Code discovered by MacRumors in the recently released 2.1.1 iPhone update suggests the release of a new iPhone may be imminent.
Although these hidden strings may seem insignificant to the untrained eye, they are used by Apple to differentiate between hardware iterations. The original iPhone, which launched in 2007, is branded "iPhone 1,1" whilst the 3G iPhone is known as "iPhone 1,2".
Such a significant rise in the product string number points towards a major product revision. Numerous reports have been circulating in the past few weeks indicating that work is already well under way on the next generation iPhone, which could feature a quad-core processor.
When Apple refreshed the iPod Touch in September last year, the popular device became labelled "iPod 2,1" (previously iPod 1,1) in the firmware code. The update was a noteworthy hardware revision that included a significant CPU speed increase, as well as the additions of external volume controls, a built-in speaker and microphone support.