Summer: Verizon iPhone 5 and delayed iPad 2 facing same release date

The Verizon iPhone 5 showing up just as quickly the iPad 2? File this under things you didn’t see coming. The iPad 2 may not arrive until summertime, significantly after the February to April arrival window which most (including us) had predicted based on Apple’s heretofore predictable annual iProduct upgrade cycles. If these claims are true (and keep in min that, as always, some miscreant could just be making the whole thing up), then it means that the iPad 2 will not be a spring arrival but would instead encroach on what should be the launch window for the iPhone 5. Even with the Verizon iPhone 4 interlude this past month, most expect Apple to continue the annual iPhone generational turnover this summer in the form of an iPhone 5 for both AT&T and Verizon. But with Apple’s aversion these days when it comes to launching multiple major products on top of each other, a delayed iPad 2 could throw a wrench into the entire upgrade calendar.

It can’t be stressed enough that these claims coming out of Taiwan about the iPad 2 being delayed til summer are unverifiable. For all you know, it could be as simple as a rival factory trying to hurt the iPad 2′s prospects by spreading misinformation. And even the notion of the iPad 2 being “delayed” is a bit of a misnomer, as Apple has never set a release date for it and never even so much as spoken of such a product. But if the iPad 2 is indeed now a June product, it stands to reason that the iPhone 5 in that case wouldn’t be one. That lends some credence to the camp who believes that because Apple released a Verizon iPhone 4 in February, the company won’t have the gall to turn around and throw out the entire iPhone 4 lineup as soon as June in favor of a Verizon iPhone 5 and an AT&T iPhone 5. An iPad 2 June followed by an iPhone 5 in August would still give Apple time enough on the calendar to keep its traditional September iPod rollout window intact. In any case, if there is any truth to the iPad 2 being pushed back, the ramifications are significant for the entire iOS lineup in 2011 and not just the iPad. Here’s more on the iPhone 5. Here’s more on the iPad 2.