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Every iPhone Prototype Apple Ever Made Before They Released The First iPhone
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- neatoincognito 14y agoIt's also very similar to the iPod mini and the second-generation iPod nano.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- mmackh 14y agoI'm just sort of curious if Samsung is going to release prototypes and design sketches on their end too.
- kalleboo 14y agoThey did http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20120726121512518 http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20120726121512518 Search in page for "the following designs Samsung was considering"
- samstave 14y agoI love the beveled octagonal one. I'd love to have a phone like that. We're these all with working electronics? Or just case studies?
- nirvana 14y agoBattlestar Galactica fan, by any chance? These are pictures of case studies. Don't know if they were turned into prototypes ever or not, and probably won't know because it's not relevant to the court case (I believe.)
- veyron 14y agoOriginal source: http://allthingsd.com/20120729/court-case-offers-rare-glimpse-at-dozen-of-iphone-and-ipad-prototype-designs/#slideshow-1-49 http://allthingsd.com/20120729/court-case-offers-rare-glimps...
- msutherl 14y agoGoes to show what it takes to achieve excellence: lots of trial and error. Produce at least 3 alternatives for every design decision (Bill Buxton agrees).
- cooldeal 14y agoThe ones with the Sony and "Jony" logos are missing? http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/26/3189309/apple-sony-iphone-design-inspiration-iphone-4-looked-old http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/26/3189309/apple-sony-iphone-...
- georgespencer 14y agoThose weren't prototype iPhones, IMO. They were created to illustrate the vision a Sony designer described in a newspaper interview.
- cooldeal 14y agoMaybe at the time they weren't and thus not relevant to the lawsuit, but they look very very similar to the iPhone 4/4S.
- georgespencer 14y agoNope: http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/30/3201162/apple-refutes-claim-they-cribbed-notes-from-sony-reveal-prototype http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/30/3201162/apple-refutes-clai...
- ljf 14y agoOdd seeing the 'home' button called 'menu' in the p2 mock up below the Sony/Jony gallery.
- user49598 14y agoThe first one with the 2-tone metal back is still the prettiest IMHO. And it seemed the sturdiest. A drop resulted in a dent, not a crack or finger shaving glass shards.
- stevejabs 14y agoAbsolutely amazing how many of those reflect the design used in later models of the iPhone. Before the first was even made they had the 3G/3GS prototype, some that closely resemble the iPhone 4/4S and even the iPad. Absolutely awesome!
- dclowd9901 14y agoIt's amazing to see how "off" those other designs look. It's almost as though the finalized design is the way the phone "should" be and every other design is a failure. It seems like great design is really just a product of discovering how a product should naturally take shape, rather than dictating style. I think this is what separates Apple's product designs from everyone else.
- draz 14y agoi actually thought this design closely resembles the 4S: http://cultofmac.cultofmaccom.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Screen-shot-2012-07-29-at-L-1.jpeg http://cultofmac.cultofmaccom.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uplo... I saw a few other designs that reminded me of other versions. It made me wonder whether this 4S design, for example, was the original intent, but engineering restrictions at the time did not allow for this execution. Will we be seeing future iPhone designs resembling one of these?
- wtallis 14y agoIt looks to me like that early 4-style prototype has much thicker glass on the front and back. I'm pretty sure it took Apple and their manufacturers a while to figure out how to the super-thin glass of the current phones.
- myko 14y agoMore likely you've just become so accustomed to the final design it looks 'right' to you while the rest look 'wrong'.
- RandallBrown 14y agoPretty surprised how much some of the prototypes look like phones released by other companies years later. Especially the one that looks like the Nokia Lumia 900. http://screencast.com/t/HH3IofCS http://screencast.com/t/HH3IofCS
- grecy 14y agoIn the Jobs biography it's mentioned that mere months before the iPhone was released they realized they needed more focus on the screen, so they completely redesigned it. I wonder which design was "almost" it.
- Cushman 14y agoIt's fascinating how you can see other manufacturers' production designs hidden among these prototypes, too. It makes it pretty obvious that although some designs are obvious, where most companies design a product, produce a prototype, tweak it and send it to manufacturing, Apple designs a product, produces a prototype, tweaks it, sends it to manufacturing, then takes a look at the finished version and gets ready to start over from scratch if it isn't perfect. It almost lends some credence to Apple's claims of trade dress infringement that have been so widely mocked. Most manufacturers released their own take on a smartphone to not much acclaim before settling on something very like an iPhone. Apple cries foul, to which the gadget using populace replies, "Come on, this is obvious-- there's only so many shapes it could be. Quit whining." So Apple goes, "Yes, and it took us forty-five revisions to figure it out. It took our competitors two. It's almost as if they had some help, isn't it? Do you really think it's easy to work out the exact shape that something should be? Do you think it's free?" Not saying it's clear cut, but it's swayed me quite a bit in their direction.
- fireflash38 14y agoHow do you know that Apple's competitors only had 2 revisions?
- Cushman 14y agoOf course, I don't really think that, I'm sure they spend a great deal of time and effort on design. I was just struck by how many of the designs Apple thought were almost good enough to sell other companies took a look at and thought, eh, close enough.
- kalleboo 14y agoIf you don't think other manufacturers have dropped designs, you're fooling yourself. The difference is that Apple makes only product at a time, so other manufacturers can experiment at bit with different designs, whereas Apple can only release one of their designs. When other manufacturers drop a design, it's not dropping a design, it's dropping a product.
- lewisgodowski 14y agoInteresting to get a look inside Apple's design lab. Would love to see them all in chronological order of development.