iPhone 5 release September 21: Is this why Verizon has a vacation ban?

The iPhone 5 will almost definitely hit shelves on Sept. 21. That’s the word today from TechCrunch, Verizon has scheduled a vacation blackout from Sept. 21 to Sept. 30. “Big deal,” you might be saying. “What does a vacation ban have to do with a new iPhone?” Simple: If the last couple years are any indication, the iPhone 5 launch will be a big, glitzy, buzz-saturated event. It will be an all-hands-on-deck situation for Verizon employees. The standard caveats apply: Apple hasn’t confirmed the existence of a new iPhone, let alone when it might launch. In fact, we don’t even know if this thing will be called the iPhone 5 – it might be called the iPhone XRPQ, for all we know. Still, Apple releases a new iPhone every year, and since the last iPhone launched in October of 2011, it makes sense that the next iteration would be shipping this fall. RECOMMENDED: Top 20 tips and tricks for iPhone users Apple is widely expected to actually take the wraps off the iPhone 5 at an event on Sept. 12. Pre-orders would open shortly after that, with brick-and-mortar stores actually putting the phone on sale on the 21st of September. “If we travel back a bit and examine the historical timeline from Apple’s announcement, to pre-order, to launch, the dates all seem to match up,” writes Jordan Crook of TechCrunch. “Last year Apple announced the iPhone 4S on a Tuesday, October 4th. The phone went up for pre-order on that Friday, October 7, and was available in stores on Friday, October 14, a week later.” So what will the new iPhone look like? Well, it will likely have a larger screen than previous models, and a slimmer chassis. Expect also a new headphone jack and dock connecter, possibly with 19 pins instead of 30. Thinking about picking up an iPhone 5? Drop us a line in the comments section.