Apple Iphone

The most common thing I get asked whenever I tell anyone I'm a tech writer is some version of the question: "Should I get a new iPhone now, or should I wait until the next one comes out?" It is as though my business card should read not "Technology Writer," and instead "iPhone Psychic"

Not that I am not happy to prognosticate! And in that spirit, here's a look at the questions on everyone's mind: Should I buy an iPhone now? And if not now, when?

First, let me say that I am fascinated by the peculiar kind of panic that I encounter in people I meet who are deciding on a purchase date for their next Apple phone. I call it the iSenberg Uncertainty Principle: Potential iPhone buyers exist in a constant state of anxiety, perpetually worrying that purchasing an iPhone on any given day will mean that they will miss out on the inevitably cooler version with the mind-blowing new features soon down the road. The Cupertino Sword of Damocles constantly dangles over their heads, threatening to pierce them with unhipness and iShame.

Here is one solid piece of advice I can offer to help you avoid the Sword: Do not buy any new iPhone until September. Apple has an annual media conference each September, and every blog with the word 'Mac' in the title is reporting that Steve Jobs is going to do his black turtleneck thing and introduce some kind of new iPhone there. The September Media conference is generally used to present the new iPods, but as All Things Digital reports, Apple plans to "commandeer" the conference for its official iPhone announcement.

Apple is long overdue to release its new iPhone anyway, if history is any indication. Look at this handy little timeline:

June 2007: original iPhone released

June 2008: iPhone 3G released

June 2009: iPhone 3Gs released

June 2010: iPhone 4 released

June 2011: Nothing!

In other words, the 5th generation iPhone is already a month late, so it makes sense that the rumors are swirling. Apple's tardiness can be explained by the fact they've actually already released two iPhones in 2011 -- the Verizon iPhone in February and the unlocked iPhone 4 in June. Their schedule is all screwy, like a traveler trying to get over jet lag. But all signs point to them getting right with a September Apple iPhone release.

So what jaw-dropping new feature will this iPhone boast? We're hearing that the "iPhone 4S," as it is rumored to be called, won't be the dramatic re-imagining that many of us have come to expect with each new iPhone release. Tech blogThis Is My Next thinks that it will be thinner and lighter, and that it will run on a new chip; the New York Times thinks that it will be the same dimensions as the iPhone 4 but that it will be cheaper. Bloomberg agrees with This Is My Next on the chip and adds that the rear-facing camera will upgrade to 8 megapixels from 5 megapixels.

Now, even if you're just a normal,