The iOS 6 banners went up in Moscone West on Friday afternoon, confirming that Apple will, at the very least, preview the next version of its mobile operating system to developers when WWDC 2012 kicks off today -- and you’ll probably be able to download it shortly thereafter.
MacRumors is reporting that Chinese forum WeiPhone.com unearthed some officially Apple download links on Sunday, a day ahead of the WWDC 2012 keynote where Cupertino will preview their latest version of iOS.
Although the links are currently inactive, they appear to point to an iOS 6 beta build 10A5316k for a number of mobile devices, along with a developer preview of Safari 6 for OS X Lion.
Conspicuously absent from the list of links is the first-generation iPad as well as the third-generation iPod touch, which doesn’t bode well for those devices getting updated to iOS 6. However, before users of those devices start storming the castle at 1 Infinite Loop, keep in mind that Apple may simply be leaving them out of the initial beta builds for some unknown reason.
That said, the iPhone 3GS is among the inactive links to the iOS 6 beta, which many predicted might get cut off with the latest version. However, Apple continues to sell the three-year-old smartphone, so keeping it compatible with this year’s software is likely a priority for the company.
We’ll be awfully surprised if Apple doesn’t flip the switch and make these links active shortly after Monday’s WWDC keynote, which kicks off at 10am PST. Also expected is a new build for OS X Mountain Lion, if not a final gold master for developers to fine-tune their Mac apps ahead of release.
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