Finally found it - After initializing the Audio Session object, - AudioSessionInitialize() - you can make a call to AudioSessionGetProperty, and get the value of kAudioSessionProperty_AudioInputAvailable.
AudioSessionInitialize(NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL);
UInt32 propertySize, micConnected;
AudioSessionGetProperty(kAudioSessionProperty_AudioInputAvailable, &propertySize, &micConnected);
[self updateMicStatus:micConnected]; // user-created method
According to the docs for Audio Session Services, this should be used rather than using the device model (iPhone vs. iPod Touch) to determine if an audio input is available to use. You can also set up a callback function to monitor changes to this property via AudioSessionAddPropertyListener().
Not sure yet if this property also applies to devices connected via the Dock connector, but it appears to work for the headphone jack.