There is speculation today from Loop Insight that this year’s WWDC, to be held from June 6 , will not include any new hardware announcements – namely the iPhone. Apple said in its press release earlier today that WWDC ’11 will  focus on unveiling “the future of iOS and Mac OS.”

Based on information from his sources and the focus of the press release, Jim Dalrymple believes that this means more than just a strong focus on iOS and OS X, but a complete focus on the software driving Apple’s hardware forward. The iPhone 5 has, until now, largely been expected to launch as previous iPhones have, during the WWDC launch. Dalrymple contemplates that instead of a new iPhone taking stage it would be Lion, which is set to launch around WWDC and the ever-important iOS.

This year’s major iOS update, iOS 5, has had numerous reports of cloud based enhancements and most recently TechCrunch reported that iOS 5 would add strong cloud based features including location based services and a music locker. In the same article it was reported that iOS 5 would be delayed to the fall with a WWDC preview, whilst the iPhone 5 would launch in summer with some manifestation of iOS 4.x.

Michael Garternberg also chips in to The Loop article and warns that “You get caught up in patterns, and it holds true, until it doesn’t,” He also told The Loop “There is no reason for Apple to follow a predictable yearly pattern, and it keeps their competition off guard a little bit.

WWDC is at heart, a developers show which has been somewhat hijacked and sidetracked in past years by the launch of a new iPhone. A WWDC in 2011 that harks back to what it used to be may mean an iPhone launch could occur at a completely isolated event – as the iPad did earlier this month. Then again Dalrymple could be wrong and Apple may continue the pattern and on June 6 we may say hello to the iPhone 5.

[Via Loop Insight]