(Image courtesy of MacRumors and Engadget)

If you survived the pre-order hysteria a week ago, and if you were lucky enough to escape having your iPhone 4 order cancelled over the weekend, you may very well be rewarded for your luck by receiving your new little friend a day early. But if you’re still planning to buy on Thursday, take heart that at least one Walmart store has already received stock of the handset.

MacRumors is reporting that Walmart stores have started to receive iPhone 4 stock, as evidenced by the above photo of the final retail packaging sent to the cats at Engadget. Of course, the photo is merely a tease, since Apple prohibits retailers from selling the device prior to the official June 24 launch day (i.e., this Thursday).

Of course, there are sometimes exceptions to every rule, and in the case of the iPhone 4, it appears that Apple is making a very big one with the folks who managed to get their pre-orders in one week ago. Last night, the elves at Apple were busy e-mailing customers whose orders have already shipped to notify them that their iPhone 4 will be arriving one day early -- that being tomorrow, Wednesday, June 23!

“You recently received a Shipment Notification email from Apple advising you that your iPhone has shipped,” the letter reads. “This email is to confirm that your delivery will occur on June 23. Although Apple and FedEx tracking information may currently indicate a later date, you can check the FedEx website the morning of the June 23 to track your package to your doorstep.”

Our own 32GB iPhone 4 order, currently in transit from Anchorage, Alaska at this writing, received the very same e-mail from Apple overnight as well. Since many of us may not have been expecting an early delivery based on past Apple new product launches, the company closes its e-mail with a tip to make sure you don’t miss the delivery.

“In the event that you will not be available to accept delivery on June 23, it may be more convenient to use our pre-sign delivery option by visiting our Order Status website at http://www.apple.com/orderstatus,” the e-mail concludes.

It’s unclear if the early arrival is a shipping snafu or maybe a gift to pre-order buyers who had to put up with the server nightmares a week ago, but one thing is for certain: The move should help ease the next wave of insanity arriving on Thursday as all of the new iPhone 4 owners try to activate their handsets through AT&T. That alone may have prompted Apple to make the shift, given that they clearly want to avoid a repeat of last week’s apocalyptic events.

Oh, and that “CDMA” sticker lurking in the background behind the iPhone 4 Walmart photo? Don’t get your hopes up, Verizon and Sprint fans… that’s for another new product and has nothing to do with the iPhone 4...

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