科技网站All Things Digital的约翰•帕兹诺斯称，苹果（Apple）计划在10月4日星期二的特别发布会上揭晓新款iPhone。

    果真如此，消费者何时能够买到手？

    帕兹诺斯的线人称时间“将在数周之内”。不过证券公司Ticonderoga的布莱恩•怀特在周二致客户的报告中表示，揭晓与正式发布iPhone 5的时间间隔可能要比“数周时间”短得多，尤其是考虑到iPhone 5的揭晓时间已经迫近今年年末。

    之前苹果各款产品的间隔时间也验证了这种说法。如上图所示，iPhone揭晓和最终上市销售的时间间隔从2007年的171天缩减至2010年的17天。

    iPad也同样如此，时间间隔从2010年的66天锐减至今年的9天。

    怀特还认为，苹果的228家合作运营商进行国际化铺货的速度会比iPhone 4更快。而且，较之以往，中国将会扮演更为重要的角色。

    所有人似乎都同意这次将是蒂姆•库克的首次盛大亮相。一些人还认为史蒂夫•乔布斯也许到时会临时客串一把。但我们认为这并不符合乔布斯的行事风格。

    注意：在早前的报道中，我将帕兹诺斯描述为“目前苹果内幕的头号秘密发布渠道”，此话暗示苹果要么直接把消息透露给帕兹诺斯，要么通过第三方对他有所表示。帕兹诺斯对我的暗示相当愤怒，向我保证事情绝非如此。现在我已经删除了那句话，并向他致歉。

    译者：项航

    All Things Digital's John Paczkowski reports that Apple (AAPL) plans to unveil the new iPhone at a special event on Tuesday Oct. 4.

    If so, when can we buy one?

    Paczkowski's sources say "within a few weeks." But in a note to clients Tuesday, Ticonderoga's Brian White suggests that the lag time between unveiling and release is likely to be considerably shorter than that, especially given how late in the year the iPhone 5 event is occurring.

    A look at previous lag-times suggests that he is right. As the chart at right shows, the wait between iPhone introduction and sale has decreased from 171 days in 2007 to 17 days in 2010.

    Likewise, the lag time for the iPad shrank from 66 days in 2010 to 9 days this year.

    White also believes that the international ramp-up for Apple's 228 carriers will be faster than it was for the iPhone 4, and that China will play a more important role than ever.

    Everybody seems to agree that this will be Tim Cook's first big show. Some have suggested that Steve Jobs might make a cameo appearance. That doesn't sound to us like something he would do.

    NOTE: An earlier version of this story described Paczkowski as "Apple's current go-to outlet for backchannel leaks," implying that the company either gave him the information directly or channeled it to him through a third party. He resents the implication and assures me that this is not the case. I've deleted that language and offered my apologies.