By Stephen Schenck | February 11, 2013 12:29 PM
Last week, we saw Apple release the first beta of iOS 6.1.1, just a couple days after the first iOS 6 jailbreak was released. We wondered at the time if the new build might be an attempt to kill the jailbreak, but reports indicated that it didn’t affect the jailbreak’s operation. We knew at the time that it would deliver certain improvements to Maps for Japanese users, but now the true purpose of iOS 6.1.1 may be starting to become clear, upon rumors arriving that it will made public quite soon in order to fix 3G connectivity issues introduced with iOS 6.1.
We showed you how at least one carrier was warning its users about iOS 6.1 after hearing from them that the update seriously impacted the iPhone 4S’s ability to operate on 3G networks. This new rumor suggests that carriers are already done testing iOS 6.1.1 with the aim of fixing those 3G issues, and that the relatively small 23MB update could become available OTA in the very near future to restore connectivity.
This news makes a lot of sense, as restoring functionality to so many crippled iPhones must be a top priority for Apple; we assume it will get around to killing the jailbreak at some point, but first things first. There’s no specific ETA for the distribution of 6.1.1, but from the sound of things it could be any day now.
Update: It’s out now, apparently for the 4S only. The 6.1.1 beta we saw last week is unrelated to this 3G fix, and Apple’s going to give it a new version number, presumably 6.1.2.
Update 2: Also, this does not stop evasi0n, though the jailbreak will have to be updated to recognize this iOS version.
