IPhone 5 Release Date: June 15 Launch With IOS 6 Expected For Apple's Next Smartphone

Now that Apple has launched its most recent iPad, anticipation is turning toward the company's next-generation iPhone. Release date expectations for the device, which is rumored to be called the iPhone 5, fluctuate between summer and fall.

Although no information has been confirmed, indications point to a June release date, more specifically June 15. According to the iPhone 5 News Blog, that is the last day of an unidentified conference suspected to be the 2012 WWDC, Apple's traditional developers expo.

The weeklong unspecified event runs from June 11 through 15, and the rumor mill is already churning.

Apple's next operating system, said to be called iOS 6, is speculated for a June 11 rollout, strengthening expectations that the company will turn around and surprise audiences with its next smartphone as well. The WWDC has been the release platform for new Apple operating systems for the past four years, according to the iOS 6 News Blog.

But what about the last day of the WWDC? asks iPhone 5 Blog writer Michael Nace when referring to the smartphone release. If you are in the camp of rumor followers who believe (or at the very least hope) that the iPhone 5 will be launched in June, wouldn't June 15 be a reasonable guess for its announcement?

Nace added that an inside source of the iPhone 5 News Blog in Asia told the website in November that a June release date seemed likely.

This combined with the recent hiring spree at Foxconn, where more than 200,000 workers were recruited, makes it plausible that the next-generation device will debut in June. Texas Instruments has also been producing power chips, indicating that production is well under way.

Details about the upcoming phone's features have been leaked in the past couple of weeks, with a report on March 21 revealing that Apple had ordered 4.6-inch screens for the product. But two days later, iMore reported that the phone will retain its current 3.5-inch size. The gadget is expected to support 4G LTE technology as well.