Every year after the release of the new iPhone, various Apple analysts will do a mysterious ceremony.
That's right, that's predicting the next iPhone...
So much so that the brothers felt that Cook watched their revelations before producing mobile phones.
In the eyes of the machine brother, the Apple prototype in the current revelation is really not exciting enough.
Why do you want to ask?
That's because the machine brother has seen that when Apple once made a prototype, it was called an imagination, that was called a surprise.
If you don't believe me, let me give you a few examples.
16 years ago, I already thought about what the full-screen iPad looked like
iPad Air 4, followed by a full screen similar to iPad Pro.
However, let's recall, when did the iPad product line start to change shape? That's right, it started with the 2018 iPad Pro.
At that time, it suddenly evolved from a mold with a home button with a thick border to a modern look, which was really amazing.
(Left: old model, right: new model)
At the same time, it seems that Apple is also announcing that after the iPhone, the iPad product line will also cut off the round home button one after another.
However, the machine brother here to say but.
The original prototype of the iPad did not have the Home button.
The "beginning" here even predates the release of the original iPad in 2010, and even before the release of the original iPhone in 2007.
In 2002, Apple has made a prototype of the iPad, and there was no name for "iPad" at that time, but it was called "035 prototype".
Below, put on your seat belt and sit firmly!
From the back, the "035 prototype" is almost the same as every subsequent generation of iPad, with a large Apple logo in the middle. The only difference is that there was no camera behind it.
I just don't know if it is limited by the technology of 2002, the thickness of the iPad prototype, that is quite thick.
The machine brother visually measured that it was 1 unit to top 3 units of the thickness of the current iPad Pro.
Even compared to the original iPad in 2010, it still looks a lot thicker:
However, the "extremely advanced" 3.5mm headphone jack, it seems that Apple also did it in that year.
Next, don't blink, here's the point.
If we look at it on the front...
Brother Ji now throws this picture out, you come to tell me, is this a product of 2018, or a product of 2002?
Apple actually made a prototype 16 years ago when the full-screen iPad was born.
Holding it in your hand, it is not far from holding a full-screen iPad now, in addition to the thickness.
The machine brother also did not know, and then the official version of the iPad, also did a round home button, whether it wanted to synchronize with the iPhone, or that the technology of the year was not yet full screen?
It's just that after the iPhone X cut the Home button in 2017, the iPad Pro in 2018 also cut the Home button, perhaps hoping that the design language of the two product lines will be consistent.
But looking at these age-rich pictures, the machine brother remembered one thing.
When Jobs died, some people said that he had planned apple's products for the next 20 years.
At that time, we all thought that this was a remembrance of him, but now it seems that what may be said is true.
After looking at the iPad prototype, the machine brother knows that everyone must want to see what the iPhone prototype captain looks like.
This time, please also fasten your seat belts, because things have reversed again.
Less verbose, first look at things:
(The iPhone prototype image in this article comes from The Verge)
What the? Doesn't this thing look like a computer motherboard? You lied to me that this is the iPhone?
If you ask these questions, don't get excited.
The iPhone prototype is not a phone
In 2019, Apple authorized the public display of the prototype board of the original iPhone for the first time, that is, the gadget above, and gave it a code name: M68.
Apple took apart all the parts of the iPhone, including the processor, baseband, charging port, etc., and assembled it into this prototype version.
Why not just make a decent prototype?
It is not that it cannot be done, but based on the need for confidentiality.
The brother remembered that the new Apple products of the Jobs era, the secrecy work was done quite well. He's not going to launch a conference, and we don't know what Apple is going to send.
Now Apple...
And with an epoch-making product like the first iPhone, secrecy is naturally more powerful.
So, until a few months before the release of the original iPhone in 2007, Apple used this prototype board internally for communication.
Even if someone picks it up, it is difficult to guess the final form of this machine.
Until Jobs used the king to fry:
Since then, mobile phones have transitioned from the era of feature phones to the current era of smart phones.
Of course, the iPhone will still honestly make a prototype in the late stage of development.
By convention, Apple's iPhone prototype will be kept secret unless it publishes itself.
But there are a few exceptions.
Do you remember apples and Samsung's century battle ten years ago?
After Apple launched the original iPhone, Samsung also released its own Galaxy phone.
But roar, in addition to the appearance, there are details such as sliding unlocking, Samsung looks very similar to Apple.
Therefore, Apple took Samsung to court: you old comrade did not talk about martial arts, but copied me.
In the process of litigation, Apple released a sketch of the development of the iPhone prototype in 2012 in order to prove it.
So we had the opportunity to see all kinds of strange iPhone designs.
For example, the following one is not a bit familiar:
Does the hunchback iPhone design remind you of anyone?
Isn't this the design of Apple's smart battery case in recent years?
It seems that Jobs did leave a valuable legacy for Apple.
For example, when Apple made the original iPhone, it also considered other shapes:
This polygon, the brother seems to see the future Meitu mobile phone.
And the square iPhone front design, Apple is not unthinkable:
It's just that the more the machine brother looks at it, the more familiar it feels, and it is not the iPhone 12, but the Xperia of Sony Dafa next door calls the insider:
In addition, the iPhone has retained the mute button on the body until now, in fact, apple has many designs at the beginning.
Including the depth of the keys, whether there are small bells...
And that's just part of What Apple has announced.
Who knows how many iPhone prototypes Apple has hidden that we haven't seen before?
Now Apple...
So, Apple used to be in the prototype stage, it was really a big brain hole, exploring the various forms of mobile phones, tablets, computers, headphones and other products.
Perhaps the final product we see now is a more reasonable solution from many prototypes after countless trade-offs.
And now Apple, the burden of history is too heavy.
The traditional mobile phone form has been fixed, and it is destined to be only minor repairs.
Tablets and computers are the products of more than ten years and decades of development, and the form has gradually stabilized.
Today, it may be difficult to see the time when innovation from the inside out is the same...
...... Do you?
Not necessarily.
If the old pattern has stabilized, why not find a new way out?
In recent years, Apple folding screens, Apple AR glasses, Apple smart cars... The news gradually came to light, and some even said that it would be officially available in the next few years.
Maybe today, their prototypes have been made, but we just don't know.
However, the most frightening thing is that the exploration of new technologies has been stopped.
Historically, countless manufacturers have fallen in the face of stopping innovation, and I hope that Apple and many manufacturers will remember it.