UK job posting sets off iPhone 5 launch date speculation (Updated)

Update: Throwing cold water on this theory is a tweet from MacRumors writer Jordan Golson (and former Apple Store employee), explaining that back-to-school crowds dwarf iPhone launch crowds. It's highly likely this is simply a basic ramp-up of staff in anticipation of computer-buying students and parents.

CNET UK noticed a job posting on Reed calling for full-time, seasonal sales staff to work from August 16 through October 29. The posting specifically asks for people with knowledge of the iPhone and/or mobile phone sales, and it notes that successful applicants will attend a four-day training event in London from August 9 through 12.

Building off of that, CNET speculates that the next-generation iPhone will launch on August 16, the first day these new seasonal staff begin working in UK-based Apple Stores. While the timing is interesting, we're less convinced that the iPhone 5 will launch on this date, because iOS 5 is unlikely to be ready for public deployment by then. Granted, Apple could choose to launch the device before iOS 5 is fully-baked, but that's not generally how Apple has chosen to do things in the past; almost without fail, major new revisions of iOS software have launched alongside new hardware.

There's no rule saying that Apple has to hold off on launching the iPhone 5 until iOS 5 is finished, but we already have precedent showing that's likely to be the case. Revisions of the MacBook Air and possibly other members of the Mac family have been ready to go for several weeks, but Apple reportedly chose to hold off on releasing them until after OS X Lion's public release. One could also argue that iOS 5 might be ready for launch earlier than the previously quoted "fall" date, but I'm just going to say an NDA-infused "Uh, not likely," to that.

The mid-August start date for these temporary sales positions may instead indicate that these employees are being given a few weeks to acclimate themselves to the Apple Store work environment before the actual iPhone launch takes place. If that's the case, it still points to a September launch for the iPhone 5, as indicated by most other signs thus far.