Still in the hunt for an iPhone 5? If so, you may have noticed that the estimated ship times on Apple's website for all iPhone 5 models have slipped to 3-4 weeks and that all three U.S. carriers that offer the device are quoting similar ship times. You may not have to wait that long, though, as 9to5Mac has noticed that Apple has begun allowing customers to place an order for an iPhone 5 on its website and then pick it up at a nearby store the next day. Each night between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., interested customers can head on over to Apple's website or fire up their Apple Store app and then, so long as a local store has that model in stock, pay for a phone and then pick it up the following day.

While it's not a guarantee that a nearby store will have the iPhone 5 that you want available for pickup, this method of buying online and then picking up in-store is certainly worth a shot for folks that don't feel like waiting several weeks for an online order to arrive. Of course, going this route means that you may have to get online at 10 p.m. a few times (or maybe more) while waiting for the local Apple store to stock your model, but doing so is likely worth it to avoid having to wait almost a month for your shiny new phone. Any of you out there thinking about trying to get an iPhone 5 this way?

Via The Verge, 9to5Mac, Apple