The VAR Guy

As you may or may not know, Apple rumors are often indirectly confirmed when developers or code spelunkers find new product IDs inside the iOS beta code. But Apple has wised up to how the Apple rumor mill works and deployed an interesting tactic to deter would-be investigators: spamming its own configuration files. Read on for the details …

A tip of the hat goes MacRumors for aggregating the scoop, including a report from 9to5Mac’s Marc Gurman that Apple was “screwing with me on purpose” His screen shot of the device configuration file in iOS 5.1 beta shows the file lists more than 100 nonexistent Apple products with bizarre ID names, some of which technically won’t exist for years, if at all. One such example: Apple TV 10,3, which would represent a third revision of a 10th generation AppleTV device.

There still are “real” Apple device IDs inside this folder, but digging through them and determining which ones are real (or which ones become “activated” as real) will be much more difficult in the future, because now it’s literally anyone’s guess what product ID Apple will give its new device. This is a significant response from Apple, especially because Apple traditionally has never commented on rumors. This change shows a high level of secrecy is desirable at Apple and the company isn’t thrilled with investigative bloggers. Whether Apple continues passive-aggressive tactics to thwart the rumor mill remains to be seen (and it can’t stop all the supply chain leaks), but the fact Apple has acknowledged it at all leads me to believe some very exciting things are on the horizon and Apple is taking no chances.

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