In iPhone 5 shadow, white iPhone 4 breathes life into stalled Verizon

The iPhone 5 has thus far amounted to little more than an absent troublemaker. The fact that it'll surface before the year is over has had Verizon customers hedging about the Verizon iPhone 4 since its launch, even among those who are dead certain they want an iPhone. Those who wanted the Verizon iPhone 4 badly enough to plunk down for it did so in February, and the rest appear to have been waiting no more than what they expected to be a few months for the iPhone 5. But now that Apple has pushed the white iPhone 4 to market on both Verizon and AT&T, it's a clear sign that the iPhone 5 is at least another season away on any platform – and that's given cause for those Verizon holdouts to reconsider their position. Here are some key points to consider when re-evaluating whether the Verizon iPhone 4, white or otherwise, makes sense now that the landscape has changed, even with the iPhone 5 still looming in the shadows.

Timeframe: Good luck figuring out just when the iPhone 5 will arrive. Our best guess is early September. But because Apple has never previously pushed an iPhone generational upgrade past the summer, nothing is known for sure. Contrast that with the fact that the Verizon iPhone 4 is here now, and is still the current generation despite arriving late.

4G for me: Will the iPhone 5 have Verizon's 4G LTE built in, and if so, will Verizon have built 4G LTE towers in your neighborhood? If either of those is a no, then one of the potentially key iPhone 5 features will be of no use to you. Then again, if you live in a big city, 4G LTE will likely come your way first. No telling whether Apple will embrace it with the iPhone 5, however. A big part of whether the Verizon iPhone 4 makes sense now depends on whether you think 4G is coming your way with the iPhone 5 and whether you think 4G will be worth the wait.

Upgrade: Unless you want to pay about twice the sticker price for it, you'll be ruling yourself out of buying an iPhone 5 at launch if you buy an iPhone 4 now. So it ultimately comes down to whether you want a known quantity now or an unknown quantity later. Here's more on the iPhone5.