Since Apple normally releases new iPhones in June, does this mean the Verizon iPhone 4 will be obsolete in less than 6 months?
It will be lame if Verizon has the iPhone 4 and then AT&T gets a new GSM-only iPhone 5 in June.
It will be lame if Verizon has the iPhone 4 and then AT&T gets a new GSM-only iPhone 5 in June.
EDIT: Justification is that off the top of my head Apple has never refreshed a major product in six months, except for speed bumps. Apple had to move quickly by launching the iPhone 4 now and not waiting for summer to launch both versions of iPhone 5, as Android is gaining a lot of steam. This should satisfy impatient buyers who would be very upset if their new purchase would be outdated in just six months. Meanwhile Apple has had no problem refreshing after Christmas (Macworld, new iPad launch impending) because they are obsoleting mostly gifts.
Secondly the staggered iPhone 5 launch would provide Apple good negotiation leverage with AT&T without giving a lot up. This could be good for higher monthly kickbacks or iPad data prices. It also lessens the work load on antenna engineers.
Given this, it's very likely that the Verizon iPhone 5 will have pent up demand by the September music event, will cause a bigger splash in the media, and have it be the top phone on both carriers in time for Christmas. And it won't cheese of Verizon customers who went for the 4 in February.
I only wonder whether it'll support LTE as well.
But, since what they did for the Verizon iPhone has no bearing on what will appear in the iPhone 5, I don't really understand the point of your question.