1. Apple is not RIM. They made huge advances in iOS 5 this year, and iOS 4 was already the most stable and intuitive OS out there (and, with the iPod touch and iPad, the most successful mobile OS). They are not getting complacent. Apple could re-release the iPhone 4 exactly as-is, and make it available in just 2 new colours. You can bet your life's savings that there would be line ups as far as the eye can see.
I agree it's the most fluid and all that, but for how long? I just don't see a company that thinks it can rest on past success forever staying #1 forever. I also find it funny that the one thing that would confuse the masses into buying a new phone (a new design) is the thing they aren't doing. It's only us tech geeks on websites like these that know what an A5 chip is, or 1 gig of ram. When Sally soccer mom walks into an Apple store to buy the new iPhone and she can't tell it apart from her old one, why would she upgrade?
I know for sure I will not be lining up to buy this "4S", and I know many other people who won't be either, look across all the Apple blogs, you'll see a vast majority is not happy at all and will not burn an upgrade on this overdue dud. Now when the iPhone 4 came out I couldn't wait to buy it, neither could millions of people, I don't see anywhere near that level of excitement this time, especially with more and more people buying Android phones. Just because something happened in the past doesn't ensure it will again in the future, especially when you take out the reasons for that success.
2. Nowhere. You will find it very easy to be first in line wherever you choose for the next Android hero. People don't have the time or the money to line up again and again every 3 months.
Good, I won't have to wait
As a consumer, long lines and big sales mean squat.
3. Apple actually takes time to develop their products. Each new device is a real commitment for Apple. And, in what world is 16 months 2 years? It's 1.3 years... Talk about rounding up!
Well I've read Apple starts working on new phones 24 months before they come out, so that would mean it took them 2 years to come up with a spec bump.
Personally if there isn't a redesigned iPhone, my thought is that there was, but they couldn't reach the demand or there was manufacturing issues. There is always the possibility though that Apple is being so secretive that even the people leaking these rumours truly believe there is only a 4S, meanwhile Apple's higher-ups are plotting for the iPhone 5 release.
I really hope so, with what happened last year with Gizmodo you'd think Apple would go nuts this time with secrecy and mis-information, that's what I expected them to do, so I wouldn't be all that surprised if they leaked BS to throw everyone off. It's too easy, all they have to do is leak info on this 4S and the internet does the rest, while keeping the true new iPhone under wraps. If the iPhone 4 hadn't been lost in that bar we wouldn't have known what it looked like until Steve Jobs pulled it out of his pocket. So I don't see why people think it's impossible for it to happen. And like I've said in the past, if other companies that are far less skilled and valuable than Apple can pump out dozens of phones every year, Apple can certainly build one. A 4S would mean what? They laid off the entire hardware division?