14 DAY TRIAL // An AT&T customer care representative has allegedly learned that Apple has no plans to release new iPhone hardware in the June-July timeframe, indicating that Cupertino will miss its annual refresh cycle with the iPhone 5.
Quoted by an AT&T customer who asked why his eligibility date for a subsidized upgrade had been pushed back by over five months, the representative reportedly offered the following explanation - there will be no new iPhone released in the usual June-July timeframe.
The actual statement allegedly provided by this AT&T staffer was:
”Apple has informed us that they do not plan to release the iPhone in the June to July timeframe, though there will be a newer version in the future. Unfortunately, we have not been given a release time for the new phone. We will release this information on our website when it is available to us.”
As the source of the report points out, it is highly improbable that a customer care representative of AT&T would have gained knowledge pertaining to the ongoing developments surrounding Apple's fifth-generation iPhone.
Yet Apple, notorious for going to great lengths to ensure such information never gets out, has still not provided manufacturers with a production roadmap of the iPhone 5, according to industry reports.
Moreover, there are several known factors that may have contributed to the delayed launch of the iPhone 5, including the struggle to get white iPhone 4 units in the hands of eager Apple fans this spring, Apple playing catch with iPad 2 demand, as well as the disastrous earthquake in Japan - where many iDevice components stem from.
Finally, a hint that iPhone 5 may not arrive until after summer comes from Apple itself, who has confirmed that its Worldwide Developers Conference - the time and place where new iPhones are generally announced - will showcase “the future of iOS and Mac OS” this year.
Of course, Apple also never gives away the surprise of a keynote.
WWDC 2011 is set to kick off on June 6.