Watch Prototypes and More Apple Didn’t Want You to See
Credit: eBay
Apple prototypes are a collector's dream. They are hard to find, making obtaining one a worthy challenge. They often show up on Craigslist being sold by an unsuspecting owner who is looking to clean out their attic. They also appear in E-Waste facilities where they are discarded as junk. Those who buy these gems almost always put them on display and usually try to restore them to working condition. Continue reading to browse five prototypes that have made headlines for being extremely rare and, in some cases, exotically designed.Â
Apple Watch Prototypes
Italian collector Giulio Zompetti recently added another rare find to his collection of Apple prototypes. As reported in Motherboard and shared on Twitter, Zompetti recently purchased a handful of smartwatches that he believes are authentic Apple Watch prototypes. The units sport QR codes, the "Death Star" logo seen in other Apple prototypes, and serial numbers consistent with Apple's numbering system. Some of the units are dated a year before the release of the original Apple Watch.
Zompetti believes these are pre-EVT models, designed to hammer out the design goals and specifications of the product before they were sent for further testing. Many of the units have different sensor layouts than what was finally chosen for the original Apple Watch. Most of the units are broken, but Zompetti hopes to fix and then resell them to other eager collectors.
Original iPad with Dual Dock Connectors
Apple collector Henry "Hap" Plain has one of the largest collections of Apple prototypes in the world. Among his rare finds is an iPad with not one but two dock connectors -- one for landscape and one for portrait charging. Both a patent application and prevailing rumors before the launch of the iPad hinted at this design, but it was obviously scrapped in favor of the single-port design.
3G MacBook Pro with MagSafe Antenna
North Carolina resident Carl Frega was not expecting the firestorm that would follow when he bought an Apple notebook for parts off a Craigslist seller. The laptop turned out to a prototype MacBook Pro equipped with a MagSafe 3G antenna and a SIM card slot. This MacBook was dated back to the launch of the iPhone when Apple likely was testing integrated wireless technology. Frega listed the device on eBay, which caught the eye of Apple. Apple asked for and eventually received the computer back.
Mac mini G4 with a Built-in iPod Dock
Plain also has a super unique Mac mini G4 that sports an iPod dock. The is Mac mini model was supposedly developed alongside an iPod, possibly the iPod nano, and the two products were supposed to debut together. As the story goes, the iPod lagged in development. Apple staggered the two launches and released the Mac mini sans the iPod dock. When the Mac mini was released in 2005, Apple hacker Leo Bodnar noticed an unpopulated connector on the motherboard that he hypothesized was an iPod dock connector.
"Connector has a full Firewire bus and extra control signals on it," writes Bodnar. "What could it be? Integrated iPod dock at the top of Mac mini case? Interface to some other external device? Missing internal module? Extra row of external connectors on the back? And most of all, has it been abandoned at the last minute or still being developed? Or is it waiting for its device to become ready?"
iPhone M68 Prototype Board
Apple developed the iPhone in extreme secrecy. Security was so tight that engineers working on the device were kept in the dark on what they were developing. To keep things under wraps, Apple created iPhone M68 development motherboards that look like a circuit board you'd find on a computer. One such board made its way into the hands of an anonymous source who gave The Verge a closeup look at the board. The board contains all the critical components of an iPhone, including a jack that allows engineers to test out the calling features.