I got some iPhone Prototypes

[Brooklyn8]

I don't post on here(yet) however I though some of you guys might think these are cool. I also hope maybe you can give me some advice on how to get one of them to power up.

I picked up 2 iPhone prototypes on the bay. The seller didn't know what they were, and just listed them as as-is parts units. Neither units say "iPhone" on them anywhere, or list the storage capacity. I did some research on the serial numbers, it appears they were both manufactured about 6 months before the release of the iPhone.

Phone #1:
-Doesn't turn on (tried leaving on charger for awhile, along with various reset procedures)
-Glass screen
-Serial number YM650xxxxxx which corresponds to a factory in China, manufactured week 50 of the year 2006. (The iPhone was announced on Jan 6 2007 and release June 29 2007.)

Phone #2:
-Powers on OK
-Plastic screen
-Serial number YM649xxxxxx which corresponds to a factory in China, manufactured week 49 of the year 2006.
-Runs iPhone OS 03.06.01_G (iPhone Launch OS 1.0 was version 03.11.02_G)

The phone that works is pretty neat to use. It does make calls(with my ATT sim), and I can surf the net. However when I did get to web pages they were the mobile versions, not the regular versions. I can receive SMS but not compose my own, other than 5 included test messages. It doesn't sync to itunes. Camera seems to work. It has tons of testing options. I included some pictures for you all, cause if I don't have pics it didn't happen

Also, the working phone has several subtitles that alternate on the screens including:

[Skank is the new black]
[Nine parts perspiration]
[Say hello to the Newton MessagePad 3000]
[Skankphone]

Two prototypes side to side: http://img119.imageshack.us/my.php?image=iphone1dw1.jpg

Back side of both models: http://img75.imageshack.us/my.php?image=iphone7pj1.jpg

Home screen of phone #2: http://img399.imageshack.us/my.php?image=iphone2go0.jpg

Dialing screen phone #2: http://img83.imageshack.us/my.php?image=iphone3bd3.jpg

Network band selection screen (quad band): http://img383.imageshack.us/my.php?image=iphone4ox2.jpg

Screen that shows the operation of various phone features: http://img352.imageshack.us/my.php?image=iphone5zz3.jpg

Browser(no page loaded): http://img383.imageshack.us/my.php?image=iphone6zd6.jpg

[The General]

Probably just need to restore with 2.2 and they will be fully functional. I vaguely remember someone getting an iPod Touch with that weird software on it. A DFU restore fixed it. It was fully functional afterwards.

[ppc750fx]

Originally Posted by The General

Probably just need to restore with 2.2 and they will be fully functional. I vaguely remember someone getting an iPod Touch with that weird software on it. A DFU restore fixed it. It was fully functional afterwards.

!!!!!

Don't do that! You'll lose a copy of the beta (alpha?) software. It's exceedingly rare, and there's no reason to destroy something like that.

I'd recommend getting in touch with some skilled embedded hackers and seeing if they can dump the flash of the units. Might find some interesting gems there... ;-)

[QuarterSwede]

This is truly a great find! It also seems to show you that the hardware team had no idea what the software team was working on as the buttons are all just place holders. My guess is that the software team had no idea what the hardware team had worked on either.

"Skank is the new black" Wow, that's one heck of an inside joke.

[Brooklyn8]

Yea, if there was a way to dump the firmware I would do it. Don't worry, I don't plan to wipe the working phone. Its possible that the current software wouldn't work anyway, as the hardware in this phone might not be the same as the hardware in the release version. I did try hooking the phone up to the computer in recovery mode to see if it would be detected ok, and I got a driver error message, even though I have the latest itunes.

[Chris Bangle]

That is an awesome ebay buy!!! Homescreens quite comical, (playground)

[Airforcekid]

Originally Posted by ppc750fx

!!!!!

Don't do that! You'll lose a copy of the beta (alpha?) software. It's exceedingly rare, and there's no reason to destroy something like that.

I'd recommend getting in touch with some skilled embedded hackers and seeing if they can dump the flash of the units. Might find some interesting gems there... ;-)

I would try to get in contact with the iPhone Dev team they may buy them from you or at least copy the firmware. DONT SYNC IN ITUNES ANYMORE!

[paulandre]

OOOoooooo nice! [IMG]http://**************/img/1858/y08m1110mhmd/2.gif[/IMG]

[Lucbert]

How cool is that??
One question: You said the iphones were manufactures 6 month before the release.
Jobs announced the iPhone exactly 6 month before it's release and when he did that it was already running the OSX Software.
How comes that the working iPhone is still running the dummy software?

[zap2]

wow!

those shots of #2 are cool!

how much they phone cost you?(if you don't mind me asking)

[veeco3110]

when i read the title, i thought "oh god another douche with a painted back iphone claiming to be the new 4g or osmething' but this is pretty bad ass...deff dont erase that. send a message to the dev team and see if they can do something for you.

[MST]

^ I second veeco3110's comments regarding contacting the dev team, would be interesting to see what they have to say, though I fear that because these are 2Gs they will be of little interest, still would be good to see if they could get the 1 working though.

[iParis]

Originally Posted by MST

^ I second veeco3110's comments regarding contacting the dev team, would be interesting to see what they have to say, though I fear that because these are 2Gs they will be of little interest, still would be good to see if they could get the 1 working though.

Actually, this is a 1G.
Due to the fact that it's a prototype, I would call it a .5G.

[MST]

^ 0.5G, I like it

[svndmvn]

Originally Posted by iParis

Actually, this is a 1G.
Due to the fact that it's a prototype, I would call it a .5G.

how do you know these phones aren't EDGE=2G?

[acfusion29]

I like the UI

I'm curious... can you take a pic of SMS? I'd like to see how that looks! Thanks

[iParis]

Originally Posted by svndmvn

how do you know these phones aren't EDGE=2G?

How do you know they are?

[iParis]

OMG..
That my friend, is a great find.
Tell us, how much was that?

Just as a joke, you should take it into the Apple Store and see what they can do.

[nickslivestri]

this is so cool!
i really like the matte screen too

[Darlyn]

Originally Posted by iObama

Obviously he's a big fat liar.

I don't know if you're serious, but the phones could just be field testing units. AT&T was sent prototypes for this purpose and somehow two of these phones ended up being sold. Steve was probably one of the few who had the release software on his iphone at the time.
Let me just quote:

Originally Posted by jav6454

That aside, I recall in the keynote of the iPhone that Steve had two separate teams working on the iPhone. One team dedicated to software with bogus hardware and another team working on hardware with bogus software. I recall this was to prevent the whole iPhone thing from going public (just like the Al MacBooks). It also meant very but very few people ever saw the whole device all together. I recall Steve saying only him, AT&T CEO and 8 other people had seen it.

[s1k0]

man your so lucky..

[seand1111]

I see you are selling them now.... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...lenotsupported

Ok, not listed any longer....what happened?

[Brooklyn8]

As many people predicted, Apple has contacted eBay to have the auction closed, and youtube to have the video removed. However the video has be reposted on youtube as well as other sites, so you can probably still find it to check it out.

[williamtcforsyt]

Originally Posted by Brooklyn8

I don't post on here(yet) however I though some of you guys might think these are cool. I also hope maybe you can give me some advice on how to get one of them to power up.

I picked up 2 iPhone prototypes on the bay. The seller didn't know what they were, and just listed them as as-is parts units. Neither units say "iPhone" on them anywhere, or list the storage capacity. I did some research on the serial numbers, it appears they were both manufactured about 6 months before the release of the iPhone.

Phone #1:
-Doesn't turn on (tried leaving on charger for awhile, along with various reset procedures)
-Glass screen
-Serial number YM650xxxxxx which corresponds to a factory in China, manufactured week 50 of the year 2006. (The iPhone was announced on Jan 6 2007 and release June 29 2007.)

Phone #2:
-Powers on OK
-Plastic screen
-Serial number YM649xxxxxx which corresponds to a factory in China, manufactured week 49 of the year 2006.
-Runs iPhone OS 03.06.01_G (iPhone Launch OS 1.0 was version 03.11.02_G)

The phone that works is pretty neat to use. It does make calls(with my ATT sim), and I can surf the net. However when I did get to web pages they were the mobile versions, not the regular versions. I can receive SMS but not compose my own, other than 5 included test messages. It doesn't sync to itunes. Camera seems to work. It has tons of testing options. I included some pictures for you all, cause if I don't have pics it didn't happen

Also, the working phone has several subtitles that alternate on the screens including:

[Skank is the new black]
[Nine parts perspiration]
[Say hello to the Newton MessagePad 3000]
[Skankphone]

Two prototypes side to side: http://img119.imageshack.us/my.php?image=iphone1dw1.jpg

Back side of both models: http://img75.imageshack.us/my.php?image=iphone7pj1.jpg

Home screen of phone #2: http://img399.imageshack.us/my.php?image=iphone2go0.jpg

Dialing screen phone #2: http://img83.imageshack.us/my.php?image=iphone3bd3.jpg

Network band selection screen (quad band): http://img383.imageshack.us/my.php?image=iphone4ox2.jpg

Screen that shows the operation of various phone features: http://img352.imageshack.us/my.php?image=iphone5zz3.jpg

Browser(no page loaded): http://img383.imageshack.us/my.php?image=iphone6zd6.jpg

PM me if you ever decide to sell these