Rumors

Just when I thought late October would be the last invented iPhone 5 launch date, KitGuru comes along and extends the possible release window to March 2012! According to the rumor mill, this means that the iPhone 5 could be launched sometime between late August and March of 2012. So basically, us tech bloggers have spent the last few months telling you that Apple will most likely release another phone after the iPhone 4, possibly sometime between today and the end of time. You're welcome!

On Friday morning, the Japanese website Kodawarisan announced that Apple's Fall Event would be held on September 7th. This event is normally reserved for iPod news, but Apple is expected to switch gears and announce their next-generation iPhone. However, KitGuru reports that a "slimmed down, cheap version of the iPhone" will be announced instead, and go on sale around October 1st. This supports the Wall Street Journal's latest report that a new iPhone will be available sometime this October.

Those unnamed sources close to Apple are at it again, this time they told The Wall Street Journal that the iPhone 5 will not be released until October, possibly late October.

John Paczkowski of the Journal said that an e-mail sent to Gizmodo from an AT&T employee has nothing to do with the iPhone 5. The so-called AT&T employee who sent the e-mail wrote that AT&T blacked out vacations at the end of September so the company can prepare for the new launch, but Paczkowski's inside source says otherwise: “I don’t know why AT&T’s calling for all hands on deck those weeks, but it’s not for an iPhone launch." The Wall Street Journal source added that the iPhone 5 will be released in October, but didn't give an exact date.

Tech bloggers, analysts and all those unnamed secret sources seem to agree on one thing; Apple will embrace the mid-range/pre-paid mobile phone market this year. What they don't agree on is how they will do it. Will Apple follow tradition and discontinue the iPhone 3GS, or will they give it a new look and offer it at an affordable price? Some people believe that they preparing to launch two new models, the iPhone 5, and a cheaper device to attract people on a budget. Decreases in the iPhone 3GS supply chain seem to suggest that the device is on its way out. This could be a sign that Apple is clearing space for their rumored new models.

Several sources revealed to 9to5Mac that shipments of the iPhone 3Gs are rapidly decreasing in other countries and even the United States. A decrease in iPhone 3GS stock could be a sign that the device's days are numbered.

I fear for people's sanity if Apple doesn't make an announcement about the iPhone 5 soon! Things have gotten so bad that we've been reduced to posting dodgy pictures of people holding iPhones. What's next? Pictures of Elvis with an iPhone from the future?

9to5Mac posted a picture taken by a person who claims he saw an iPhone 5 prototype on a train in San Francisco. His credentials are listed as owning an iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, which according to 9to5 makes him an Apple expert. The tipster told the tech blog that the next-generation iPhone is "almost EVO-like," and that the edges of the device looked like the edges of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. So he's not only an Apple connoisseur, but he also knows a lot about Android devices too.

I'm guessing the picture was snapped on an Amtrak train, because I do not recall Muni or BART trains having tables. However, I must admit I'm not an expert when it comes to San Francisco's transit system, and I haven't been there in years. Let me know if tables on trains do exist in the city somewhere. It will help us get to the bottom of this.

Apple can't keep a lid on the latest case designs according to Mobile Fun, who claims to have two independent sources with iPhone 5 case plans. If the leaked designs are legit, it would appear the iPhone 5 is due for release in just weeks. Of course, the cases themselves are not as important as the future devices they will protect.

As seen above, the design of the iPhone 5 will not be simply an update of the iPhone 4 that some are calling the iPhone 4S. What appears in these diagrams is a radical departure not only from the iPhone 4, but possibly the most significant redesign of the iPhone since its original 2007 launch.