AppleCare told to prepare for flood of iOS issues on Oct. 10
updated 01:15 pm EDT, Tue September 13, 2011
May point to timing of iOS 5, iPhone 5 launches
AppleCare workers are being told to be prepare for a surge of iOS-related questions starting on Monday, October 10th, a source claims. In particular, the person tells AppleInsider that his local AppleCare call center is being instructed to expect eight times as much traffic. What if anything Apple might be introducing on that day is uncertain, but given the timing, it could be iOS 5 and/or iCloud.
Apple is widely expected to launch a new iPhone in early or mid-October, but almost always introduces new hardware during the middle of the week or at the end, not at the beginning. The company has taken to launching major iOS updates in advance of hardware though, so Apple could conceivably make iOS 5 available on the 10th and ship a new phone several days later. For Apple such gaps serve several purposes, such as appeasing existing device owners, and distributing high server loads over multiple days instead of one.
The AppleCare tip does seem to contradict expectations that a next-generation iPhone will ship three days earlier on October 7th. Dates as late as the 15th have been mentioned though, and some of the latest rumors hint that carriers have until October 5th to approve iOS 5 for use on their networks. Under those claims, iOS 5 would go gold on September 23rd.
