iPhone, iOS 5 in sync as release date delay buys Apple time to realign

Fear not, those averse to symmetry: fears that the iPhone 5 might ship without iOS 5 appear to have gone by the wayside now that the white iPhone 4 has signaled a later iPhone 5 release date than originally expected. The way in which Apple teased its WWDC conference made it clear that the company’s fifth generation touchscreen operating system would be previewed in broad strokes for developer purposes, rather than released to consumers, at the June 2011 event. That led to the question as to whether Apple would dare to initially push the iPhone 5 to market with an interstitial iOS release such as iOS 4.5 instead of the next generation software. And that in turn would have led to the question of just what the iPhone 5 had to offer.

When the iPhone 4 shipped last year, Apple made clear that the then-new iOS 4 was an integral part of the new phone, as much a tentpole feature as any iPhone 4 hardware attributes. The notion that the iPhone 5 would arrive in June without iOS 5 in tow would have made for an out of sync release, with iOS 5 showing in who knows what timeframe. Perhaps in September, along with the iPod touch 5, which also runs iOS. Perhaps in March of 2012 with the iPad 3. But none of that really made sense, as even though iOS is a tri-device operating system, it’s always seen a new generation along with the iPhone. And because both the iPhone 5 and iOS 5 have been pushed back to later release than had been expected for either, that synchronicity streak will apparently remain intact for another generation – you’ll just have to wait a little longer for it than usual. Here’s more on the iPhone 5.