Apple WWDC 2011: Will Steve Jobs reveal iPhone 5 today?

Apple fans are hoping that the next generation iPhone, dubbed iPhone 5, will be made public to the world by Steve Jobs on Monday when the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2011, the five-day extravaganza for developers, kicks off but market watchers say it won't be released until September this year.

The launch date of Apple iPhone 5 has generated a lot of interest as the next generation iPhone is going to be Apple's best bet ever yet against the growing threat of Androids and BlackBerry smartphones.

iPhone 5, reports say, will come with 8 MP camera, A5 chip, iOS 5, a 4-inch display, 1080p output, curved glass screen, a SIM-less design and 3-4 internal antennas for both GSM and CDMA networks.

However, to the disappoint of Apple fans, most analysts feel Apple will not be presenting iPhone 5 at the WWDC event. They say Apple will highlight the features of its latest mobile operating system iOS 5, its cloud-based music service iCloud, and OS X Lion, the Mac's latest operating system at the flagship event.

Brian White, an analyst for Ticonderoga Securities, like other analysts, feel that Apple would probably put off iPhone 5 launch for September, when the company begins its new financial year, rather than launch it within months of the launch of the white iPhone 4, which is doing extremely well.

The September launch will also help Apple tide over problems related to supply delay, the analysts said.

Our checks at multiple levels of the supply chain point to a one-to-two-month delay in the production start for the next-generation iPhone vs. our earlier view of a July production start, analyst Chris Caso at Susquehanna Financial wrote in a note to clients.

However, Apple fans feels it is unlikely that Steve Jobs, who is on a medical leave, will be present at the WWDC event as a keynote speaker just to speak on iCloud, iOS 5 or OS X Lion.

In recent years, Apple has used the WWDC venue to unveil a new iPhone and Jobs has always been given the honor to present Apple's most successful product.

Hence, if Jobs, who has survived a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004, is going to make the effort to be present at the WWDC 2011, there is a high possibility that he will surprise the world by taking the wraps off iPhone 5 this time and not just blab on the virtues of Apple software and services.

Will the iPhone 5 be presented at the WWDC 2011 today? Does the number '5' on the Apple banner at San Francisco-based Moscone Center refer to iOS 5 or could it possibly mean iPhone 5? We'll have to wait for a few more hours to know the answer.

Apple's WWDC will take place from June 6 to June 10. It begins at 10 a.m. (PST).