When Apple announces iOS 5 and the iCloud today but curiously glosses over the lack of any mention of the iPhone 5 hardware intended to accompany the other rollouts when they arrive, those surprised by the move will immediately begin looking for scapegoats. If you’ve been paying attention here, you already know why the chances of the iPhone 5 surfacing tomorrow are low. But for those who are just now wondering why the iPhone 5 is suddenly invisible today, here’s a rundown of how the white iPhone 4, the 4G era, Verizon, and other factors may have conspired to make the iPhone 5 miss its expected due date.White iPhone 4: Actually, this was less a culprit than a foreshadow. If the iPhone 5 had been arriving in June, there’s no way Apple would have fired off the white iPhone 4 when it did. It would have either saved the white factor for the iPhone 5 or buried the concept entirely.
Verizon: Those who thought Verizon was really going to launch a Verizon iPhone 4 a mere three months before the arrival of the iPhone 5 are now learning what Verizon secretly knew all along: the iPhone 5 was never coming in June.
4G crawl: With Verizon and AT&T both rolling out their 4G LTE very slowly, Apple may have decided to go ahead and wait a bit for its 4G iPhone 5 rollout (if indeed the iPhone 5 has 4G) so as to make it more practical.
Merger: AT&T and T-Mobile are in the process of becoming the same company. It’s assumable that the iPhone 5 will find its way to T-Mobile at some point, as AT&T has had the iPhone for years. Could Apple be delaying the iPhone 5 just to allow the T-Mobile situation to resolve itself? Doesn’t seem likely, but maybe.
iOS 5: Bottom line is that if iOS 5 had been ready earlier, it would have been previewed earlier than today. Its apparent slow development remains the most likely culprit for why the iPhone 5 hasn’t arrived.
* Oh, and the asterisk? Because even though an iPhone 5 debut today seems highly unlikely for a number of solid reasons, you never know. Here’s more on the iPhone 5.
