Apple seeds iOS 5.1 beta with mystery 'iPad 2,4'
updated 07:30 pm EST, Mon November 28, 2011
iOS 5.1 beta reaches developers for first time
Apple gave developers their first taste of significant post-5.0 updates with the first betas of iOS 5.1 and Xcode 4.3. The iOS update upgrades voice dictation on "supported devices," although it's presumed this still means just the iPhone 4S for now. So far, only programming interface changes are known to have come through the update, mostly those affecting peer-to-peer interfaces in DNS calls.
Little is known about Xcode 4.3's changes other than that it's required to build with iOS 5.1 in mind.
Along with the new release, a reference in the device code has shown an instance of "iPad 2,4," a previously unknown version of the existing tablet. Since current tablets are 2,1 through 2,3, the new version is most likely for another carrier or else a dual-mode tablet that can work with both EVDO and HSPA for 3G.
Whether or not iPad 2,4 is ever released isn't certain. Given repeated talk of an iPad 3 early next year, it would be unusual for Apple to support a new carrier on the iPad 2 only to replace the model in question just two or three months later. Apple is rumored to be leaping to LTE-based 4G in 2012 and could make a clean break in chipset support.
