iOS 6.1 beta 5 has hints of a being a final release according to some. So much so, that polarizing personality Stefan Esser — a talented, but socially awkward figure within the jailbreak community — tweeted out his sentiments regarding Apple’s startling weekend release.
Interesting thing about the iOS 6.1 Beta 5 release is that it has the build ID of a final, not that of a beta.
— Stefan Esser (@i0n1c) January 27, 2013
iOS 6.1 beta 5 is still downloading for me, so I’ve yet to be able to check it out for myself. That being said, giving the somewhat unprecedented nature of this 5th release for a non-major iOS firmware, it has to make you wonder, at least.
It should be noted, that in the past, Apple has forgone a golden master release for some of its non-major iOS firmware updates. iOS 3.1 comes to mind. Its Wikipedia entry shows that it went from iOS 3.1 beta 3, directly to the final build — i.e. no “GM” release.
Obviously in a situation such as this, time will tell. I’m sure the team responsible for the upcoming iOS 6.1 jailbreak is already on top of things.
Update: And here are MuscleNerd’s thoughts on the release:
Despite the odd beta naming, as @winocm discovered, this is actually releaseable as public 6.1 at Apple’s will.Good!Home stretch….
— MuscleNerd (@MuscleNerd) January 27, 2013
Looks like we have something here, folks. Okay, everyone back on board, this train could be leaving the station any day now.