The Apple Store's been down for the past hour or so, but given Wednesday's slate of announcements for the iPhone 5 and iPod, this is most likely a routine maintenance update. We'll let you know if anything changes once it's back up!

No, seriously, of course it's for iPhone 5 preorders, which start at 12:01 am Pacific time on Friday morning. AT&T's site is even doing a countdown. Sprint and Verizon will also be taking preorders overnight; Walmart will be doing reservation cards at 8 am Friday in-store.