A report by iMore Monday indicated that the next-generation of the popular handset would be announced on Sept. 12 along with an updated iPod Nano, and that both would be hitting retail locations on Sept. 21. That rumor has since been bolstered by reports from by a number of sources, including Reuters and Bloomberg.
AllThingsD also confirmed that the event would be held the week of Sept. 9 with Wednesday Sept. 12 being the likely day of the event and took the investigation a bit further by looking into Apple’s recent prepayment for inventory components.
A recent spike in the company’s prepayment for inventory components indicates it’s ramping up for some sort of product release or releases soon.
The iPhone 4S was released on Oct. 4, 2011, making a late September or early October release based on history alone seem likely.
The huge spike in components is the highest Apple has seen in four years, which may indicate that it has something else an iPad Mini up its sleeve in addition to a new iPhone and iPod Nano.
