Prototype Development Board of Original iPhone Surfaces in Never-Before-Seen Photos

[MacRumors]

The Verge has obtained never-before-seen photos of a development board for the original iPhone, providing an interesting look back at the measures Apple took to ensure the smartphone remained as much of a secret as possible.

The large circuit board contains nearly all of the original iPhone's components, including its processor, memory, storage, 30-pin dock connector, camera, home button, SIM card slot, and antennas for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. There are also some non-iPhone parts such as two Mini-USB connectors for accessing the baseband.

While this particular Engineering Validation Test (EVT) prototype has an iPhone display attached, the report notes that some boards were even supplied without the screen, meaning that many Apple engineers working on the original iPhone back in 2006-2007 had no idea what the handset would eventually look like.

The Verge's Tom Warren:

If an engineer inside Apple received a development board like this without a screen, component video and RCA connectors on the side of the board could be used to connect it to a display. Engineers could also test headphone connectivity, thanks to stereo line out ports on the side. Even the iPhone's main camera is mounted on the board for testing, and there's a giant space left to test the battery. If engineers didn't have a battery connected, a DC connector at the top can be used for external power. Apple also left room for what is marked as "prox flex" for proximity sensor testing.

Nowadays, Apple uses security shields for iPhone prototypes, but this early board is a fascinating look back at Apple's secrecy leading up to Steve Jobs' famous introduction of the iPhone. The full article is a worthwhile read.

Article Link: Prototype Development Board of Original iPhone Surfaces in Never-Before-Seen Photos

 

[xXRainKingXx]

Hmmm not sure it would fit in your pocket.

 

[DCIFRTHS]

...and I thought the MAX phones were too big

 

[yaxomoxay]

Pre-ordered!

 

[Edsel]

Yup...it would fit.

 

[Someone else]

So even the true OG didn't have a headphone jack.

 

[AngerDanger]

You know, if you squint your eyes so the rectangle looks a little more rounded, you can kind of see what they were going for…

 

[scrapesleon]

Looks bulky Wonder how many prototypes it took to built the original iPhone

 

[coumerelli]

I’m really disappointed that it doesn’t have a G5. This is the death nell for Apple. iPhone will never take off. RIP

 

[Niko Todd]

Imagine the original iPad...

 

[I7guy]

Interesting stuff for sure.

 

[44267547]

Fascinating to see how much technology has progressed today, compared to where it was all those years ago when you look at that circuitboard with the components displayed.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Imagine the original iPad...

here you go.

now, imagine the pipeline...

 

[sw1tcher]

So even the true OG didn't have a headphone jack.

The 3.5mm line in / out port next to serial port is what they would have used as the headphone jack

 

[macduke]

I was just looking at my original iPhone over the weekend and thought to myself "It's actually pretty amazing what they were able to do with this thing using 2007 technology."

 

[maverick2007]

Now they do more with eMoji board!!!! Lacks innovation IMHO. Need Steve successor. Buy Tesla I think Musk has all quality to lead Apple and take it to next level rather than innovating eMoji.

 

[sweet_man]

...avoids holding it in that way

 

[yossi]

What exactly is a security shield?
[doublepost=1553007621][/doublepost]

I was just looking at my original iPhone over the weekend and thought to myself "It's actually pretty amazing what they were able to do with this thing using 2007 technology."

More like 2005 technology since that is when they did the majority of the development.

 

[Palliser]

Was looking for the 5400rpm hard drive

 

[meaning-matters]

Something Steve Jobs' eyes have seen in demos

 

[Ivan0310]

So even the true OG didn't have a headphone jack.

Top-left--3.5mm IN/OUT. Try harder.

 

[xnu]

Why does it have an iPhone 4 attached to it?

 

[ralpa]

Tim Cook is better at this
He used iPhone X as the prototype of iPhone XS so no one would notice

 

[12vElectronics]

Love reading about this stuff.

 

[theluggage]

the report notes that some boards were even supplied without the screen, meaning that many Apple engineers working on the original iPhone back in 2006-2007 had no idea what the handset would eventually look like.

2 + 2 = 5

Maybe they did, maybe they didn't, but the display and touch screen is always going to be the hardest/most expensive thing to prototype, and people developing the 'background' system software wouldn't be worrying about the UI. If they'd waited for anything close to the finished hardware to be ready before starting software development they'd never have got a product out the door.

Apart from discrete components that would later be merged into custom chips I suspect that a lot of the size of that board is simply to spread things out so that test gear can be attached (hence the gazillion sockets) and enable circuit 'patches' to be made by hand. Its not like they were waiting for some magic new technology to come along to enable them to shrink this to iPhone size - its just that miniaturisation and custom chips are prohibitively expensive in small quantities.