New photos of rare Apple Watch prototypes give us a sneak peek at pre-production versions of Apple’s first ever smartwatch.
The prototypes, which date back to early 2014 — a year before Apple Watch made its official debut — were discovered at an unspecified e-waste facility. Their new owner plans to restore them before selling them on.
Getting your hands on prototype Apple devices is incredibly difficult. It is certainly not common for them to make their way into the public domain. And yet, Italian developer Giulio Zompetti has a bunch of them.
His latest haul is half a dozen early Apple Watch prototypes that were used for testing before Apple added its finishing touches. They include all kinds of interesting markings, QR codes, and logos — including one that looks like a Star Wars Death Star — that signify they are indeed pre-production units.
Apple Watch prototypes uncovered
Although some of the units look just like final Apple Watch models, others carry slight design differences. One has sensor lenses on its back unlike anything we’ve seen before, while all have temporary model numbers.
Photo: Giulio Zompetti
Some carry logos we’ve seen on prototype Apple devices before. This, coupled with their resemblance to final Apple Watch models, suggests they are genuine Apple devices, rather than Apple Watch clones made by a third party.
Sadly, the prototypes do not power up yet, so we don’t know what kind of software they are running. Some may contain interesting operating systems or apps used for testing that we haven’t seen before.
Photo: Giulio Zompetti
The units look pretty beaten up, but according to Motherboard, Zompetti hopes to restore them and get them working again before selling them for “thousands of dollars.” Maybe then we’ll find out more about their software.
A rare find
It might seem baffling that these prototype devices were discovered at an electronic waste facility. We know Apple uses these to dispose of hardware, but it is odd that it would trust any third party with sensitive prototype devices.
Many of the Apple prototypes we’ve seen in the past do contain software that Apple wouldn’t want to be leaked. You might think Apple would dispose of devices like this itself, or keep them under lock and key for future reference.
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
