A reference to a next-gen iPhone 4S with dual-mode “world phone” capabilities has been found within the latest iTunes developer beta, reports 9to5Mac. The term “iPhone 4S” is specifically mentioned, displaying a picture of a CDMA iPhone 4 as its reference image.
It’s highly possible that the reference is merely a placeholder, or has been included specifically for testing purposes, and the fact that the image for the device is the same as the CDMA iPhone 4 is notable, and may reflect that Apple is merely experimenting with internal settings or display options in iTunes. A report from TUAW even suggests that the reference does not exist at all:
A different website is claiming that only the iPhone 4s will be announced, based on strings that were allegedly found in a pre-release beta of iTunes. A source close to TUAW revealed that no such text strings were found in any of the recent beta releases of iTunes.
The iPhone 4S name has also cropped up in various inventory systems, allegedly including Apple’s own inventory system. While 9to5Mac states that this definitely confirms that Apple will not release a redesigned iPhone 5, to make such a logical leap based on a device not being included within a pre-release version of iTunes seems a bit unwise.
Apple is expected to unveil their next-gen iPhone hardware at tomorrow’s iPhone media event.