Sprint: iPhone 5 Watch
Much-maligned Sprint's ship may have -- or will have -- finally come in, if the company can add Apple's iPhone to its smartphone offerings, as speculated, this autumn. REUTERS

The release date of the next generation of Apple iPhone - iPhone 5 - have been speculated many times and many rumors are surfacing every other day. A recent report by CNET UK suggested that Apple was organizing a media event for the announcement of the iPhone 5 on Sept. 7. However, as information of Apple's purported media event failed to hit the news wires until Saturday, hopes for the new iPhone launch on the day are fading away.

Considering the fact that the Labor Day will be observed by the U.S. on Monday, many presumed a media event should have been made public at least by Friday in order to give media enough time to prepare for such a long awaited product release.

In its report, CNET UK said they have charted the dates, ear wigged the rumors and then consulted their iPod Ouija board. After 16 hours of number-crunching on the CNET UK supercomputer, we have determined the most likely release date for the iPhone 5 - 7 September 2011, the report stated.

CNET UK's prediction gained further traction, when Japanese tech website Kodawarisan confirmed a Sept. 7 Apple media event in August. Following the Kodawarisan confirmation, MacRumers also reported that the media event has been widely expected to also incorporate the rumored iPhone 5 announcement.

However, both the audacious reports from CNET UK and Kodawarisan seem to be false. But as iPhone 5 launch is knocking the door, what are most likely release dates for the device?

According to a report, published in the iPhone 5 News Blog, the nearest possible date could be Sept. 9 as the iPod media event typically takes place on that day. However, considering that Sprint has given media more than a month to get prepare for their Oct. 7 event, a mere three days preparation time looks like much of a hurry.

Another possible date still clattering around the iPhone 5 rumor mill is Sept. 12, came from a claimed insider at Telefonica.

We got some interesting news from a vigilant tipster today: beginning August 22nd, Telefonica will begin scaling back its current iPhone stock through September 12th, Engadget repoted. However the report also stated, While the date next month should sound familiar, we've heard recently that the launch will actually take place sometime in October.

That takes us to the third possible iPhone 5 announcement date - Sprint's Oct. 7 event in New York City. It was BGR, who first reported about the upcoming event, deducing that Sprint would roll out its audacious plans for 4G service. The report also stated, Sprint is also set to launch Apple's next-generation iPhone 5 handset this fall, and while we couldn't get a peep out of the carrier while we were visiting its corporate headquarters back in July, we wouldn't be surprised if Sprint is a bit more talkative in October when it comes to Apple smartphones.

Despite all these rumors, it's quite possible that Apple will exploit the fever pitch of iPhone 5 excitement and come up with an announcement date that will ultimately flout all of the most plausible announcement rumors.

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