Sometimes reliable Japanese site Macotakara is reporting that the iPhone 5 has now entered production.
According to the site's sources, both Foxconn and Pegatron factories have begun assembly on the to-be-announced handset.
However, they also note that the handsets aren't being packaged as Apple is hanging fire on installing the iOS 5 software, allegedly because it "isn't ready" yet.
Don't stop me now
Macotakara's pontificates that this comencement of assembly means an early October launch for the long-awaited handset which ties in with the general gist of the other rumours floating around, suggesting a late September/early October reveal followed by a late October release date.
While Apple has seemingly managed to lose an iPhone 5 in a bar, no enterprising barfly has yet sold it to Gizmodo so we can't confirm any specs 100 per cent.
However, it's likely that the iPhone 5 will come complete with a faster A5 dual-core processor, a larger 3.7-inch screen and a better camera than the iPhone 4.
As for the iPhone 5 entering production? We can believe it. Now we're off to hit refresh on our emails in the hope that an invite to Apple's media event will have materialised.
From Macotakara via Phone Arena
Had enough iPhone 5 chatter or are you thirsty for more? Check out what we want to see from Apple's new handset in the video below:
