it 3G is easier than UMTS.

Of course, the next iPhone should be 2G iPhone, or UMTS iPhone, or whatever it´s called in the US. But if you call it 3G iPhone, everybody will know that the phone will have broadband speed in net connection, and the ability to send MMS, videoconference... Although we don´t know if the iPhone will be actully capable to do all those things!