Report: The iPhone 5 Might Actually Arrive in October

If you've been holding out on buying an iPhone in anticipation of the iPhone 5, be prepared to wait a bit longer.

All Things Digital reports that all previous rumors about a September iPhone 5 release are wrong, and that Apple's newfangled contraption will actually arrive in October. Where does this information come from? Why, more anonymous sources, of course!

The report specifically takes issue with a rumor that AT&T has blacked out employee vacations for the last two weeks of September, suggesting that the iPhone 5 will launch during that time. "I don't know why AT&T's calling for all hands on deck those weeks, but it's not for an iPhone launch," one unnamed source told All Things Digital. Other unnamed sources said the iPhone 5 will be released in late October, rather than the early half of the month.

In case you're (not) keeping score, we now have rumors of an iPhone 5 launch in August, September and October. It's tempting to think that November launch rumors could be next, although I doubt Apple would want to let the holiday shopping season begin without its latest iPhone in stores.

Besides, the October launch rumor isn't appearing from out of nowhere; the blog MacOtakara reported in March that Apple wouldn't begin production on the next iPhone until the end of its 2011 fiscal year (September), and AT&T has already confirmed that it'll start throttling unlimited data users, possibly in preparation for a wave of new iPhone 5 owners.

So what's the holdup? I'm guessing Apple's in no rush as it squeezes plenty of sales out of its current generation hardware. Although analysts had expected iPhone 4 sales to decline last quarter, sales were actually up 9% over the previous quarter, making Apple the world's biggest handset maker. You might be waiting for the iPhone 5 until October, but a healthy chunk of the market isn't so patient.

Source: TechLand