iPhone Sales

Looks like one lucky Apple customer already received an iPhone 5 in the mail. While the rest of us are waiting until Friday for the first round of pre-orders to arrive, here are some unboxing photos thanks to a tip sent to BGR. So what does the unboxing tell us about the iPhone 5?

For one, that's a new charger that has been redesigned to deliver more power to the iPhone while charging via the Lightning cable. The Lightning to USB cable is packaged along with Apple's completely revamped EarPods with remote. iPhone 5 owners will get the same EarPod carrying case that comes when they are purchased separately.

Even more information regarding Apple's Wednesday iPhone 5 announcement has leaked. This time, sources at 9to5Mac claim Apple will launch one updated iPhone model code named the N42.

The N42 does not feature NFC components like its sister prototype the N41, which was revealed earlier this year. Apple plans to keep pricing identical to iPhone 4S pricing, which means $199, $299 and $399 subsidized price points depending on how much storage is included.

Apple stock hit new territory today as the share price closed at an all-time high of $636.34. This news comes as Apple was scheduled to pay a dividend of $2.65 per share to AAPL shareholders today. The dividend is Apple's first since December 1995.

The graph above from Yahoo Finance shows an over 6,200 percent increase in price since 1995. Apple stock is up almost 60 percent this year. Trading action on AAPL today hit an intraday high of $644 before coming back down before the close. At the peak, total market capitalization topped $600 billion.

Can you hear it? That's the stampede of iPhone fans running to get in line at the Apple store in September. With the deluge of rumors and parts leaks it's not hard to believe that Apple will announce the next iPhone in September. More information has surfaced regarding the press event.

According to iMore, Apple will not only announce the sixth generation iPhone on September 12, but pre-orders will go live that day as well. That means iPhone 5 pre-ordering will commence just 4 weeks from Wednesday, in less than a month. Mark your calendars!

Prepaid iPhones have arrived at Virgin Mobile, giving those who prefer a contract-free smartphone a new option. Virgin joins Cricket Wireless in offering the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S unsubsidized with month-to-month billing.

Pricing is set at $650 for the 16 GB iPhone 4S, and $550 for the 8 GB iPhone 4, matching Apple's currently listed unlocked iPhone prices. Although this may cost more than Verizon's or AT&T's subsidized devices with a two-year contract, customers can save on data plans with Virgin Mobile.