iPhone 5 watch: what iOS 4.3.3 release, white iPhone 4 reveal for iP5

iOS 4.3.3 is here, but it’s still a matter of hurry up and wait. It’s all happening fast now leading up to the iPhone 5 release, and Apple’s plans for it are becoming more clear by its actions. After an entire winter of no iOS updates and no product releases which made it feel as if Apple had simply switched the lights off, the company has re-emerged with a vengeance. Sadly for those who were counting on it, that aggression doesn’t appear to include a summer iPhone 5. But here’s the good news: with all the fuss Apple has been showing regarding the iPhone in the past month and a half, it’s clear that Apple is stepping on the gas pedal in ways not previously seen. Maybe it’s the Android threat. Perhaps it’s Apple finally adjusting internally to functioning without its CEO. But after spending the winter hibernating, Apple has come out swinging – and most of its focus has been on the iPhone specifically. So what does that mean for the iPhone 5?

For one thing, the sudden spate of iOS releases (4.3, 4.3.1, 4.3.2, and now 4.3.3) in what feels like a five minute span mean that the company is, at the very least, highly motivated in the iOS department. But the real proof of Apple’s iPhone aggression has come in the form of new hardware. The fact that there apparently won’t be an iPhone 5 ready by summer is one way of looking at it. But the reality is that with the Verizon iPhone 4 followed by the white iPhone 4, released almost on top of each other at a time of year when Apple has never released iPhone hardware, it’s clear Apple is ready to leave behind the old blueprint of releasing the new iPhone and iOS in the summer and then standing pat as far as releases for the next twelve months. Now it’s all about hyper-kinetic iOS releases, pushing out new iPhone hardware year round, and laying the groundwork for what at this rate must be a stunning iPhone 5 generational leap.

And how’s that, you say? Apple is turning its own tables by attempting to prop up iPhone 4 sales this late in the generation; those who buy an iPhone 4 now will be hard pressed to cough up for an iPhone 5 (at unsubsidized pricing, no less) less than half a year from now. So Apple must be so certain that the iPhone 5 is going to be a to-die-for model that it believes at least some folks will actually buy an iPhone 5 at launch even if they’re still tearing the shrink-wrap off their iPhone 4. And that means Apple must really have something up its sleeve. Put another way: if the “iPhone 5″ were going to merely be a rehash of the iPhone 4 along the lines of an iPhone 4GS, Apple would have killed the white iPhone 4 and simply released said “iPhone 5″ next month. Instead, the company is buying itself the time it needs to finish whatever job it has going on behind the scenes, on what must be from-the-ground-up reimagining of the iPhone experience. The effort that Apple is publicly investing into the iPhone 4 at present is merely a sign of how confident Apple is that it can still promptly kill and bury the iPhone 4 in favor of what comes next when the time comes. Here’s more on the iPhone 5.

iPhone 5 on September 13th: five reasons release isn’t worth waiting for

If the iPhone 5 really is to be a September baby, it’ll be unveiled in September 13th. And that being the case, our official advice has changed: if you’re sitting around waiting for more information on the iPhone 5 in order to make a decision on whether to buy an iPhone 4 now or keep waiting, and it turns out the iPhone 5 really is coming in the fall instead of the summer, go ahead and take the plunge on the iPhone 4 now. Bear in mind that this advice is conditional upon the iPhone 5 being held back until the fall; if it does indeed arrive this June then you’re best off simply waiting another six weeks. But Apple traditionally holds its fall press event on the second Tuesday of September, namely the 13th in 2011, and if that event is to be the first sign of the iPhone 5 along with the iPod models which will debut that day, don’t bother waiting. Here’s why.

iPhone 4 rocks: Several members of the Beatweek staff have been using the iPhone 4 since last year, and while we’ll likely all upgrade to the iPhone 5 as soon as it arrives, here’s what we’ve learned about the iPhone 4 in the mean time. It’s by far the most ideal smartphone on the market. It’s faster, more versatile, thinner, and lighter than any previous iPhone model, and offers significantly more battery life with a much better screen. The supposed “iPhone 4 antenna issue” simply does not exist except in the minds of the deviants who concocted it. On its own merits, it’s nearly the perfect smartphone; we’d be hard pressed to come with things we don’t like about it.

4G pipedream: Even if the iPhone 5 does end up offering 4G networking, that’ll only work in the scant areas in which Verizon and AT&T have actually built 4G networks. For the vast majority of iPhone 5 customers, it’ll be the same 3G or even EDGE experience that they’d have gotten on the iPhone 4. Unless you live in one of a handful of big cities where 4G LTE will arrive early, this is not a reason to wait for the iPhone 5.

Verizon already has the iPhone: For those Verizon customers who wanted an iPhone but skipped the iPhone 4 because they thought the iPhone 5 was just around the corner, we’ll ask you this: what exactly have you gained by waiting? A few more months of being stuck with your existing phone, which you clearly don’t want? And now you’re looking at another few more months of doing the same? You’re not winning this battle.

Question marks: In other words, it’s all we know about the iPhone 5. Will it offer better specs and features than the iPhone 4? Certainly. What will those specs and features be, and will any of them be relevant to you? No way of knowing. Waiting means you’re gambling that the iPhone 5 will offer something over the iPhone 4 which will have justified your wait. Waiting does not equal playing it safe; it’s just a different kind of gamble.

Have it both ways: The real clincher is that even if you buy an iPhone 4 now, you can still buy an iPhone 5 later. Sure, you’ll end up paying $200 above sticker for the iPhone 5 because you’ll have used up your upgrade cycle on the iPhone 4 purchase. But nothing says you can’t turn around and sell your iPhone 4 in September (for more than you paid for it, thanks to the magic of unsubsidized pricing), and put that money toward paying your iPhone 5 ransom. You’ll still end up having paid at least little bit for the privilege using an iPhone 4 between now and iPhone 5 launch day, but it won’t preclude you from getting to experience both iPhone generations. Here’s more on the iPhone 5.

Verizon iPhone 4 confirmed as product-specific hirings begin

It’s what some of you have been waiting to hear for a long time: Apple just tacitly confirmed the impending arrival of the Verizon iPhone 4 through, of all things, the hiring process. The funny thing about the iPhone is that from the start, Apple has designed it specifically to work on AT&T and similar networks around the world. In fact, with every Apple employee being an iPhone user, that means all Apple employees in the U.S., right down to the iPhone’s engineers in Cupertino, are using AT&T. And while that’s more of a symbolic representation of just how far removed Apple’s iPhone history is from the world of Verizon, here’s the more concrete sign: Apple is now hiring engineers who have specific experience working with Verizon’s network, which is fully incompatible from anything the iPhone has ever operated on previously.

This doesn’t mean that Apple’s in-house engineers don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to Verizon, or that there are any problems on the horizon (after all, Apple has admitted that it has a Verizon tower on its main campus, meaning that Apple has been testing the iPhone with Verizon for some time). Instead, more likely, Apple simply wants more staff on board who have specific hands-on experience with Verizon networks. Regardless of what it means for the internal makeup of Apple’s engineering team, what it means for consumers is fairly straightforward: Apple wouldn’t be specifically seeking out engineers with a Verizon background unless the Verizon iPhone 4 was signed, sealed, and delivered. In other words, if you’ve been awaiting official confirmation from Apple that a Verizon iPhone is coming, this is it. First it was Verizon telegraphing the Verizon iPhone with every Verizon iPad TV ad spot it’s run of late. And now Apple is confirming the Verizon iPhone, in a characteristically much more discrete manner, of course, but confirming it nonetheless. Now all that awaits is a launch date with all the juicy details. Here’s more on the Verizon iPhone 4.

Satisfied: Verizon iPhone 4 needed primarily to overcome inertia

The Verizon iPhone 4 will still be a vital product when it arrives, even though it’s another day and another study showing existing iPhone 4 users in the United States to be a very satisfied lot when it comes to all aspects of their iPhone experience including, for the most part, life on AT&T. That’s a far cry from the claims being made by Verizon customers who swear that AT&T iPhone users can never get a signal, can’t make a call without dropping it, can’t use the data network, and have a paperweight instead of a phone. Common sense alone dictates that there wouldn’t be tens of millions of U.S. iPhone users if any of the above were even close to being true, and continual formal studies and anecdotal conversations with iPhone 4 users reveals AT&T to be a non-issue. But doesn’t change the fact that Verizon customers are going to see things how they’re going to see them, and that simple inertia is going to keep them tied to Verizon because they’d rather stick with the devil they know than the devil they choose to fear.

Witness the fact that Verizon customers have gone so far out of their way to essentially imagine AT&T iPhone problems which simply don’t exist. Is there any more evidence needed than that when it comes to the need for a Verizon iPhone 4? There are Verizon customers, plenty of them, who are so desperate to stick with the devil they know in Verizon that they’re going so far as to (consciously or subconsciously) fabricate imaginary horror stories about life as an iPhone 4 user on the other carrier. And while such a bizarre phenomenon makes great fodder for Dr Freud or Dr. Phil to break down into its psychological root cause, Apple doesn’t have that kind of time. The bottom line is that Verizon customers would rather stick with their current carrier, and make up stories about other people’s experiences on other carriers, and end up with a phone they don’t even want, than simply switch to not-really-any-worse competing carrier which does offer the phone they want. Amidst such a total lack of logic on the part of users, Apple’s only logical move is not to try to overcome such lunacy but instead to turn the situation to its advantage by simply launching a Verizon iPhone 4, thereby making such Freudian silliness irrelevant one way or the other.