Somebody Lost Apple's 4th-Gen iPhone Prototype In a Bar

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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Somebody Lost Apple's 4th-Gen iPhone Prototype In a Bar



Some unlucky soul at Apple apparently left their 4th-generation iPhone prototype in a Redwood, California bar, where it was promptly returned - to techie press.

Right now, there is an Apple employee - who will probably not be an Apple employee much longer - wetting his pants in terror of Steve Jobs' wrath. Apple's newest iPhone model - cleverly disguised as the current 3GS - was discovered in a bar in Redwood, CA, where its owner appears to have forgotten it.

Somehow, it made its way to Gizmodo [http://gizmodo.com/5520164/], who dissected the thing over a week's time and proclaimed: This is no hoax, it's the real deal. The device's authenticity seems to be further proven by news that Apple has indeed lost a prototype iPhone, and is very keen on getting it back. Well, sorry Mr. Jobs, but too late for that.

The new device brings quite a few changes, which Gizmodo helpfully lists:

[blockquote]What's new

? Front-facing video chat camera
? Improved regular back-camera (the lens is quite noticeably larger than the iPhone 3GS)
? Camera flash
? Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (like the iPad)
? Improved display. It's unclear if it's the 960x460 display thrown around before-it certainly looks like it, with the "Connect to iTunes" screen displaying much higher resolution than on a 3GS.
? What looks to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack
? Split buttons for volume
? Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic

What's changed

? The back is entirely flat, made of either glass (more likely) or ceramic or shiny plastic in order for the cell signal to poke through. Tapping on the back makes a more hollow and higher pitched sound compared to tapping on the glass on the front/screen, but that could just be the orientation of components inside making for a different sound
? An aluminum border going completely around the outside
? Slightly smaller screen than the 3GS (but seemingly higher resolution)
? Everything is more squared off
? 3 grams heavier
? 16% Larger battery
? Internals components are shrunken, miniaturized and reduced to make room for the larger battery[/blockquote]

So far the verdict seems to be "We like it!" But then again, would Apple faithful really say anything different?

Permalink
 

FactualSquirrel

New member
Dec 10, 2009
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Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

That's funny.

But why is this a problem for Apple? It's not like it will make a difference on who buys it now, is it?
 

thenumberthirteen

Unlucky for some
Dec 19, 2007
4,794
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Maybe the Apple employee can get a job in the British Civil service (PaZing!).

Looks quite cool, but I'd like to see some of the software features too.
 

Deofuta

New member
Nov 10, 2009
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OH SHIT *Checks Pocket*

phewww still there,

Someone is going to be never seen again, I can tell you that much :)
 

Jack and Calumon

Digimon are cool.
Dec 29, 2008
4,190
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OOOOHHHHH!!!

To be fair, this must be amazing publicity.

Calumon: All this is made for £70! Yours for £700!
 

NeoAC

Zombie Nation #LetsRise
Jun 9, 2008
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Doesn't matter, I'll never be able to afford the bloody thing anyway.
 

The DSM

New member
Apr 18, 2009
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Ehh.

Never cared about Apple that much.

I still think they charge too much for stuff that mainly looks nice, Im about substance, not style.
 

KimberlyGoreHound

New member
Mar 17, 2010
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Didn't care about the iPhone before, don't care about it now. Didn't this same sort of thing just happen a couple months ago, with a prototype being left hanging around somewhere?
 

SnootyEnglishman

New member
May 26, 2009
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Well stupidity is looking to lead into good publicity on this one. Still a fail stamp must be applied to the person that lost it.
 

That's Funny

New member
Jul 20, 2009
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Another Iphone, sheesh that's a lot.

I would not like to be the guy who lost though, if that part of the story is true of course.
 

SoxFan96

New member
Mar 16, 2010
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Well this is either a very well planned publicity stunt or somebody is going to be looking through the classifieds. I doubt that this is a publicity stunt though, not really apples style. They normally have some big keynote/speech to release something (see loadingreadyrun: iPotatoe)
 

DigitalSushi

a gallardo? fine, I'll take it.
Dec 24, 2008
5,718
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This happens all the time with Apple, I'm guessing people are getting paid to lose them, I'm pretty certain that all new model prototypes have been left in a bar (apart from the 1st 2g model).

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/21/fixconn_suicide/
http://www.tuaw.com/2009/03/10/iphone-prototype-yanked-down-from-ebay/
 

Enigmers

New member
Dec 14, 2008
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Cue Cracked:
http://www.cracked.com/article_18377_5-reasons-you-should-be-scared-apple_p1.html

If I were the guy who lost that, I'd be scared shitless.