Of course it won't be called the iPhone 5

Apple pundits love to claim that they've predicted the future. But claiming that the next iPhone won't be called the iPhone 5? Obvious prediction is obvious.

Quite fundamentally, the next iPhone is not the iPhone 5. It's not the fifth iPhone. That was the iPhone 4S. So why hasn't anyone been referring to the next model as the iPhone 6?

Naturally, it comes down to what people have been searching for information on. The drive to win the search arms race means that no one can avoid using the "iPhone 5" tag until the next iPhone is finally announced. If people are searching for buzz about the iPhone 5, then writers will use that label until proved otherwise. It's silly, but it's the internet.

For mine, I think the next iPhone will simply be called "iPhone". Launched as "the new iPhone", just like this year's iPad.

Apple doesn't do multiple models per year, so confusion isn't a problem. It's either the 2012 model or it's some other year's model. Which one do you mean? Oh, that one. Simple.

Regardless, the name could be one of many things. It could be the iPhone Tall, iPhone Wide or iPhone 6. It won't be — they'd be ridiculous — but at least they'd make sense.

But iPhone 5? Not a chance.