Here is my speculative timeline for the upcoming iPhone event:
- 9/30 - iOS 5 Golden Master released to Developer network. This is the final version of the software that will be released publicly. It coincides with their standard Friday releases of iOS 5 beta releases.
- 10/4 - iPhone Event. New device showcased. It’s hard to make any assumptions about the hardware changes, but out of everything, expect improved cameras, new A5 processors, 1GB of RAM, better battery, front and back LED status light, thinner. Maybe wider, but the screen will stay the same, as all of the apps have remained native to a standard resolution. No more glass back. Pre-orders begin today at the earliest (though unlikely) and at the end of the week at the latest. The phones will ship by the end of October, which in Apple talk, means 10/31.
- 10/4 - iOS 5 is publicly released to everyone. Expect iTunes and OS X Lion 7.2 updates as well to integrate with the new iCloud services. Expect long download times to get the software, and long upload times to export your iTunes library for iTunes Match.
- 10/4 - Don’t expect Steve Jobs to present. Appearance, maybe. Most likely, a speech will be made.
- 10/7 - iPhone 5 Preorders begin at 4am EST. Everyone refreshes the order page 100 times each bringing the site to a crawl.
- 10/7 - 9am EST, preorders now have a shipping time of 4 weeks. This may be greatly exaggerated as Apple has been pumping out new devices in the productions line in preparation for this.
- 10/10 - Your patience is finally depleted and you order the new phone, even if it means 10 more weeks worth of waiting for it to ship.
- 10/31 - If you are lucky, your new phone arrives. You send the kids out trick or treating by themselves so that you can get it all set up and prepare for the transition. It’s also smart to prepare for the transition to the next device after that. And the one after that.
- 11/1 - All of the people that pre-ordered rush home to cancel their pre-orders when it’s discovered that their local shop has 2 remaining phones in stock.
