Adding to growing speculation that the announcement of the iPhone 5 is less than two weeks away, reports are coming in that the Apple will be holding a media event on October 4th in Cupertino, California.

AllThingsD is reporting today that Apple has selected the Town Hall Auditorium for the launch, an unusual move considering the size of the venue is considerably smaller than the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, where the iPhone 4 was launched.

Sources close to the company say the demonstration — currently scheduled for Tuesday October 4, a date first reported by AllThingsD — will be held at Apple’s campus in Cupertino, California.

New reports are also coming in from AppleInsider that Apple employees are being denied vacation leave during the second week of October, suggesting a possible date for the retail launch of the iPhone 5.

Apple is quietly denying requests for employee vacations during the second week of October, hinting that the company currently anticipates an influx of customers to its stores around that time related to availability of its new iOS 5 and fifth-generation iPhone products.

Two specific sets of dates have been mentioned, October 9th – 12th which is when iOS 5 is likely to launch, and October 14th – 15th which may represent the retail release of the iPhone 5.

[img: Apple Town Hall, Cupertino Campus]