Why there won't be an iPhone 5

Here we go again. The iPhone 5 will have a large screen more like that of the Android flagship, the Galaxy Nexus. Or maybe it won't. According to all the gossip, it will have an LTE 4G radio, just like the new iPad. As always, the rumor mill is a mix of highly suspect blogger fantasies and "duh" predictions, such as the inclusion of 4G. But let me be the first to tell you that whatever the next iPhone features, it won't be the name "iPhone 5."

I predict that the iPhone 4S is the last numbered iPhone, and the next model will simply be the iPhone. Apple long ago dropped version numbers for its Mac and iPod hardware. The Apple TV never got them in the first place. The latest iPad drops the numbering for that product line. All that's left is the iPhone, and you can bet it too will join the versionless set.

The reason is simple: There's no need for numbers. The Mac and iPod are mature product lines, and although there are incremental hardware changes, plus occasional innovations such as last year's introduction of the Thunderbolt bus technology, what matters more is the line they belong to: MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, Mac Mini, Mac Pro, iPod Classic, iPod Nano, or iPod Touch.