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Rare Original Apple Watch Prototypes Surface
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Collectors would snap these up in a heartbeat. Having a prototype means you have something other people don't.
I'm guessing he just bought them from eBay - Paypal receipt?That's how I usually get mine. Whilst we are on rare samples, here's an unreleased S1 with LTE:
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The ones in the main article are older and probably worth more TBH.
Here's one of the test boards that came with it - this board is for an S2 or S3, but missing the clamp in the middle to hold the chip in. These are used for SOC/Radio testing - the reflection on the packet is hiding the LEDs and FTDI/lightning connectors at the top
View attachment 905903
If they were sourced from eWaste facilities that contracted to destroy the items; he will have a hard time not giving them back to Apple.
I'm sure they log where they send stuff for destruction and the company is contracted to destroy.
Someone will be fired and if Apple sues; he'll be anding the property of Apple back to Apple.
The Apple Watch still feels like a miracle. An entire computer should not be able to fit on a wrist, specially one that you can raise your arm and talk to and that can answer you back with information. As an 80s kid, something like this is straight out of The Future which always appeared 50 years away, no matter how many years passed.
I’d say wearOS has been left behind by both watchOS and Fitbit. Seems like google’s heart isn’t into it anymore. It had a lot of promise as an Apple Watch competitor and now the state of it is just kind of sad.
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If it was the same particular Lorem Ipsum, I don’t agree with that assertion, and it’s easy to explain why; notice how it’s present on the model with the final sensor array? As a matter of fact, I’m pretty certain they had already decided by then on all the information to include… But let’s break it down, shall we?
The WATCH string is already present there, with the exact number of characters, albeit replaced with Xs and that mangled Death Star-inspired logo;
The same goes for the “38/42MM CASE” string, albeit with a discrete and a bit weird “88XX BANE” wording instead;
And in what is, for me, the dead giveaway, notice how after the Lorem Ipsum there’s an “IUM” outlier on the exact same spot where the end of the “7000 SERIES ALUMINIUM” string would fall (I own a Series 0 Sport, and I just checked).
What I’m guessing is that when they had that series of prototypes made they had the design nearly finalized and were maybe unsure about the final materials to use (such as, say, the ceramic vs. composite back or the Ion-X vs. sapphire glass), but definitely did not want to give away any details about the product name (interestingly, “iWatch” would not fit, though), its size or [some of] its [possible] materials, so they just haphazardly deleted and replaced most of the text with similarly-sized placeholders.
I am, of course, thinking here as a graphic designer, who also does the exact same thing for clients all the time. I even have some methods to avoid letting them slip into final artwork, such as searching for “xx” in my documents. So far, I managed to catch them all.
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I agree. Back when Android Wear first came out, it was insane how good it looked. Super simple, card based Google Now interface, and tons of potential. I bought a Moto 360 2nd gen to go with a Nexus 6 I was using, and it was horrendous. It felt like Google had completely forgotten Wear after just 2 years of it being on the market, and when compared with watchOS 1.0, Android Wear still wasn‘t even half as good (Apple fanboy goggles off). Stuttering, lagging, glitches, random reboots, and other problems plagued it.
I wish Wear would’ve planned out, it had a lot of promise. That being said, it doesn’t surprise me that it’s dead since Google drops projects after only a short time of working on them.
Also, another detail that everyone else seems to have missed: the earlier model with the weird, all-over-the-place labels and three-in-line sensor array would be physically unworkable as it features a bit of a design/engineering anomaly.
Maybe that prototype series in particular was never intended to go into production and was just cobbled together for early testing of the sensors, as it absolutely had to be charged via the diagnostics/store display connector pads; notice how the induction charging coil – which might’ve been a production part placed there by the collector, who intends to “restore” it – obstructs the outermost holes and their sensors…
The final production lozenge-shaped, four-sensor array, on the other hand, obviously fits neatly into that circular coil without being obstructed in any way. I am guessing induction charging was something decided upon even before the first prototype was ever built, as leaving an exposed port and expecting users to plug a damn cable to the thing every night would be the most un-Apple thing ever.
I should know that, because I use – and recharge – one daily and just having to place it on the puck stuck in a little ElevationLab stand is what makes that ritual bearable and actually a bit enjoyable.
Maybe that prototype series in particular was never intended to go into production and was just cobbled together for early testing of the sensors, as it absolutely had to be charged via the diagnostics/store display connector pads; notice how the induction charging coil – which might’ve been a production part placed there by the collector, who intends to “restore” it – obstructs the outermost holes and their sensors…
The final production lozenge-shaped, four-sensor array, on the other hand, obviously fits neatly into that circular coil without being obstructed in any way. I am guessing induction charging was something decided upon even before the first prototype was ever built, as leaving an exposed port and expecting users to plug a damn cable to the thing every night would be the most un-Apple thing ever.
I should know that, because I use – and recharge – one daily and just having to place it on the puck stuck in a little ElevationLab stand is what makes that ritual bearable and actually a bit enjoyable.
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Prototypes remain the legal property of Apple regardless of where they were ahem “sourced” from. Even if this guy did come across them via e-waste facilities, if Apple wanted them back or to stop him selling them, they can.
No. They don’t. And they can’t. It doesn’t matter if they are prototypes, production, etc. it just doesn’t.
Garbage is garbage. Once disposed, Apple is no longer the owner.
If they were stolen, that is different.