iPhone 5 Release Date: September 21 For US, October 5 Internationally According To AT&T, Verizon Preparations

The iPhone 5 launch is coming soon and all signs are pointing to a late September release. After reports surfaced about an Apple announcement on September 12 that would reveal the iPhone 5 along with the iPad Mini, launch speculations have honed in on a release date as early as September 21.

Now, more evidence from wireless carriers Verizon and AT&T seems to support a third or fourth-week of September launch.

A Verizon employee has revealed to TechCrunch that Verizon is not allowing any employees to take vacations from September 21-30. There's only one thing that can mean: "All hands on deck, we're going to need the manpower to meet the demand for the iPhone 5."

Earlier this summer, Verizon's CFO Fran Shammo was asked about people holding off on upgrades in the second quarter and replied, "of course there's always that, uh, rumor mill out there with a new phone coming out there in the fourth quarter, so people may be waiting."

Carrier AT&T is also taking similar measures.

Website BGR reported earlier that a trusted AT&T source told them that AT&T was planning on launching the iPhone 5 in the third or fourth week of September. A second source confirmed to them that AT&T had canceled a huge regional training event because of a "large announcement." What else could that be but the iPhone 5?

The September 12 Apple press conference was first leaked by iMore which said that it had confirmed that Apple would reveal a new line of products including the iPhone 5, iPad Mini, and new iPods on that date. They also said that it would be released nine days later, on September 21 in the United States, and hit international markets on October 5.

Both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S were in consumers' hands around one week after being revealed, so a September 21 release date looks likely, especially when taking Verizon's and AT&T's actions into account.

The iPhone 5 should also be available on Sprint at launch time. There is no indication that T-Mobile will be directly selling the next-gen handset.