Apple shouldn't rush iPhone 5, and neither should you
Today, the air is flush with rumors -- now from three credible journalists -- that iPhone 5 won't debut during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference 2011, in June. Rumors like these are great for generating pageviews and for sending some Wall Street analysts or Apple shareholders into cardiac arrest. But other than a few 911 calls for emergency services, does it really matter?
Technically, there is no iPhone 5 delay, contrary to reports about one. Apple hasn't announced a release date, so there can't be a delay. Now there is, based on four previous releases, reasonable expectation iPhone 5 would debut at WWDC and ship in June or July. That has been Apple's pattern for the four previous models, but it's not beholden. The rumors also put iOS 5's delivery later, too. That certainly makes sense. Why not have one but the other?
I should say about the sourcing on these rumors that all three journalists are Apple lovers. They're part of what I call the Apple fan club -- Jim Dalrymple, MG Siegler and John Paczkowski. Dalrymple, who happens to be a good friend, makes his living writing about Apple. His site is cleverly called The Loop. Dalrymple typically has solid sourcing, and his reporting tends to be better balanced -- rather than Apple-biased. Siegler is a clever Apple apologist. Paczkowski reveals his devotion by volume of Apple stories, but he's generally fair (and funny) in his reporting. Paczkowski writes for All Things Digital and Siegler for TechCrunch. All three news organizations have stout records for reliable sourcing, particularly this kind of unsourced rumor. Siegler wrote about the rumored iOS 5 delay -- the other two reporters about no hardware during the developer conference.
