Apple have removed hints about future products from a key file in iOS 6 reports TUAW, suggesting that maybe Tim Cook was being truthful after all when he said that they would double down on secrecy regarding upcoming products.
iOS 6 lips sealed, no indication of iPhone 5, iPad mini or other upcoming iOS devices
In the past, rumourmongers have downloaded the latest iOS to come out and have gone over it with a fine tooth comb to dig out hints about upcoming products in the USBDeviceConfiguration.plist file. However with the release of iOS 6 this is now no longer possible. The file of course still remains there, however it does not reveal any trace of upcoming devices as they have all been removed. So what we mean is that they have concealed all hints of a possible iPhone 5, iPad 4 (or iPad Mini) and the next-gen iPod touch.
Previously those who wanted to discover upcoming iOS devices looked for new entries which referred to future devices. Of course they did not provide a great deal of information about upcoming devices, rather they would give an indication of what the guys at Apple are testing with the iOS platform. For instance in the past a reference had been the “iPhone4,1” which turned out to be the iPhone 4S.
Before Apple made the change to the file, USBDeviceConfiguration.plist had mentioned around two dozen devices which then ballooned to over 100 entries that Apple had put in, with fake references to products of the future such as “iPad10,1 and iPhone11,3”. It is thought that Apple will use the fake references as placeholders while they start using the software in secret on devices they have under development.
The changes however do not stop examination entirely of evidence as there are lists that have not been altered in other locations. It is thought that Apple started using fake references with their first iOS 5.1 beta but it wasn’t until beta 2 that they began inserting fakes into the USBDeviceConfiguration.plist file, which of course is the most closely watched.
