Rumors have been going around for months that the next version of the iPhone would see the light of day in September. Here it is now August, and it appears to be getting closer.

Or is it?

Just as we get a month closer to the expected September release date, the rumor mill goes and pushes the devices’s launch back a month. So perhaps we’re just standing still.

John Paczkowski at All Things D is reporting, citing “sources with knowledge of the situation” that October is when we can expect the iPhone 5 launch (if it is in fact actually called the iPhone 5). Of course no date has been given, so that could put it anywhere from just missing that September release to Halloween.

Some rumors in the past have even suggested that the device could come as early as August, but until now, the general consensus has kept it in September.

The device is expected to be thinner and lighter than the iPhone 4, run on a wireless baseband chip from Qualcomm, and come with an 8-megapixel camera. Other rumors that have been tossed around throughout the year have been that the device may not come with NFC technology (which would be huge, considering Google’s big Payments plan…meanwhile, others suggest that it will come with NFC), that it could come to T-mobile, and that it will have a built-in bumper (which would presumably prevent another antennagate.

Of course, a rumor is a rumor, and there have been tons of them surrounding this particular device for months and months. In October, we’ll finally get to see just which ones were on the money.

Or will we?

Apple reported a 142% increase in iPhone sales year-over-year when it reported its fiscal year third quarter earnings, which contributed to $28.57 billion in revenue. That was a record for iPhone sales by the way.

iOS 5 is expected to launch this fall, but no specific date has been given for this yet either.