Apple made the 2012 WWDC official today, confirming the assumption it would be from June 11th to the 15th. Will the iPhone 5 debut at this year’s WWDC or not? Looking back at previous developers’ conference announcement might hold some clues.
If you’re inclined to take Apple’s PR department at their word, then there is absolutely no hope whatsoever that the iPhone 5 will debut at the 2012 WWDC this year, which is scheduled for its typical location at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA from June 11th to the 15th. It’s clearly going to be one of the biggest conferences ever — tickets sold out in two hours.
Apple Insider always does a great job of keeping us up to snuff on the WWDC news, and this is what they reported today: “WWDC 2012 will allow developers to explore the latest innovations, features and capabilities of iOS and OS X Mountain Lion. Apple has promised that developers will learn how to greatly enhance the functionality, performance, quality and design of their apps.’” They go on to publish the crux of Apple’s press release:
“We have a great WWDC planned this year and can’t wait to share the latest news about iOS and OS X Mountain Lion with developers,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The iOS platform has created an entirely new industry with fantastic opportunities for developers across the country and around the world.”
At face value, this preview of WWDC 2012 is almost exactly like last year — Apple is slating the event to be all about software and operating systems, leading us to assume that iOS 6 beta won’t get its official release until then. Again, if you trust Apple PR, then there’s no reason to believe that there will be any new iOS device, alla the iPhone 5, being announced at the conference this year.
But I was curious: have ay of Apple’s press releases about past WWDC events suggested hardware announcements?
The cool thing about Apple Insider is that they do the exact same articles about the WWDC every year — they even use almost the same headlines and story lines. Usually, they do one like the ne we linked to today, one about who is doing the keynote, one about the banners that are hung at the Moscone Center prior to the launch of the conference, live coverage, and follow-up coverage. I decided to go back to their lead story about the announcement of the 2010 WWDC — the last conference to debut an iPhone — to see how Apple previewed that year’s event.
This is what Apple Insider reported back in their 2010 preview, entitled, “Apple’s annual WWDC to be held June 7-11 in San Francisco: “The five-day conference will include the first-ever iPad development sessions and hands-on working labs for iPhone OS 4, as well as Mac OS X core technology labs . . . WWDC 2010 gives an incredibly diverse community the opportunity to connect with thousands of fellow iPhone, iPad and Mac developers from around the world.” And this is the snippet from Apple’s press release that they quoted:
“This year’s WWDC offers developers in-depth sessions and hands-on working labs to learn more about iPhone OS 4, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system,” said Scott Forstall, Apple’s senior vice president of iPhone Software. “WWDC provides a unique opportunity for developers to work side-by-side with Apple engineers and interface designers to make their iPhone and iPad apps even better.”
As you can see, there is nothing in Apple’s press statement from 2010 that even hints at the iPhone 4. And yet, thanks to the lost iPhone 4 prototype and the fact that iOS 4 beta had already been exposed to developers, it was a foregone conclusion to the rumor mill that the iPhone 4 would debut. Because developers have still yet to be given a beta version of iOS 6, the assumption is that the iPhone 5 cannot be released at this year’s WWDC, assuming that a new iPhone can never debut without a new operating system.
Even though new iPad models never debut with new iOS.
Another interesting distinction between the 2012 and 2010 Apple press statement is who is quoted as giving them. In 2010, only the Senior Vice President of iPhone Software provided the official quote for the WWDC. This year, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller gave the quote. If ever a year there was to believe that the WWDC would have only been about software, it would have been 2010 — not 2012. To be sure, there is nothing about the 2012 WWDC announcement that would provide a rousing confirmation that the iPhone 5 will be released. At the same time, the rumor mill shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss the possibility. New iOS has always debut along with the iPhone — that’s been a convention. But up until last year, the iPhone had been announced at WWDC events. Last year Apple showed us what they think of conventional wisdom. And if iOS 5.1 is good enough for the iPad 3, it could very well be good enough for the iPhone 5, particularly if its defining features turn out to be hardware-based.
P.S. — Any theories on the symbolism — if any — surrounding the WWDC’s 2012 logo?
By Michael Nace