No iPhone 5 until fall?

The blogosphere -- and many national news outlets -- are buzzing about reports from trustworthy sources like the Loop's Jim Dalrymple that we won't see an Apple iPhone 5 in June like we've seen the last several years.

Apple sent out invitations to its June 6-10 Worldwide Developers Conference Monday and the event -- which costs $1,600 per pass -- sold out in less than 12 hours. But Apple made it clear on the invitations that the event was to talk about the future of its mobile operating system, iOS, and the future of its computer operating system, MacOSX.

Apple is expected to ship its new desktop and laptop operating system, to be called Lion, in the summer. Analysts are now expecting the new mobile operating system -- and the new phone hardware -- to come in the fall.

Why?

Assuming these rumors are true -- and we could still see Steve Jobs on stage with a new iPhone come June -- I could only guess that Apple wants to get into the 4G universe and wants to make sure its device isn't as battery hungry as some of the early 4G handsets have been, and not as buggy.

Remember, Apple execs said when the Verizon phone dropped in February that to make it a 4G model would've forced 'design challenges'.

That probably meant that they couldn't make a thin enough phone with a big enough battery, or something along those lines.

Again, if true, this could be a gamble as people who have waited on the sidelines for iPhone 5, like Verizon customers who have already waited for years, would just grab a Thunderbolt or other Android offering.

We'll know more come June.