Apple fan gets hands on iPhone 4 a day early

APPLE fan says he got his hands on an iPhone 4 a day early - and now they desperately want it back.

A photo of an iPhone 4 that Arselle Torres says he bought a day before its official release / Supplied

WHY bother camping out? At least one retailer has already started selling the iPhone 4, more than 12 hours before it's due to fly off shelves.

Sydney man Arselle Torres today told news.com.au how he got his hands on the popular smartphone a day earlier than the rest of the country.

Mr Torres called around various stores this morning to find out opening times so he could line up to buy the gadget when it officially goes on sale after midnight tonight.

But, he says, when he spoke to Allphones at Campbelltown Mall in the city's southwest he was told he could come and pick it up today.

"I called four or five times before I went over there. I asked them over the phone," he told news.com.au.

"Time and time again they've given me yes, yes, yes, it's fine."

As proof of his purchase, Mr Torres supplied news.com.au with images of an iPhone 4 handset and a two-page contract.

However the contract – for an Apple iPhone 4 16GB on a $59 monthly plan with Optus, and dated today – was not signed.

Allphones in Campbelltown Mall declined to comment.

Mr Torres said he had been receiving increasingly frequent phone calls this afternoon from Allphones staff asking him to return the handset.

"They said if I return it now, I can get a new one tomorrow," he said.

He had so far decided not to.