iPhone 5 release date as iPhone 4 supply dries up, iPhone 4S

etting an iPhone 4 or 3GS just got harder, the surest sign yet that managing to wait for an iPhone 5 release date is about to get a whole lot easier. After consistent ship times on both current iPhone models dating back to last year which have had Apple shipping online orders within twenty-four hours, estimates for both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS have slipped to as much as a three day turnaround time. This means inventory of both current models is drying up, pointing to Apple having put both models out of production. That signals the quick rise of the iPhone 5, and it also signals something else: the iPhone 4 for both Verizon and AT&T is a goner, pointing to an iPhone 4S model to fill the bargain bin role.
The gradual bleed down of existing inventory comes amid of week of mounting circumstantial evidence that the iPhone 5 release date is rising if not quite imminent. But the exit of the iPhone 4 as of note, as Apple’s history would have pointed to it remaining as the sub-$100 bargain iPhone model even as the iPhone 5 arrives at $199 and up. However, the fact that the iPhone 4 hardware is bifurcated across two different carriers has been a messy loose end. By ending the iPhone 4 as we know it and replacing it with a universally compatible iPhone 4S, as the iPhone 5 is expected to be as well, Apple simplifies its product line.
This development still leaves a multitude of questions to be answered, including when precisely the iPhone 5 will see release date. There’s also the issue of just what the iPhone 4S will entail. Two years ago, Apple added an “S” to end of its iPhone 3G, at which time Steve Jobs said that the S stood for speed. In this instance Apple could add its new A5 processor to the iPhone 4; the chip is considered a lock to be a part of the iPhone 5. There’s also another less likely scenario.
and that’s that there is no iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5 is about to take over the entire iPhone spectrum. That would entail a sub-$100 iPhone 5 model to fill the bargain role along with more expensive iPhone 5 models sporting better specs and additional features. But in any case, the fact that Apple is bleeding off existing iPhone 4 inventory signifies that it’s a goner either way. And it also signifies that the iPhone 5 is close to launch after all. Here’s more on the iPhone 5