Apple flipped the switch on iPhone 5 pre-orders last night at 12:01am PST, though many users had problems getting through to the Apple store online. Some people found success using the Apple store app on iOS, though by 3am, estimated delivery dates for all models and carriers had slipped from next Friday to 2 weeks. That means if you haven't pre-ordered the new phone and want one on day 1, you'll have to wait in line at a brick and mortar store (either Apple, your carrier, or retailers like Best Buy). Many of these stores will open at 8am.
Though the iPhone starts at $199 with a two-year contract, users not eligible for upgrade pricing may have to pay a significantly higher price depending on how long they have been on their existing contract. AT&T, for example, charges $250 more than the subsidized price if you bought an iPhone 4S last year with upgrade pricing. A fully unsubsidized iPhone costs $450 more than its subsidized counterpart (eg. starting at $650). Check your eligibility status here for AT&T, here for Verizon, and here for Sprint.
Some additional differences between the carriers: like with the iPhone 4 and 4S, only the AT&T GSM model will allow LTE data use during a voice call (a CDMA limitation due to the antenna design). Only Sprint users have the option of a truly unlimited data plan (not throttled after a data cap), though its LTE coverage is much more limited than AT&T and Verizon's. Verizon customers lose their grandfathered plans when moving to LTE, and while AT&T users can keep their plans, they won't get FaceTime over cellular unless they migrate to a new Mobile Share plan.
If you pre-ordered the new iPhone, which model, carrier, and data plan did you get? What was your previous phone? Did you qualify for upgrade pricing? Sound off!