Apple finally made the mythical white models of the iPhone 4 available for purchase for both GSM (AT&T and international) and CDMA (Verizon Wireless) networks as of 28 April 2011, more than 10 months after the iPhone 4 initially shipped.

Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, said, “We appreciate everyone who has waited patiently while we’ve worked to get every detail right. Our Oompa-Loompas have been working day and night to carve the back casing of each white iPhone 4 from the horns of unicorns. Sustainably harvested horns, of course.”

Well, perhaps that last bit wasn’t in Apple’s announcement. But it’s nonetheless amusing that (a) a company with Apple’s design and manufacturing chops could have this much trouble with white, and (b) that Apple felt it was sufficiently important to warrant a press release.

Of course, the real question is whether there’s actually any pent-up demand for the white iPhone 4, or if everyone who would have preferred the white model has already purchased a black iPhone 4. Perhaps the iPhone 5 will come only in a shade of gray (like brushed aluminum), just to avoid the whole black and white issue.