Is Apple Building A Better iPhone?

CRN Staff

January 29, 2009, 10:32 AM EST

Sounds like crazy talk, right? But Apple has long been known for fast refresh cycles and updates, so another iPhone wouldn't be too much of a pipe dream. Evidence of a new iPhone appearing in late January could mean Apple is readying it for launch in June, which would fall in line with previous iPhone launches.

According to Apple watchers, MacRumors.com, Apple's iPhone 2.2.1 firmware update for iPhone and iPod Touch users hints of a next generation of iPhone dubbed iPhone 2.1.

MacRumors indicated that Apple uses a specific numbering scheme in firmware to distinguish between iPhone models. For example, the firstgeneration iPhone 2G is labeled as iPhone 1.1, while the 3G is iPhone 1.2. The numbers don't change for storage increases but represent functionality of different devices.

MacRumors said the new model number can be found in the USBDeviceConfuguration.plist in an unencrypted firmware.

In addition, MacRumors indicated that an iPhone application developer suggested someone is already using a new iPhone model to load ads in the application, based on an ad report from metrics firm PinchMedia. That could mean an Apple insider is testing new hardware.

Word is a next-generation iPhone could have more processing cores and advanced graphics processing.