Will Apple announce the iPhone 5 at WWDC? Here is why we think they will.
Monday, June 6th is the date for Apple’s yearly Worldwide Developers Conference and its famed keynote, where the company shows off what they’ve got in the pipeline for developers and consumers alike. This is Apple’s biggest showcase, and it’s the perfect place to launch the fifth-generation iPhone, set to be the iPhone 5. Or, perhaps… the iPhone 4S. Or… maybe the 4G. No one’s actually quite sure yet. Analysts, however, are speculating that the announcement and launch of this next handset is going to be pushed off until this fall, breaking Apple’s “one-iPhone-per-year” cycle for any number of reasons.
Regardless of what it’s going to be called, it’s critical that Apple get this new handset out the door as fast as possible to fend off the competition… and below, we’ll look at why.
The iPhone 4 is starting to Show its Age
It sounds rather unbelievable to be stating it, but the iPhone 4 isn’t even a year old yet and it’s already a little long in the tooth. In the past year, we’ve seen Apple’s competitors match and surpass the iPhone 4’s offerings, with dual-core processors, larger displays, dual displays, faster “4G” mobile data speeds, and more. The iPhone is no longer the fastest mobile device on the market, and even the Retina Display has nearly been matched by competitors such as the Atrix.
It’s unlikely that Apple is going to launch a massive new handset that mops the floor with every other piece of hardware on the market, but the company knows that they are falling behind and they won’t sit idly by and let it happen.
iOS 5 without iPhone 5 makes Little Sense
Apple took the rare step of issuing a media release the week before WWDC to make some pretty significant announcements of what we’ll see at the show, including iCloud, Mac OS X Lion, and the fifth major release of the company’s iOS mobile operating system. Yet, it seems somewhat off to usher in iOS 5 without some form of new hardware for the operating system to roll out with.
iOS is a major player in the mobile operating system world, powering hundreds of millions of devices across the globe. It’s also becoming far more complex with each release, meaning Apple needs to keep the hardware up with the software or performance will suffer. Just like iPhone users needed an iPhone 4 to enjoy Facetime, it will be a surprise if iOS 5 ships without some significant enhancements that require some sort of hardware or performance boost.
Apple is also rumored to be showing off the new MacBook Air models at WWDC, which coincides with Mac OS X Lion appearing at the show. Why introduce new hardware with new desktop software, but not new hardware with new mobile software?
Fixing the “Grip of Death” Antenna Issue
The iPhone 4’s antenna issues are no secret, and have been a significant pain in the company’s rear since the handset launched in mid-2010. Apple has since managed to do damage control by offering free cases and changing the service level indicator through software updates, but the issue persists and is loathed by many.
The antenna issues stemming from such a world-class design have caused significant embarrassment for Apple, and they need to get this fixed as soon as possible. Make no mistake about it – the fifth-generation iPhone won’t be suffering from “death grip” antenna issues, which is just another reason to get it out the door quickly.
There’s no Profit in Software Updates
While analysts, journalists and bloggers are the ones that power rumor and speculation about Apple’s next move, there is another group that Apple works hard to keep happy, and that’s their shareholders. It’s true that WWDC is mostly about developers and software; however Apple knows full well that a massive percentage of their customer base pays attention to what the company says and does at conferences such as these and there’s little to be had in the way of revenues or profits from software updates.
When Apple announces a new iPhone, it brings customers in to their retail stores. It sells billions of dollars in hardware and millions of dollars in accessories. It sees people walking in to upgrade their phone and walking out with a new iPad 2 or MacBook as well. Apple knows that their customers spend a lot of money when purchasing their new hardware, so they keep feeding the fire as often as possible.
Even if it’s not available for purchase until September, Apple may just show off the iPhone 5 at WWDC to keep customers excited for what’s coming.
Apple is the King of Secrecy
While rumors and speculation about the next-gen iPhone have been flying around with reckless abandon the past couple of months, one thing that has been missing is a leak of the actual hardware. No prototype or beta iPhone 5 models have been uncovered, photographed or mysteriously fallen into the hands of tech journalists, which has led many to believe that Apple isn’t even going to show off hardware at WWDC.
Many seem to forget that without an Apple engineer leaving it laying around in a Silicon Valley bar last year, none of us would have seen the iPhone 4 prior to the company launching it at WWDC. You can be sure that similar mistakes aren’t being made this time around – the next iPhone is being very well-guarded and it’s unlikely that leaks will be tolerated.
Steve Jobs has been announced as “taking the stage” at the WWDC keynote, which means that something big is coming, and Steve always loves his “one more thing” surprises. Apple has continuously fed the media and blogging community with information about what IS coming at WWDC – iOS 5, Mac OS X Lion, iCloud – even going so far as to announce things with a media release the week prior to the event itself. All of this may just be to get everyone to San Francisco without knowing the true secret – that the next-generation iPhone handset will be previewed to those in attendance.
Will it? We’ll find out on June 6th at 10am Pacific Time, when the WWDC keynote kicks off.
