Sprint Hint: iPhone 5 Release Date Imminent as Carrier Slashes 4S Price

**Editor’s note: Please click here for our latest roundup of iPhone 5 speculation or here for our list of July’s hottest selling smartphones to see how the iPhone stacked up against the competition.**

Sprint is the first of America’s major wireless operators to cut the price of the iPhone 4S which has been on the market almost 10 months now ahead of the highly anticipated release of Apple’s next-generation smartphone.

The third-largest carrier is now charging just $149 for the 16GB 4S down from $199 while it remains at the higher price at Verizon Wireless and AT&T. Sprint’s price cut got the nod of approval from Apple, AllThingsD reported, but CNET says a spokesperson told them it’s only a back-to-school promotion.

The widely anticipated iPhone hardware announcement is expected at an event Sept. 12, with a release date of Sept. 21, many sites have reported, but that is yet to be confirmed by the Silicon Valley giant.

Expect it to come with a larger screen four inches which could help it better compete with many Android handsets that are between four and five inches. It’s almost certain to come with LTE-compatibility since the third-generation iPad came 4G ready earlier this year. And speaking of the iPad, Apple might very well unveil a 7-inch version of its popular tablet at the end of summer as well.

What you won’t see on the new iPhone is a pre-installed YouTube app. 9 to 5 Mac reported that Apple’s license with YouTube (whose parent company is Google) for the app has expired. YouTube plans to create its own app compatible with devices running iOS 6, Apple’s next-generation operating system.