The iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 may be coming out this year with different specs for Apple lovers, but it will have new and bigger competition with LG Nexus 5 and Samsung Galaxy S4, all 3 coming out this year.

The rumor mill is churning out new iPhone 5 release dates every now and then, but could September 21st be the final answer?

App4Phone, a French iFansite website, reported that Apple directly spilled the release date of iPhone 5 to an unnamed accessory manufacture at one of Hong Kong’s largest factories, according to a tipster allegedly “close to Apple.”

The source claims to have received from Apple specifications on the 'technical apparatus' of Apple's next-generation iPhone, including the overly-buzzed release date.
And the date falls onto September 21st.

Apple is famous for keeping everything under wraps until the last minute, which causes the rumors and speculations to play the role of advertisers.

Especially when it comes to the release date of the highly-anticipated iPhone 5, the California-based technology giant would not let any word out.

While September 21st sounds close enough to a real release date, the origin of this rumor can be anyone but Apple itself.

Touted as the "biggest consumer electronics launch in history" by analysts, Apple's upcoming smartphone is widely anticipated for a fall release, sometime between August and October.

Just this weekend, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo’s words spinned the rumor mills as he hinted the Q4 release of iPhone 5.

“A new phone coming out in the fourth quarter,” Shammo’s words during the carrier’s quarterly conference call on Thursday, created overwhelming buzz surrounding the iPhone 5 release date.

A fourth-quarter launch could point to iPhone 5’s arrival in October, following the footsteps of the iPhone 4S, which was released in October 2011.

Nano-Sim Orders Point to Impending Release

Rumors surrounding the iPhone 5 debut range all the way from an August release to October release.

Another recent hint spilled by manufacturers revealed that carriers across Europe were placing orders for nano-SIM cards, pointing to an imminent release of the iPhone 5.

The so-called “nano-Sim” has not been seen on the market, but the iPhone 5 is expected to feature the tiny sim card in a slimmed down design, two sources told FT. operators have begun to store up millions of the sim cards in warehouses, in the hope of high demand for the smartphone.

These activities ahead of iPhone 5 release date mark “one of the clearest signals yet of an impending launch,” FT alleged.

Chinese Sellers Begin the iPhone 5 Pre-Orders

While unannounced, unconfirmed and unrevealed, the iPhone 5 has already been on the market – as some Chinese online retailers began offering its pre-release sale.

Several preemptive sellers on Taobao, China’s largest e-commerce site, have begun accepting pre-orders for the iPhone 5.

In some cases the sellers are asking for a deposit of 1,000 yuan ($160) for the new phone, according to Reuters. One seller, "Dahai99888", who started accepting pre-orders this week, is asking for a full upfront payment of a staggering 6,999 yuan ($1,100).

The iPhones top the sales at Verizon, selling 2.7 million handsets in the period, up from 2.3 per cent in the same quarter in 2011, according to Shammo.

Expected Features of Apple's iPhone 5

The much-anticipated iPhone 5 is expected to sport a bigger, thinner and better screen. Against its contenders like Samsung’s Galaxy S3, Apple had better make its customers’ dream come true.

A Wall Street Journal article on Tuesday suggests that the iPhone 5 is going to be released with a thinner screen, using in-cell technology which integrates touch sensors into the LCD.

The technology makes a separate touch-screen layer unnecessary, making the screen thinner while also improving the quality of displayed images.

For Apple, the in-cell technology also helps simplify the supply chain and cut costs, saving the company from the tasks of buying touch panels and LCD panels from separate suppliers.

LCD makers currently manufacturing the screen of the iPhone 5 include Japan’s Sharp and Japan Display, as well as South Korea’s LG Display, according to WSJ sources who are familiar with the matter.

The in-cell screens are more difficult and time-consuming to build than conventional LCD screens, and are pausing great challenges for the LCD makers, WSJ sources said.

The iPhone 5 is predicted to have a 4-inch display, bigger than the current 3.5-inch display of iPhone 4S.

A thinner screen could offset increased weight due to the larger size.

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