In the United States, the end of the Labor Day weekend brings the unofficial start of fall—and fresh rumors of Apple's next smart phone, the iPhone 5. The latest report: Overseas manufacturing has already begun on the Apple phone in order to make a supposed October release date in the U.S.

Several websites and tech enthusiast sites have been quoting undisclosed Chinese sources saying that two manufacturers, Foxconn Technology and Pegatron Technology, have split the production load to 85 and 15 percent, respectively. The unnamed source also told Japanese website Macotakara that the assembled iPhone 5 smart phones are just waiting for Apple's iOS 5 mobile operating system, which is also supposedly nearing its final stages of completion.

Macotakara and other websites speculate that with iPhone 5 production already under way, Apple could unveil the phone in October as reported earlier. Moreover another rumor—that the iPhone is coming to Sprint in the fall—also seemed to be confirmed by a document leaked from retailer Best Buy to the Boy Genius Report website.

OEM manufacturers in China, began manufacturing the next iPhone? [Makotaka Blog]
iPhone 5 Manufacturing Said to Start in China; Top Rumored Specs [International Business Times]
Apple manufacturers reportedly starting assembly of iPhone 5 for October launch [Apple Insider]
Report: They've Started Building the iPhone 5 [Time]
Best Buy anticipating iPhone 5 for Sprint, preorders starting next month [Boy Genius Report]