iPhone 5 faces new challenges in September: 4G, T-Mobile, white out

Welcome to the brave new world in which there's no iPhone 5 until the fall. On the heels of Apple's release this week of the white iPhone 4, the company now faces a newly revised set of challenges ahead of the iPhone 5 release date, which is still unknown specifically but is known to be further away than many had hoped. With that in mind, here are the five challenges a fall 2011 iPhone 5 will face, including a non-annual release cycle, a September logjam, the 4G issue (again), the Verizon / AT&T/ T-Mobile factor, the upcoming white-out, and more.

Five cycle: By releasing a white iPhone 4 now, and in fact by having released a Verizon iPhone 4 earlier this year, Apple is actively encouraging consumers to buy an iPhone 4 instead of waiting. That makes business sense, but with upgrade pricing and subsidizing being what it is, Apple's attempts to rejuvenate iPhone 4 sales now will mean fewer iPhone 5 sales when it launches. Most folks aren't going to buy an iPhone 4 in April and an iPhone 5 in September, and Apple knows it. Or does Apple believe the iPhone 5 will be so mind-blowing that folks really will double dip for it?

September logjam: Here are the products Apple traditionally updates in September: iPod touch. iPod nano. iPod shuffle. iPod classic. Apple TV. Now throw the iPhone 5 (and for that matter iOS 5) into the mix, and suddenly Apple could be looking at launching a logjam of products simultaneously, all fighting for the same headline space. Of course the iPhone 5 will win that battle easily. But can Apple afford to lose the attention paid to the less-intriguing products it usually updates in September? Or perhaps this is a sign that the days of anyone paying attention to iPod updates (even among the millions who still use the iPod) are over. Or maybe Apple tries to wedge the iPhone 5 in there with a separate event a month apart from the traditional iPod-a-thon.

4G factor: By the fall, the 4G era for both Verizon and AT&T will be further underway than it is now. That's not saying much of course, as both 4G networks barely exist thus far. But while Apple could easily have gotten away with a non-4G iPhone 5 in June, it'll be a little harder to explain a lack of 4G if the iPhone 5 is debuting in September. Then again, 4G could be the reason the iPhone 5 is being held back. And then there's the issue of how the T-Mobile merger plays into all of this.

White-out: The white iPhone 4 faces being drowned out by the fact that "When is the iPhone 5 coming out" is the most popular question among would-be iPhone buyers right now. In fact everything Apple does between now and the iPhone 5 launch will be overshadowed by the iPhone 5. Mac hardware event? Irrelevant talk of iPhone 5 heading into it. WWDC developer conference? Overshadowed by the lack of an iPhone 5 debut. But then again, thanks to its own silence on such matters, Apple must be used to this kind of thing by now.

Noise: Any conversation with real-world smartphone users reveals that outside of geek circles no one cares about platforms like Android or Windows Phone, even among the millions who use them. But the longer Apple goes without making major iPhone news, the greater the risk that those who've settled for an Android-based phone they don't want will end up deciding to do so for the long term. The iPhone 5 qualifies as major iPhone news. Much as Apple is hoping otherwise, the white iPhone 4 is not. Here's more on the iPhone5.