Apple Leaks The "iPhone 4S" In Latest iTunes Beta
October 1, 2011
We have bad news, folks. It seems like the many rumors suggesting that Apple will be unveiling a slightly improved iPhone 4S come Tuesday, rather than a brand new shiny iPhone 5, might actually be correct.
As discovered by 9to5Mac on Saturday, files inside the latest beta 9 version of iTunes refer to an "iPhone 4S," codename N94, and contain reference images that look just like the current iPhone:
Following this discovery, Apple has removed the latest beta version of iTunes from its developer portal, which pretty much confirms the veracity of 9to5Mac's claims.
The rumors of a N94 iPhone prototype have been going around for months. Yesterday, John Gruber confirmed that was told about the prototype at the WWDC, and that the device looked just like the iPhone 4 with better internals. The iTunes files list the device as the iPhone 4,1 (while the iPhone 4 was the iPhone 3,1, the iPhone 3GS was 2,2, and iPhone 3G was 2,1), which suggests that the internals have changed dramatically.
Furthermore, iTunes 10.5 beta 9 only refers to a CDMA design, which can be interpreted in many different ways. Some folks believe this means the reference file isn't complete. Others, including us, think that this means the iPhone 4S will feature both GSM and CDMA capabilities, while a third group suggests this might simply be a low-end CDMA version of the iPhone for Chinese customers. This is something that has been rumored as a way to help Apple get marketshare in China.
Of course, all this could just be a mistake, a placeholder, or just a way to tease us. After all, Apple can still very well unveil both an iPhone 4S and a new iPhone 5, or just an iPhone 5, or even nothing at all. Yet, the details of the invitation, the fact that Apple is announcing the device at a small event in Cupertino with just a few press personalities suggests that this won't be the case. It's now very likely that the iPhone 4S is all that you'll be seeing next week.
Our call is that the device will feature the new A5 dual-core processor, more RAM, better graphics, voice recognition, iOSAssistant and a better camera. What do you think?
