(CNN) -- It's the worst-kept secret since Adam Lambert's sexuality: Apple is expected to unveil a new iPhone on Tuesday. There are a bunch of reasons you already knew this. For one, every tech journalist on earth has been writing about the new-now-next-generation iPhone since the company's last "Jesus phone" -- the iPhone 4 -- graced us with its presence in June 2010. You've seen the gossip here, and on countless Apple-focused blogs with apt and obvious names like MacRumors and TheAppleBlog. The rumor mill, you'll likely recall, revved to full throttle in early September when CNET reported that an Apple employee lost a prototype of the next iPhone -- likely called the iPhone 5 -- in a Mexican restaurant and bar in San Francisco.

There's speculation about whether
Tim Cook, who is reported to be a private person, will take center stage at the event or yield the spotlight to his deputies.