Rumor: iPhone 4S to debut at WWDC, after all

This story is part of our complete Apple WWDC coverage

At its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco on June 6, Apple will reveal… something. We don’t yet know what that something will be. But according to a rumor started by UK gadget blog Electricpig, the mysterious announcement could disclose none other than Apple’s next-generation iPhone.

So, what makes Electricpig think that Apple will defy common assumption, and make a surprise reveal of the new iPhone? Because Apple’s PR team, “specifically the team dedicated to all things iPhone,” is trying to convince them, as well as other UK tech journalists, to attend WWDC.

Until now, many in the technology press have more or less ruled out the possibility that the next iPhone — currently rumored to be dubbed the “iPhone 4S,” as opposed to “iPhone 5” — would make its public debut at this year’s WWDC. This inclination began to brew as soon as the annual conference was announced in March. The Apple flier promoted the “future of iOS and Mac OS X,” not the iPhone.

At the time, this itself was news, as WWDC has historically been Apple’s release event for the new iPhone, a tradition the company has stuck to since the debut of iPhone 3G in 2008. More rumors followed that corroborated the idea that the new iPhone would make a late entrance. September became a widely floated time frame for new iPhone’s release. Later dates, like October, December and even sometime in 2012, were also milling around as possibilities.

Then came the revelation of the iPhone 4S. Like the iPhone 3G S, this still-unconfirmed device is thought to be a stepping stone to a more “magical” and “revolutionary” iPhone 5. Its design will be much like the iPhone 4, but with a faster A5 processor, and probably a few more bells and whistles to keep the critics from getting their britches in a bunch.

It’s entirely possible — even probable — that Apple will unveil the next iPhone at WWDC. The company likes to keep people (especially tech journalists who watch and report every flicker of its shadow) on their toes, and then deliver a veritable bombshell when the time for actual facts comes around. Like the Electricpig rumor, however, this is all entirely speculation, and there’s not a publicly-known fact in the world to back it up. Luckily, WWDC is a mere 11 days away. And then, we’ll know the truth, won’t we?

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