Aug 19, 2011 17:41 GMT  ·  By

Apple’s longtime iPhone partner and carrier in the United States, wireless operator AT&T has confirmed to a technology blog that the next fruit out of Cupertino will be ripe in October.

The iPhone 5, expected by millions around the globe to launch this fall alongside iOS 5 and iCloud, has been the hottest topic of discussion for almost half a year now.

With WWDC 2011 come and gone, Apple has one more season left to announce new hardware, considering it won’t hold any events around Christmas.

So, knowing that iOS 5 and iClous are already scheduled to launch in autumn, how far fetched would it be to say the iPhone 5 will also be announced in the coming months?

Not very. In fact, not at all, according to a BGR report citing a high-level AT&T connect who just informed the blog that one of their VPs has confirmed the existence of the iPhone 5, and its impending launch in “early October”.

The VP reportedly told a group of managers that things are to get busy in the next couple of months, and instructed them to make the necessary adjustments for the strain to come.

Most analysts tracking Apple believe the official iPhone 5 announcement will, indeed, occur sometime in September, but that the hardware itself will not be available until later.

October is believed to be the time when the new smartphone becomes physically available, and the AT&T source says the same.

According to the latest hardware leaks from Asia, the phone will indeed boast a larger screen with an elongated home button.

The phone will have a slightly different form factor overall, going by the latest purported photos of the hardware comprising Apple’s upcoming handset.

It is worth noting that the aforementioned blog has generally received and, subsequently reported accurate information about Steve Jobs’ company and their upcoming plans.