iOS 6 Beta Is Coming to WWDC 2012 — Can The iPhone 5 Launch With iOS 5.1?
Posted by Michael Nace on Saturday May 12, 2012 Under iOS 5 News, iPad 3, iPhone 5 Opinion
New evidence that iOS 6 beta is on its way to WWDC 2012.
Doubtless you’ve heard that iOS 6 beta is all but a lock for the WWDC this year, as reported by a bit of iCloud code recently unearthed by some folks over a 9to5Mac. For as much as the finding is pretty cool, I don’t think that this news should come as a surprise to anyone: Apple has kept the release of new iOS versions pretty consistent. Even last year, when the iPhone release cycle got a bit topsy-turvy, they still at least got the beta version of iOS 5 out for developers to test, all in anticipation for the fall-release iPhone 4S.
In previous years, developers got their hands on beta versions of the new iOS with ample time to test and peruse it so that the alpha version was ready for the WWDC. Thus, the new iPhone was able to ship with the new operating system. There has obviously been no public release of iOS 6 beta prior to the WWDC this year — no one has really seen it, apparently, since it most likely would have leaked — so, this means that the only way the iPhone 5 is coming in June is if ships in late June-early July with iOS 5.1, or maybe a 5.2 build.
The big question is: is that plausible? However you answer it determines whether a June-released iPhone 5 is possible or impossible.
The conventional answer to this question is “no,” because the iPhone has traditionally featured the new iOS. you can say that, in years past, iOS’s flagship device has been the iPhone, and because Apple is perpetually seeking to upgrade its mobile computing experience through software as much as hardware, a new iOS and hardware (aka a new iPhone) always go hand in hand. If this is how you’re thinking, then there is no way that you can believe we’ll see the iPhone 5 announced at the WWDC. Sure, Tim Cook could reveal it at the event — but is he going to make Appledom wait 2 or 3 months before it would become available, along with iOS 6? I doubt it.
This line of thinking — that iOS 6 and the iPhone must launch together — is the conventional answer. But Apple is anything but conventional; they broke with convention last year by announcing the 4S in the fall. In a sense, if they announce the 5 in June, they will be returning to the old pattern. But if they launch the iPhone 5 with iOS 5.1 — or maybe a newer build — that would be a new approach entirely.
It could happen. It is at least possible.
It’s possible because, if the iPhone 5 is going to be a major hardware upgrade, then hardware will be the big promotional focus. Cook will be showing off its big screen, its flashy form factor, its NFC component, something new with the camera, airbag — whatever Cupertino has in store for the next iPhone. Sure, last year’s 4S launch was mainly software-focused — but that was because the 4S is essentially the iPhone 4. They had to focus on the software side of things because that’s where the major changes took place.
An iPhone 5 launch with iOS 5.1 is also possible because it isn’t beyond the pale for Apple to release a new device without a brand-new iOS. They just did it with the iPad 3. What they did to increase the interest on the software side of the iPad 3 was to introduce iOS 5.1 along with it, which actually featured quite a few interesting upgrades that jived with the New iPad’s Retina display rather nicely.
Why couldn’t Apple deliver iOS 5.1.1, or 5.2 along with the iPhone 5 in June, and have it lay some beta groundwork for what’s to come in iOS 6? Siri, after all, is still considered to be in “beta,” and yet Apple made it the centerpiece of their marketing push for the 4S. There’s no reason why beta software features — such as the software side of NFC — cannot debut on iOS 5.1.1 or 5.2 as a precursor to launching iOS 6 a few months after.
Sure — it seems like a rather unconventional way for Apple to go about its business of releasing new products. But isn’t unconventional their mantra?
By Michael Nace
Michael Nace is the Publisher of the iPhone 5 News Blog and iPhone 6 News Blog. He has published articles about the iPhone since 2010.
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May 12th, 2012 at 2:16 pm
And don’t fortget this story. iOS 5.1 is iPhone LTE ready….
http://9to5mac.com/2012/03/22/ios-5-1-code-shows-iphone-lte-call-and-facetime-switching/
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May 12th, 2012 at 2:57 pm
I agree with this article and appreciate how you look at things from multiple perspectives. They (Apple) could release the iPhone without iOS 6 and that would be completely fine. New software comes out all the time and updates are always on the horizon. You usually get a few updates to software a few times a year. But it’s not everyday that you’ll see a newly refreshed iPhone. You see a new model every year, but not a completely revolutionized one. This will be a deciding point for Apple. This is their chance to capitalize upon the opportunity in which they were given. The WWDC will show us a reflection of Apple as a company, and where they are heading in the future.
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May 12th, 2012 at 3:21 pm
I too agree w/ the article’s slant. Of course, I’m still hopin’ for a June iPhone.
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May 13th, 2012 at 1:52 am
I agree as well! A
So, there was another leaked part. A purported iPhone 5/new iPhone headphone jack and earpiece:
http://www.macrumors.com/2012/05/13/iphone-5-headphone-jack-and-earpiece-component-surfaces/
So hopefully getting more new parts leaked means it’s coming sooner. Also I saw something someone else said in another forum. The iPhone 4S was a minor upgrade so it shouldn’t take a whole year for a new iPhone to come out. I hope that’s the case!
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May 14th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
I think Apple would be more likely to release an iphone without iOS 6 just to throw everybody by surprise. They don’t like being “too predictable”. Now that the OS can be updated OTA, why wouldn’t they release the new iphone based on major hardware upgrades and the promise of a new OS to come in the near future? It gives everybody what they want…a sweet new phone and something better to hope for soon.
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May 15th, 2012 at 7:55 am
It looks like Apple will be launching new Macbook Pros in June, which indicates you will not be getting the new iPhone.
It kinda makes sense, as the new Ivy Bridge processors are launching, and Apple will be facing some more competition with ultrabooks.
I think it is time to move on to a fall launch people.
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May 15th, 2012 at 9:23 am
Apple revealed iPhone3GS, the new MacBook Pro and Snow Leopard at WWDC 2009.
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May 16th, 2012 at 4:17 pm
The Android phones are released all the time with different versions of the OS so I don’t see a problem with Apple releasing a new phone with iOS 5.? or 6.
At least it gets regular updates as opposed to the Android platform so we will all be able to have 6.0 in October, allowing us plenty of time to get used to our new form factor IP5!
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May 26th, 2012 at 3:45 am
Yes, I also think iPhone 5 will be With iOS 5 or 5.1 — – IOS 6 will take time.
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