Apple Pokes Fun at Rumor Mill: References to iPhone 11, iPad 10, Apple TV 10, etc, Found in iOS 5.1 beta 2

Apple’s iOS developer team appears to have gone on the offensive in an attempt to throw off the Apple rumor mill with a hilarious new approach; including references to fake product numbers in the latest developer build of iOS 5.2 beta 2. Examples include references to such far-flung and imaginative hardware as the iPhone 11, iPod 11, iPad 10, Apple TV 9, and a large number of other nonsensical product entries which can be seen in the screenshot below.

The reason for doing so is simple enough, iOS beta builds have been the source of some recent product rumors, when references to iPhone 5 and iPad 3 in addition to a new Apple TV were recently uncovered in the past iOS 5.1 beta build. Someone on Apple’s internal iOS developer team probably took notice of the Apple rumor mills interest in the findings, and decided to make the waters murkier by placing every conceivable product number on every manner of iOS device in the latest developer build.

Whether or not this is really a joke or if these are serving as some sort of legitimate placeholders for products that are just years in the distance is unknown, but we like to think it’s the former and that Apple’s iOS developer team is a fun bunch with a good sense of humor (we know they like skiing at least).

The amusing screenshot was first posted by 9to5 writer Mark Gurman, who found the list in iOS 5.1b2’s USBDeviceConfiguration.plist file.