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Apple Genius Bar Didn't Recognize MacBook Pro 3G Prototype, Apple Now Wants it Back

al256 said:
Clearly more Apple retail employees should read MacRumors. I know I'd spot Apple's prototype-red logic board.
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Agreed. I suppose just because they work at Apple stores doesn't mean they have as much interest as we would. Hell, I probably know more than most Geniuses, if my last encounter was anything to go by.

Meh, not that I expect them to. I guess it would be like expecting someone working at Gap to be all up on the rumours of new clothes haha.

But I don't know, there's a certain expectation when you work at an Apple store (or any tech store for that matter) that you're really really into the rumors and upcoming things :D
 
Apple won't pay him a dime for it. The guy bought it from Craigslist, and the seller he purchased it from probably got it via less than legal means. Apple isn't known for letting prototypes "fall through the cracks" easily. The guy who currently has the prototype could easily be charged with possession of stolen property, and the average Joe can't afford to go up against Apple in court.

I'm not saying that I approve of that scenario, but that's the way I see it going down.
 
andrewlgm said:
How much is apple paying him for it?
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Knowing Apple, they will threaten him with a lawsuit and says it was "stolen" and after he gives it back, they will leak a report to MacRumors or 9to5mac or Gizmodo that will say "inside sources reveal that Apple paid nothing for the prototypes return and may still prosecute" -- just to scare future buyers/sellers on ebay.

This has always been Apple's M.O.

They did this with Gizmodo and iPhone 4-- but what didn't make as many headlines was that the whole thing was thrown out a few weeks ago. Funny how that headline was buried in the media. Apple lawyers will destroy anyone in their path and get what they want back.

"After a consideration of all of the evidence, it was determined that no charges would be filed against employees of Gizmodo," the district attorney's office said in a statement.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2390821,00.asp
 
Apple's not going to pay him. They should, it's not like it would affect them at all anyway. Apple is turning into Big Brother (lolz anyone? first commercial? anyone?) but we already have Google for that. Apple, be nice.

Right like they'd ever read these articles.

And Apple seems to think they can just pull an auction like that. No one should be that powerful. When the trade system fails because some corp. is being a douchbag then another piece of the world dies inside me. And there isn't much there anymore.
 
al256 said:
Clearly more Apple retail employees should read MacRumors. I know I'd spot Apple's prototype-red logic board.
Click to expand...

lol, but i think they can get fired (someone told me that here a while back).


Well i don't see that he is at any fault, he put it up for auction and apple asked him to take it down. As i see it he didn't have to take it down from auction, but he did and like someone said some finders fee law is in place so he should get that. If he looses out from the difference of 70,000 well that sucks but like someone else said it would be a nice CEO transition with the public if they give him the 70grand. And if apple sues him well there mean i don't know what to say.
 
zub3qin said:
"After a consideration of all of the evidence, it was determined that no charges would be filed against employees of Gizmodo," the district attorney's office said in a statement.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2390821,00.asp
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"We represent a 22-year-old young man, Brian Hogan, who has never been in trouble with the law. Brian is extremely remorseful for not having done more to return the cell phone he found," attorneys for Hogan said in a statement. "Although we do not believe that charges of any kind should have been filed, Brian fully accepts responsibility for his actions. We are working cooperatively with the district attorney to resolve this misdemeanor charge promptly."
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Gizmodo wasn't the only party involved, you know?
 
Bonfire said:
This is way too confusing. So it is real then?
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real in the sense that Apple doesn't like its prototypes to be floating around the world.

The part I cannot figure out is why would some guy buy a Mac that no one on earth other than an Apple employee has seen and think its real.


I am pretty sure the only two reasons Apple knows about it are A)we are talking about it and B) some guy was dumb enough to take a Mac that was never made for public consumption and attempt to get it repaired.

I am sorry if this sounds rude but it just seems like some guy really didnt do his homework on buying stuff from places like Craigslist or Ebay-if you haven't seen it before and no one else has seen it before, its likely a fake or a prototype and taking it for SERVICE is likely to cause problems.
 
If I had my hands on it, I would have kept it knowing it's rare. :D
I'm sure Apple only wants it back because it's confidential, try probably don't care about the cimputed, just that it's a special design.
I know my mom's work place cares about the confidential government military data WAY more than the computers themselves.

I'm sure apple feels the same way. But If someone kept it and kept their mouth shut, I'm sure apple would have been fine with it.


Just a guess here.
 
Darth.Titan said:
Apple won't pay him a dime for it. The guy bought it from Craigslist, and the seller he purchased it from probably got it via less than legal means. The guy who currently has the prototype could easily be charged with possession of stolen property, and the average Joe can't afford to go up against Apple in court.
Click to expand...

Given the details, I'm not sure that's true. You have to prove, or have convincing evidence, that someone has knowledge that the property is stolen to convict them of possession of stolen property. This can apply to buying things on craigslist that there is a very good reason to believe had been stolen, but I'm not sure I see any reasonable expectation for Joe here to have know this was stolen. Even the article doesn't say if it was stolen. If it was stolen, I suspect Apple may have mentioned something about that, or it might have leaked out somehow.

This has been a particularly odd story, so who knows what the real deal is. However, if this is in my hands, and I'd do just about all that is reasonable to keep it or get a fair price for it. Apple might have more money than god, but the law is the law, money can only help so much. And even if your odds are long, and you don't have much money to put into, you might be surprised what lawyers would take up the case and only ask for a portion of the fee or sale price. Beating a name like Apple in a property dispute would certainly be a huge feather in someone's cap.

Anyway, this is a lot of spitballing without too many details...
 
As me and the man in question (Carl Frega) have talked about means regarding the prototype iPhone I am in possession of, I am siding with Mr. Frega on this argument, and that he should be allowed to keep the computer. It's years old and probably means nothing to them now.

And so that they don't take my Prototype iPhone motherboard that is in his possession right now to be fixed by him :p
 
For those who haven't seen the previous threads: I'm Carl Frega, heh.


I had actually been talking to Cnet all week, since the writer found the full backstory (especially the small claims part) interesting. He asked me if he could publish it, and I asked him to wait until I had heard something from Apple. Despite all my attempts I never did, so I finally said sure go ahead.

Then did Apple contact me . . . . directly, by phone. Quite possibly because Cnet contacted Apple PR to ask for comment before publishing. Their representative was very pleasant and polite actually, and we chatted for a while. He promised to call me back an hour later with a resolution. When he did they wanted to send an agent from Charlotte directly to me to recover the laptop immediately, tonight, and I didn't feel comfortable with that. Not based only on a phone call, with nothing at all in writing, and in the middle of the night (by the time they would reach Raleigh).

I said I needed to consult my lawyer, since I had promised I would do so before taking any action regarding the machine, and that we will take the matter back up first thing in the morning. I'll let him handle the matter from here rather than dealing with Apple directly, and hopefully everyone will be happy with the outcome. I actually rather like Apple and their products, so try not to bash too much guys! They haven't really done anything wrong at this point.
 
regarding the above post i hope it works out without you getting sued, if you do i hope you win. as much as i like apple i don't like when they sue in this particular matter. Good luck!
 
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If Apple pays him an exorbitant amount for the return of the prototype, they would be setting a precedent.

This will only encourage employees to allow more prototypes to fall through the cracks in hopes of garnering financial benefits.

I'm even more surprised that Apple absolved themselves of an opportunity to keep this entire incident quiet simply by winning the eBay auction in the first place.

Perhaps this bit of news may have just fostered the fake prototype market in China?
 
Apple would have to prove this was a purchased stolen item.

If Apple is now claiming the item was stolen, why did it take them four or more years?

And maybe they have already reported it stolen it which case this guy should immediately comply.
 
evilroot said:
For those who haven't seen the previous threads: I'm Carl Frega, heh.
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I'm sure we'd all like to know how it turns out (assuming you are who you say you are). But now you've got to realize that at some point, the guy you got it from, or the guy he got it from, at some point somebody stole the thing from Apple. I doubt they care about the hardware itself, so much as the design ideas it demonstrates.
 
RoboCop001 said:
Agreed. I suppose just because they work at Apple stores doesn't mean they have as much interest as we would. Hell, I probably know more than most Geniuses, if my last encounter was anything to go by.

Meh, not that I expect them to. I guess it would be like expecting someone working at Gap to be all up on the rumours of new clothes haha.

But I don't know, there's a certain expectation when you work at an Apple store (or any tech store for that matter) that you're really really into the rumors and upcoming things :D
Click to expand...

Apple actively discourages employees from discussing rumors on the job. Being caught using a break room computer to visit this website, for example, would earn you a closed door talk with a manager. Their main concern is employees accidentally mentioning a rumor to a customer.

But in any case, I would be extremely embarrassed if I was that Genius or his manager. I know Apple's hiring standards for Geniuses are not what they used to be, but the service manuals Apple provides to them are sometimes illustrated with pictures of units with red circuit boards. You don't have to be a genius to figure out that the manuals are written based on prototypes. Oh wait...
 
Just a thought/angle to consider maybe: Apple could be on the hook for letting a product out in the wild that hasn't gotten FCC clearance.
 
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