The image above is a 2005 prototype of Apple’s iPhone device, which was leaked to blog site Ars Technica by a former, unnamed Apple employee. While the much smaller, significantly slimmer iPhone we know today hit shelves in 2007, the device here is 2 inches thick,5 inches wide, and 7 inches tall — specs remarkably close to today’s iPad mini tablet (5.3 x 7.87), save the thickness (it would take six iPad minis stacked one atop the other to match the thickness of the iPhone prototype).
Also included are ports for USB, Ethernet, and serial connectivity. According to the Ars Technica source, Apple had no intentions of selling the device as is — these extra ports (along with the extra-large screen) were simply features meant to help make developing the device a lot easier.
Worth noting is the fact that the prototype included an older, much slower ancestor of Samsung’s ARM design — specifically, the company’s S3C2410 chip — featured in the first iPhone. This chip recorded a snail’s pace 200-233MHz, while the first iPhone featured a chip that could perform at 620 MHz, though Apple underclocked it to 412 MHz.
Beyond speed, the fact that this chip was included in the 2005 prototype indicates Apple and Samsung had a deal in place well before the iPhone ever went into full production.
Also worth pointing out is the fact that Apple was working on the iPad well before the iPhone — which makes sense as it’s often easier to scale-down a larger device into a smaller package than vice versa. Perhaps this explains why the iPhone prototype is so large.
More photos of Apple’s prototype iPhone below:
Several ports were included in the iPhone prototype.
Apple’s iPhone prototype was significantly thicker than the model released in 2007.
The inner working of the early iPhone.
Apple’s iPhone prototype featured Samsung’s S3C2410 chip.
Story and images via arstechnica.com
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