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.

White iPhone 4 release: four surprising hints it offers about iPhone 5

The white iPhone 4 is here, the iPhone 5 isn’t, and there are now some surprising things we can glean from the former about the latter. Here are four hints the release of the new white iPhone 4 gives us about the upcoming iPhone 5.

Later than sooner: So much for a June iPhone 5 release date. The arrival of the white iPhone 4 now, basically May 2011, means the iPhone 5 can’t be expected until the back end of summer.

Form factor: The white iPhone 4 marks the third time, after the Verizon iPhone 4 and the original iPhone 4, that Apple has made a big deal about the arrival of a new iPhone which has the exact same form factor. That space has officially been used up on the bingo card, and Apple knows it. Look for the iPhone 5, whenever it surfaces, to look noticeably different.

Aggression: Apple’s willingness to push the white iPhone 4 out there this late into the iPhone 4 cycle means that Apple is willing to be proactively aggressive in ways it previously wasn’t. While Apple’s days of simply pushing one new update per product per year and letting it play out may or may not be over, this move on the heels of the Verizon iPhone 4 move says that Apple is now more willing to make intermediary moves between annual generational rollouts as needed, at least when it comes to the iPhone. Perhaps that’s because, unlike Apple’s other mobile products like the iPad and iPod, the iPhone actually has competition.

Predictability, or lack thereof: After releasing a Verizon iPhone 4 in the middle of the iPhone 4 era and a white iPhone 4 a month before it was expected to have released an iPhone 5, who knows what the hell Apple will do with the iPhone next or when it’ll happen. But then that’s exactly how Apple wants it, for competitive reasons if nothing else. And so for the first time in the iPhone’s history, there’s no roadmap for the iPhone’s future. Something to keep in mind as we head into the iPhone 5 era, whenever and however it arrives. Here’s more on the iPhone 5. Here’s more on the white iPhone 4.

White iPhone 4 price can be reduced to $50, but you may regret it

Those with a black iPhone 4 from Verizon or AT&T can flip it for a white model at a surprisingly low cost – but they could end up regretting it before the year is over. Those who’ve bought an iPhone 4 since it launched are not yet eligible for upgrade pricing from either carrier, which means that the official $199 and $299 price tags on the new white iPhone 4 are actually going to be $399 and $499 for existing iPhone 4 users. But thanks to the twisted world of subsidized pricing, a black iPhone 4 can be sold for about $350 to $450 on any major do-it-yourself auction site – meaning that you can flip your black iPhone 4 for a white iPhone 4 for as little as fifty bucks, plus whatever listing fees or taxes you might run into on one end of the exchange or the other. But there’s a catch, which could cost you dearly later on.

Many or even most of those who bought an iPhone 4 back when it first launched on AT&T will be eligible for upgrade pricing by the time the iPhone 5 rolls around (it’s either a twelve or eighteen month upgrade cycle, depending on a voodoo formula; you’ll have to check with AT&T or Apple to confirm your upgrade date). But buying a white iPhone 4 now will reset your upgrade-eligible date so that it’s twelve to eighteen months from now, meaning that buying a white iPhone 4 now could result in your iPhone 5 costing you an extra $200 when you go to buy it. That’s of course if you’re planning to buy the iPhone 5. Verizon customers may oddly be in a better position to flip over to a white iPhone 4; by having bought a black Verizon iPhone 4 this year, they’ve already likely blown any chance of being able to buy an iPhone 5 at advertised pricing when it arrives. And since they’re already shut out of that, there may be no harming in moving to the white iPhone 4 in the mean time. Here’s more on the white iPhone 4.

Chances of Verizon iPhone arriving before white iPhone 4

One group of consumers wants the Verizon iPhone to arrive, after waiting for years. Another segment wants the white iPhone 4 to ship after waiting months. So which comes to market first.

Things in the Verizon iphone’s favor: images and sources say it’s a done deal and just a finite matter of time. Verizon and Apple have already begun working together on selling another Apple product line.

Working against a Verizon iPhone: no one knows exactly when that (apparently already modified) exclusivity deal ends. Recent surges in iPhone sales may have Apple in less of a hurry than it otherwise might have been. Verizon knows that adding the iPhone to its roster will significantly hurt sales of its own Droid.

In favor of the white iPhone 4: unlike with the Verizon iPhone, Apple has already announced this one. It’s only manufacturing issues that have to be cleared up, and not contractual ones.

Working against the white iPhone 4: iPhone sales are better than ever, even without the white model, which may explain why Apple hasn’t shipped the supposedly mismatched-white model. The only “evidence” of a white iPhone 4 in the wild (some guy in an elevator who has a “friend”) is suspicious at best.

It may not be what either camp wants to hear, but with iPhone 4 sales so strong in 2010, Apple could just wait til early 2011 and bring the Verizon iPhone and white iPhone 4 to market simultaneously. More…