iPhone 5 Launch Expected on October 7

More reports suggest the iPhone 5 will launch in October, with preorders beginning September 30. Backing up a report from TiPB last week, 9 to 5 Mac claims it has independently confirmed Friday, October 7, as the launch date of the iPhone 5. Unlike with the iPad 2, Apple is also rumored to take preorders with the next-generation iPhone at the end of September.

[Also see : Top 15 iPhone 5 and iPad 3 Concept Designs: Beauty Imagined]

Apple has not said when it will launch the iPhone 5, which is widely expected to arrive this fall along with a final version of iOS 5. This left pundits debating for the past two weeks over the exact day of the iPhone 5 launch, with the general consensus that the new device is bound for release either late September or early October.

An October surprise

Rumors of a September iPhone 5 launch have shifted at the beginning of the month to October, when All Things D’s John Paczkowski quoted “sources with knowledge of the situation” saying that the next-generation iPhone would be an October surprise.

Other sources, namely TiPB and 9 to 5 Mac, have now agreed upon an October launch, too (either October 7 or 14), but say preorders could start either September 29 or 30.

New iPhone 5 features

Apple is rumored to be ramping up production of the new iPhone 5, which is widely expected to feature the A5 dual-core processor found inside the iPad 2, and a better camera (possibly 8 megapixels). A photo published by MICGadget claims to have been taken inside an iPhone 5 production facility and allegedly shows the new device featuring an elongated home button to accommodate gestures.

Follow Daniel Ionescu and Today @ PCWorld on Twitter