News about the forthcoming Verizon iPhone is leaking like a sieve out of Apple, which has otherwise been known as the world’s most secretive consumer technology computer. And yet now one confident confirmation after another is surfacing, telegraphing the fact (yes, we can call it a fact at this point) that the Verizon iPhone is coming in a mere couple of months. How. Why. When has there ever been this much information about about an unannounced Apple product, particularly one that’s this big of deal and should be this tightly held of a secret. Stunning as it sounds, the most logical conclusion is that Steve Jobs himself is propagating these Verizon iPhone pre-release details.
Not that Steve is calling up the New York Times himself (although we wouldn’t put such a thing past him) to share the good news. Even when it comes to such clandestine activities, there are still proper channels. But at this point it seems clear Apple wants the Verizon iPhone story out there. The number of the leaks. The timing of the leaks. The high profile publications the leaks have gone to. The absolute confidence from those publications in their sources. Apple’s unwillingness to dispel the story, even as Apple recently took it upon itself to make it clear that the white iPhone 4 is not coming any time soon. And then there’s Steve’s “the future is long” remarks which have left him looking like he’s got a secret he wants to tell the world about but can’t yet.
And that’s where the word “can’t” comes into play. Apple and AT&T signed a five year deal back in 2007, which means it won’t have expired of its own accord by the time Apple launches the Verizon iPhone in January. That means Apple and AT&T have worked out some kind of deal to supersede the original deal – and with AT&T out there right now trying desperately to make it clear to the public that it also has other smartphones available (witness its recent streak of BlackBerry ads), the conclusion is that AT&T insisted that Apple not only hold off on selling a Verizon iPhone until after the end of 2010, but that Apple also not even so much as announce a Verizon iPhone ahead of time.
So instead we get leak. After leak. After leak. There’s no way to know for sure that Apple itself is the one who keeps planting the Verizon iPhone confirmation in the press, but considering the way the details keep unfolding, it’s the most logical conclusion.
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