Apple's next generation iPhone - likely to be called iPhone 6 - has yet to be announced, but much has already been rumored about it as early as last year.

The iPhone 6's speculated release date is between September - October this year, which is Apple's usual launch window, just in time for the holiday shopping season.

Early rumors suggested the iPhone 6 would have come out during Apple's annual WWDC, which was held in early June but that turned out to be false, with iOS 8 and Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite taking center stage during the event.

According to Reuters, Taiwanese media spoke with an unidentified source, who said a smaller version of the next generation iPhone would get an August launch, which would be followed by an iPhone with larger screen size – 5.5 to 5.6 inches, in September.

Another report said Apple had advised its employees not to take holidays in September, a sign that the month will be busy for the company. The memo suggests there must be something big going on, and the industry believes the iPhone 6 launch is a likely reason.

According to Mirror, which cited a report, iPhone 6 will be released in variants of 32GB and 64GB on September 19.

Furthermore, Deutsche Telekom told Apfelpage.de iPhone 6 will be announced on September 9, and enter the market on September 19. This report is backed by Chinese site Tencent, via MacRumors.

Recently a sophisticated phishing scam using the email address sales @ apple dot com told recipients "the wait is over," and asked users to follow a link and enter their Apple ID and password details. However, the email's sole purpose is to steal Apple account details.

Apple account holders are urged to be vigilant and report the scam attempt and any others that may follow.