White iPhone Delay Gives Apple a Chance to Redesign Antenna

Like Henry Ford's (F) Model T, you can have the Apple (AAPL) iPhone 4 in any color you want, so long as it's black. That's the continued message as Apple (AAPL) on July 23 announced further delays for the white iPhone 4, citing manufacturing challenges. The company says the "more popular iPhone 4 black models" are not affected by those challenges, but availability for the white iPhone 4 is now expected "later this year."

This isn't the first delay of the white iPhone 4 model, however. Indeed, in the press conference held to discuss antenna issues last week, Steve Jobs himself said the white model would be shipping by the end of July--and now a week later the device is delayed again? Engadget suggests there are production challenges at play, saying:

Specifically, the factory's still working out the perfect combination of paint thickness and opacity--the former to ensure the next subcontractor has enough clearance for the digitizer overlay, and the latter for the absolute whiteness that Jony Ive and Co. strive for.