Apple Can Wait to Announce the iPhone 5

When I first heard the rumors indicating there won't be an iPhone 5 released this summer, I have to admit to feeling a bit relieved.  Not that I wouldn't love to see Apple dazzle us with a new dual-core superphone that synchronizes your MobileMe data while simultaneously diagnosing your EKG and filing your income taxes, but I think I need a breather.  What with all the new thunderbolting MacBook Pros, iPad 2s and OS X Lion, this fanboy is bordering on overload.  My psyche and my wallet could use some time off.

Seriously, with the iPod losing some of its prominence, Apple could stand to shift the iPhone release to the early fall cycle to recapture the Christmas magic it used to own.  If there is a glimmer of truth to the rumored iPad 3, announcing it with the iPhone 5 and new iPods in September could almost assure there'll be Apple devices under a large portion of Christmas trees this year.  Also, there wouldn't be so many pissed-off people next March because their Christmas present is already out-of-date.

I don't have any special knowledge provided by a spy in some Chinese manufacturing plant or a drunken Apple employee who accidentally forgot his iPad 3 in a bar.  I'm just reading the tea leaves as I see them and throwing in a little wishful thinking as necessary.