iPhone 5 and iPad Mini launch set for Sept 12th, report says

Computer renderings of one industrial designer's vision of the iPhone 5 -- based on leaked images from tech blogs -- were good enough to fool several tech blogs. (Martin Hajek)

Have you put off buying a new handset in order to wait for the looming iPhone 5? You may not need to wait for long if a couple of new reports are true.

This morning, the iLovers over at iMore reported that they've heard that Apple plans to announce the iPhone 5 -- along with the iPad mini, the new iPod nano and the final build of iOS 6 -- on September 12, followed by the actual launch of Siri's latest vessel on September 21st.

Giving credence to iMore's claim that the iPhone 5 will launch a month earlier than expected is a set of photos by the iLab.cc(and reported in English by 9to5Mac) that purport to show a fully assembled iPhone 5 body, made from components that have found their way into repair shops.

The photos match up with a lot of the rumors we've been hearing about the iPhone 5: the black iPhone appears to have a smaller dock connector, a bigger screen, a centered FaceTime camera and a metallic backing plate. Both websites have several more pictures of what are supposed to be iPhone 5 components, including several internal assembly shots.

Of course, in these days of 3D printed guns and mixtape-mimicking MP3 players, anyone with a MakerBot and too much free time could whip up a realistic-looking iPhone 5 assembly based on the latest and greatest rumors. Is this one real? We'll just have to wait and find out -- possibly on September 12th.