According to a report published today, Apple Inc. is denying its employees to take vacations during the second week of October.
The news comes from a report published by AppleInsider – a blog dedicated to covering inside Apple-related news and analysis.
Our regular readers, of course, will understand what this report suggests: the folks up at Cupertino are gearing up for the launch of a new product or products: iOS 5 and, with it, iPhone 5.
From AppleInsider:
Apple is quietly denying requests for employee vacations during the second week of October, hinting that the company currently anticipates an influx of customers to its stores around that time related to availability of its new iOS 5 and fifth-generation iPhone products.
More specifically, the iPhone maker has in some locations blacked out vacation time for employees from October 9th through 12th and October 14th through 15th, according to people familiar with the matter.
There are several independent reports from separate sources which fall in line with today’s news. One of the strongest comes from former U.S. Vice President and current member, Apple Board of Directors Al Gore who was heard saying that new iPhones are coming in October. A report from All Things D’s John Paczkowski published prior to Al Gore’s statement claimed that Apple will be holding a media event on October 4th where the next generation iPhone (or iPhones) would be announced by the new CEO Tim Cook, with launch slated for a week or so later which just happens to be those exact days Apple when isn’t allowing employees to go on vacation.
Besides this, Apple’s recent announcements regarding the resetting of iCloud and iTunes Match data also hint at the company is getting ready for iOS 5 and, as a consequence, iPhone 5. If we look back a little, you’ll find that the iPhone 3GS and 4 released alongside iOS 3 and 4 (respectively). Apple announcing and releasing the iPhone 5 along with iOS 5, then, does seem pretty likely.
There are reports which claim that Apple will be releasing not just one, but two new iPhones. Chances are, this will be a low-end iPhone 4 look-alike aimed at folks who can’t afford a full-fledged smartphone (aggressively priced) and a next-generation high end iPhone which will retail for the standard $199 (16GB) and $299 (32GB) with a two-year contract.
No one outside Apple knows for sure what the iPhone 5 looks like. However, we are sure about one thing, and that is it will be powered by the dual-core Apple A5 chip that is currently in use on the iPad 2. That’s the only piece of information regarding the next-gen iPhone that everyone agrees on.
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