iPhone 4 early shipments include some defective Retina displays

Which is worse: the heartbreak of knowing you're not getting an iPhone 4 by launch day, or receiving one early but slightly defective? I'm going with the latter, myself.

Several folks who've received an iPhone 4 early are tipping us and reporting to Apple that the fancy, new Retina displays on their new iPhones are defective and showing odd, colored splotches near the bottom edges of the screen.

One report notes: "In the bottom 10% of the screen there are three blotches about the size of shirt buttons that discolor the screen a brown/yellow color." You can see a demonstration of that anomaly in the image to the right.

Seeing as there's quite a shortage of iPhone 4's right about now, if you're experiencing this issue and report it to Apple, it may be some time before you see a fresh, undamaged one in your hands. In fact, we're told Apple won't take tech support calls for the iPhone 4 until after its official release tomorrow.

Thanks Robert!