iPhone 5 release date obliterated as factory burns, iPad 2 up in smoke

Whatever chance the iPhone 5 had of seeing a release date in June on the heels of the white iPhone 4, those odds just went up in smoke – literally – in an unfortunate explosion and fire at the factory where Apple has its iOS devices manufactured. As a result, iPad 2 inventory is expected to once again fall behind demand after Apple initially struggled to keep up after the March launch and had just recently caught up to the point where an iPad 2 would ship to a customer a week or two after it was ordered. But while the exact impact on iPad 2 availability remains to be seen, this should put to bed the pipe dream that saw Apple somehow introducing the iPhone 5 a mere six weeks after first shipping the white iPhone 4. The lack of any reports about iPhone 5 manufacturing being underway at such facilities (this kind of news always leaks) already made it clear that Apple wasn’t about to attempt the PR-suicide stunt of ending the iPhone 4 era a month and a half after it launched a new iPhone 4 model. But even if Apple were planning to secretly launch the iPhone 5 in June, those plans would certainly have to be scuttled after the factory damage.

If nothing else, those who’ve been holding out hope a soon-arriving iPhone 5 will now be able to erase any doubt and weigh their actual options: buy an iPhone 4 now or wait for awhile longer before Apple announces what comes next. The cautious among us will likely still opt to wait another two weeks to see what Apple does with its early June WWDC Keynote. But even if there were a surprise iPhone 5 or even iPhone 4S (whatever the heck that’s supposed to be) planned for June 6th, Apple wouldn’t be able to ramp up from zero inventory at this point in time for such a launch; it’ll have a difficult enough time maintaing inventory levels of the already-shipping iPhone 4 and iPad 2. Our revised advice: if you’ve been meaning to pick up an iPad 2 but haven’t gotten around to it yet, hurry before they suddenly get harder to find for awhile. And our iPhone buying advice hasn’t changed: the arrival of the white iPhone 4 made it clear that the iPhone 5 won’t come until late summer or fall, and while either option is defensible, it’s difficult to ask someone to wait for a phone whose release isn’t known beyond the fact that it isn’t soon, and whose features are at this point still a blank slate. Here’s more on the iPhone 5.