A government lawyer suggests the next two models of iPhone could both be the work of Steve Jobs.

The tidbit leaked out in an article in the San Francisco Examiner about physical security in the smartphone world. It profiled the troubles district attorney George Gascon has faced in his efforts to get manufacturers and service providers to make it easier to remotely disable phones and thus make them less attractive to thieves. According to the newspaper, half of all San Francisco robberies last year involved mobile gadgets.

Gascon says he’s had no joy at a meeting with service providers and a separate interview with Michael Foulkes, Apple’s “government liaison” officer. In fact he says talking to Foulkes was particularly unenlightening: ” It was almost like someone who’s been trained in the art of doing a lot of talking and saying nothing.”

However, Gascon did (if unintentionally) get an Apple scoop. In explaining why an iPhone “killswitch” won’t be happening any time soon, Foulkes reportedly revealed that not only have the next two generations of iPhone (most likely the 5S and 6) already been developed, but that they were done so before Tim Cook took power.

That logically means the handsets were created during Steve Jobs’ lifetime, making it extremely likely he will at least have overseen the development process. If the report is correct, it also adds some weight to those of a more cynical nature who suggest Apple deliberately withholds features to make future generations of handsets seem more desirable.

While Apple is saying nothing about the new reports, the company may not be too upset at the revelation. It could even temporarily boost confidence among investors who’d questioned whether Apple would be harmed by losing the insight and influence Jobs provided.

That said, it looks as if Apple isn’t simply sticking blindly to the Jobs playbook. A series of reports from credible sources suggest it is working on a new and cheaper iPhone model with the same internals but a lower-cost casing and lower-resolution display, possibly to target developing markets. That’s a “compromise” that Jobs would likely have fought.

It looks as if making the tech news headlines will have to serve as temporary consolation for Gascon however. He concluded from the discussions that although carriers and manufacturers talk a good game on measures such as killswitches and a stolen phone registry, they simply don’t have any real incentive to change given that they make cash whenever somebody needs to replace a handset.