Some rumors are better than others, particularly those vetted by the editorial staff of the Wall Street Journal.

After several weeks of reports and speculation over Apple preparing for a fall release of the iPhone 5, the world’s business publication of record is reporting that a next-generation iPhone will come out some time in the third quarter (which we are currently in and goes thru September).

The meat of the report is as follows:

“According to some suppliers of components to Apple, the new version of the iPhone is expected to be thinner and lighter than the iPhone 4 and sport an 8-megapixel camera. One person said the new iPhone will operate on Qualcomm Inc.'s wireless baseband chips. The current iPhone 4 uses memory chips made by Samsung Electronics Co. and baseband chips from German chip maker Infineon Technologies AG, according to a report by market-research firm iSuppli Corp. Officials at both companies declined to comment.”Other notable nuggets from the story:

-- Apple expects to sell more than 25 million units by year-end

-- An initial shipment of a “few million units” will occur in August

-- All timing bets are off if Apple’s contracted manufacturer, Taiwan-based Hon Hai, can’t deliver according to Apple’s expectations

Stay tuned for more news, analysis and rumor curation related to the inevitable release of a next-generation iPhone in the days, weeks and months ahead.