The BGR report says that an AT&T VP told several employees that the iPhone 5 is “slated to launch in early October,” and that he also told a group of managers to “[e]xpect things to get really, really busy in the next 35-50 days.” This is in keeping with recent reports that we’ll see the iPhone 5 announced in late September, with a release a little later in early October. AllThingsD’s John Paczkowski was the first to claim assertively that October would be the iPhone 5′s launch month, based on information from an anonymous source.

Jim Dalrymple also seems to have confirmed the October launch in a brief post today quoting the BGR report and adding simply “Yep.” Dalrymple is known to have solid connections either at or close to Apple, and has a good track record with product predictions. AllThingsD is also well-connected at Apple, so the October timing seems like a pretty solid bet at this time based on the information available.

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Among the big winners for October were the new 21-inch iMac, which topped the desktop sales charts, and the more expensive and powerful 27-inch iMac, which took a surprisingly high third place overall.

The iMac wasn’t the only winner, as Apple also saw strong sales in the notebook department. The entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro came in first overall in notebook sales, and Apple occupied four of the top 10 spots for the month, though its other offerings placed low, taking the eighth, ninth, and 10th locations.

NPD Group’s vice president of industry analysis attributed Apple’s success to low numbers on the PC side of the equation, too, in an interview conducted with CNET:

Apple gets a bounce whenever they come out with new computers. For the most part, October was a down month on the Windows side because [PC manufacturers] were working through inventory before the Windows 7 launch.

Baker goes onto speculate about what’s behind Apple’s success:

Over past few years, Apple has continued to gain share in the market, and there are a lot of ways to explain that. It could be the stores, the computers themselves, the iPod, or iPhone. I think it’s a combination of all those things.

There’s no doubt in my mind that customer experience is the key to Apple’s success of late. The iPod and iPhone might have been the gateway drug for many users, but these days I find just as many people for whom the opposite is true. The common denominator is user friendliness and great support. The November numbers will be a much better indicator of Apple’s true success, however, since it will see a lot of holiday sales, and also should show how Mac is faring against Windows 7 machines.

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The image sent with the email and the tagline “The spotlight turns to notebooks” confirm that the event will indeed see a much-anticipated refresh of the company’s laptop line.  While it’s not entirely clear in the picture, the finish on the MacBook lid does appear to support rumors of all-aluminum casing.

Once again, here’s a quick breakdown of the rumors circulating:

• New models and price points, from 8 to 12 base configurations ranging from $800-$3100
• New manufacturing process and facility to produce notebook casings from a single block of solid aluminum
• Wider touchpads, slimmer casing, and keyboards matching that found in the MacBook Air
• Nvidia integrated GPUs in MacBook line
• Possibility of in-built screens in touchpads
• Possibility of tablet-type Mac introduction (sadly seems unlikely)

What are you hoping for?

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