You don't get it, do you? I'm not saying we're dealing here with a 'fake resolution' - that is what you make of it, because you don't understand what 'we' are saying.
Effectively, in normal apps (like News apps), the effective resolution is 480 x 320 on an iPhone 4S. That's because in most apps, the normal UI elements are used. Those apps who use those elements take up the same space and show just as much content as an iPhone 3GS with non-retina display.
So what about images? Developers provide images for the 'standard resolution' (480 x 320 displays) and for the 'Retina resolution' (960 x 640).
Really, the only apps which actually show more content on an iPhone 4/4S than on an iPhone 3GS or older, are gaming apps and video apps because than all pixels are utilized.
If Apple settles with the 1704 x 960 resolution, all most developers need to do is upload higher-res images. The effective resolution is still 568 x 320, because that's just how much content is shown.
Even most games scale perfectly, because most popular games make use of scalable gaming engines.
I'm not claiming developers can't use and can't adjust every single pixel if they wish. That's what you make out of it, but that's not what I am saying.
Don't say that it is not true, because most apps effectively only 'use' 568 x 320 unless a developer decides to specifically create differences for every single pixel.