Few days back, we posted that more and more evidence is pointing to October iPhone 5 launch and today we have more information pointing to an iPhone 5 announcement coming soon with shipping date in October. The first piece of information comes from EXIF data of an image (above) posted by an Apple engineer online. Pocketnow got their hands on the image and posted:

This (very attractive) photo claims to have been taken by an iPhone 4, but the rest of its EXIF data tells a different story: although the image has been cropped to 2235x2291 (5.12 megapixels), the original picture was a much larger 3264x2448 -- or just shy of eight megapixels. What's more, the lens was recorded as a 4.3mm f/2.4, which is closer to that of a point-and-shoot than the iPhone 4's actual 3.85mm f/2.8.

The EXIF data clearly indicates that the image was taken by an 8-megapixel camera (mostly on iPhone 5) rather than iPhone 4’s 5-megapixel camera. Apple normally keeps a very tight lid on their upcoming products, but these kind of leaks start when Apple goes into large scale testing just before the product launch.

The second piece of information comes from Chinese news site Digitimes and they are reporting that Apple has started mass production of next generation iPhone 5. Digitimes posted:

Suppliers in the iPhone 5 supply chain in Taiwan have geared up production recently with volume shipments of the new Apple smartphones to begin soon. Production of iPhone 5s at OEM maker Foxconn Electronics has reportedly reached 150,000 units per day, according to industry sources. Shipments of iPhone 5 from the supply chain are expected to reach 5-6 million in September and top over 22 million units in the fourth quarter.

Digitimes has been accurate when it comes to news about Apple’s component suppliers in Asia and hence it’s very likely that they are right about this news too. Also, Apple normally stockpiles iPhone units before launch of the new device to meet the rampant iPhone demand on launch. So if Apple has started production now with 5-6 million units shipping this month they are definitely aiming for an October iPhone 5 launch.

And the final piece of information comes from Apple’s own website that shows shipping times for all iPhone 4 models have been extended from 24 hours to 1-3 days. Also many Apple third party retail partners are reporting dwindling iPhone 4 stocks especially in Europe. This normally happens when Apple is preparing for a new product launch (iPhone 5), and stops supply of the old product (iPhone 4) to start clearing out inventory few weeks before launch date.

There is no doubt that we will be seeing the iPhone 5 launch soon. We expect a press event for iPhone 5 announcement within next 2-3 weeks, with shipping date in 2nd or 3rd week of October.