iPhone 5 pre-orders begin at midnight on Friday

If you're looking to pick up the new iPhone 5 as fast as you possibly can, you'll be glad to know that pre-orders online as well as in-store will begin this Friday. That's September 14th, 2012, for those of you looking in on this post from the future, with online pre-orders starting at midnight PST that day and in-store pre-orders starting at 8AM local time when stores open as normal. The top three major mobile carriers in the USA have been tipped or confirmed to be starting pre-orders online at midnight Pacific Time as well.

The iPhone 5 will be sold in three different internal storage sizes, with each of the three sizes being offered by each major retailer right out of the gate. The 16GB version will be arriving for $199, the 32GB version will be appearing at $299, and the largest version is the 64GB version at $399 USD. These prices are what the devices will cost attached to a 2-year mobile data agreement with the carrier of your choice.

Off-contract prices depend on how you'll be picking a device up. If you're looking to upgrade from your on-contract iPhone before your contract is up, you'll be paying full off-contract prices: $649, $749, or $849 depending on the internal storage size. If you're changing over after your contract is over, you're looking at $449, $549, or $649 USD.

If on the other hand you're looking to buy an off-contract phone with AT&T, you may be eligible for a discount – the discount here makes the device cost the on-contract price plus $250 USD. More release pricing such as this may be available in the days between pre-order beginning and the device being available in stores later this month. Stick around and see!

Meanwhile have a peek at our iPhone 5 tag portal and our Apple portal for more mobile action than you can handle! We've got a hands-on experience with the iPhone 5 as well that's not to be missed!