Due to the recent release of the iPhone 4 for Verizon, Apple may be changing its release plans for its next iPhone. It is looking increasingly likely that Apple will hold the new phone back until the fall to accommodate the people who waited for the Verizon iPhone. They don't want them to feel cheated with a new one coming out so soon. Apple hasn't definitively made this clear yet, but the signs are pointing that way.
First of all, it would have only been a few months since the Verizon iPhone's release when the new iPhone would have been scheduled to come out. They don't want to oversaturate the market and allow there to be iPhone craziness at all times. It would eventually become commonplace; instead, they want to leave people wanting more. A June/July release as has been seen in past years would cheat people and cheapen the iPhone wait. Why release another one when many people just got one? Steve Jobs is smarter than that.
The new iPhone hardware has always been unveiled at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference but the preliminary announcements this year focused entirely on software for this show. They have announced that the future of iOS and Mac OS will be unveiled at this show which isn't surprising since that's been the norm but you would think they'd hold back the iOS upgrade until the new iPhone. But at least this way it'll create some buzz on its own.
If this is the case, that the iPhone 5 has been delayed, the iPod Touch 5G will lose whatever buzz it has which isn't much. It's basically a dumbed down iPhone with a few less features. They generally just keep it a few years behind the phone so that people will want to upgrade to the iPhone and pay service fees. My iPod Touch can do everything except call, including text with Google Voice, but some people will just want to upgrade. Apple knows this and with the iPod Touch falling even farther behind the iPhone, which will be promoted more, in terms of publicity, its buzz will all but vanish.
Mac OS Lion, the latest in cat themed Mac OS's, will be the focus of the WWDC this year as it will be exclusively a software event now that the iPhone, the former foundation of the event, has apparently been moved back. Apple will have more of a chance to promote its software for its PC line, which has been lacking especially since anybody who wants an Apple computer lately has been going after the iOS driven iPad.
Another report has surfaced corroborating this story. Apple, which likes to buy component parts for its upgraded iPhone six months in advance, hasn't yet begun doing it, so there's little if any chance a June/July 2011 release is realistic. A September release, which has been speculated, may not even be likely with that news, but we'll see.
We'll likely have to wait to here the final announcement about when Apple's iPhone will be released but it's not looking good for a summer release. And who knows if it'll return to that summer perch next year or just stay in Fall around the holiday season.
