Edible Apple

As if we need any more evidence that September 21 is when Apple is planning to launch the iPhone 5, in comes a report from TechCrunch relaying that Verizon is instituting a company-wide vacation blackout from September 21 through the end of the month.

A trusted Verizon employee has just confirmed to TechCrunch that the carrier is having an all-staff vacation blackout from the dates of Friday, September 21 to September 30. You know what that means, right?

The next iPhone, whether it’s called the iPhone 5 or simply the new iPhone, will almost certainly be available in stores (with lines wrapping around the back of them) starting Friday, September 21.

Indeed, it’s quite common for carriers to limit the vacation time of employees around expectedly busy time periods, and if you’ve ever been to an iPhone launch, it doesn’t get any busier than that. What’s more, and if history is any indication, the iPhone 5 – complete with a bigger 4-inch screen and 4G LTE support – is likely to be the hottest selling iPhone ever. If there were ever a time for carriers to demand “all hands on deck”, the upcoming iPhone 5 launch certainly fits the bill.