The latest rumoured date is October 21, based on what appears to be a leaked note from a branch of Best Buy in the US, which schedules an “Apple fixture installation” for 6am on that day.
Update: However, MacRumors, an Apple blog, says that Best Buy’s installation relates to nothing more than an upgrade to the in-store iPad display and not the launch date of the new iPhone.
Though nothing official has been confirmed about the iPhone 5, there are various rumours about its specifications based on leaks from Asia, where the phone is assembled. It is thought that the handset will have a slightly larger screen than its predecessor, a faster processor – the same A5 chip that powers the iPad 2 – and a better camera.
This Is My Next, reporting the leak, said: “Our tipster tells us that the request that a manager be on-hand at 6AM is out of the ordinary (they usually show up at 7AM for inventory), and that a similar arrangement was scheduled for the iPhone 4 launch.”
The blog also says that Best Buy has a meeting to “discuss upcoming BIG release dates” with its managers, which could mean that Apple will announce the new phone sometime in the week beginning October 3.
Apple does tend to launch new hardware on Fridays and October 21 is a Friday so that fits. But there’s one more thing that makes this date interesting.
The iPhone has traditionally been announced in June, at Apple’s WWDC event in San Francisco. This year is the first time that the announcement has been pushed back to the autumn, which is traditionally the time when updates to the iPod range are announced. Symbolically, then, the iPhone is taking over from the iPod.
The first iPod was announced on October 23, 2001 – and released a month later. If this rumoured date is correct, the new iPhone will be released on the weekend of the iPod’s 10th birthday.
Source:The Telegraph News
