Speaking at the Discovery Invest Leadership Summit in South Africa, former Vice President Al Gore let a little but of information slip regarding the upcoming release of the new iPhone 5.

While speaking at the conference, Gore had this to say, specifically –

Not to mention the new iPhones coming out next month. That was a plug.

If you read the quote carefully, you’ll see that Gore said iPhones, as in plural – multiple phones. Of course, he could have been speaking generally, as in all of the iPhone 5s that will be coming out. Or, the added plural could be a hint regarding two different iPhones hitting the shelves in October.

Recent rumors have suggested that the iPhone 5 might be launching with another model, possibly called the iPhone 4S. The secondary model would be a cheaper model that would look virtually identical to the iPhone 4 but might have a few hardware upgrades.

The Next Web first reported this quote, which was apparently heard by Toby Shapshak, the editor of Stuff Magazine. He was attending the conference and heard Gore talk about the iPhone(s) first hand.

Of course, you might ask why Al Gore would be talking about the iPhone 5 and why should we care what he has to say? If you remember, Gore joined Apple’s Board of Directors back in 2003. So although Gore isn’t one of the true higher-ups at Apple, this is the first time that we’ve heard anyone that’s actually associated with the company say something specifically about upcoming new iPhones.

Yesterday we heard that Apple is planning their next major media event for October 4th. There, they are prepared to unveil the iPhone 5. The event will be hosted by new CEO Tim Cook.

That information suggests the mid-October release date that most have speculated about for weeks now. And Gore said that the new iPhones will be coming out “next month.” Are things finally coming together for the big iPhone 5 release?