Imagine what it would have been like if Apple actually rolled out the 5” x 7” Apple prototype back in 2007 as their iPhone, perhaps they would not have become the tour de force that they now are in the smartphone world, and BlackBerry would have continued to be known as RIM and QWERTY-style smartphones would remain as popular as ever, perhaps even more so. What you see above is an iPhone prototype circa 2005 that carries a massive 5″ by 7″ screen, while carrying a whole slew of ports ranging from Ethernet to USB and a serial port. This does seem to be more of a development kit for Apple’s engineers compared to a device for the masses.
A 5” x 7” display surely places this prototype closer to the 7.9” iPad mini of today, and it is interesting to know that this prototype never made it to the final production line. Perhaps Steve Jobs himself had a say in it, touting that 7” tablets are, and I quote, “dead on arrival”. On the other hand, had this been released and become a hit, it might have ushered in the tablet era earlier than now.
Filed in . Read more about Prototype.