Is a Sprint iPhone 5 on the way?

Sprint iPhone 5 rumors are here! Which makes sense: Judging from recent reports, the new Apple iPhone should hit shelves in September. That's a good deal later than in past years, and the longer Apple waits, the more rumors bubble to the surface. The blog driving the most recent round of talk is TFTS, which claims a Sprint iPhone is on the way, according to a conversation with a customer relations specialist over at Sprint.

Not exactly rock-hard evidence, of course.

Still, it's worth noting that Piper Jaffray analyst Chris Larsen predicted something similar back in July. "While we remain uncertain regarding the next-generation iPhone's specs and features, we believe the most noteworthy change could be the device's ability to run on more networks, specifically Sprint and T-Mobile in the U.S," Larsen said.

Plus, everyone knows that two independent rumors make an Internet truth. No, we're just kidding.

A Sprint iPhone 5, of course, would certainly be good news for Sprint, which has been knocked around on Wall Street recently. Consider this: In the second quarter of this year alone, Verizon has activated 2.3 million iPhones, shy of the 3.6 million activated by AT&T, but a solid number nonetheless.

Speaking of which, earlier this week Verizon exec Fran Shammo expressed surprise that Apple had waited this long to release a next-generation iPhone. "Obviously we're disappointed that the iPhone 5 didn't come out in June," Shammo said, according to Information Week. "We continue to prepare for it and when that comes we'll be ready."

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