Extremely early images of an iPhone prototype have surfaced showcasing a massive 5-inch by 7-inch display and a bevy of I/O connections. The “handset” measured nearly two inches thick and predates the first iPhone launched in 2007 by two years according to a former Apple employee that worked on various hardware projects in the early 2000s as reported by Ars Technica.
As you can see, the device included a number of ports typically found on computers including an Ethernet jack, a serial port and even USB ports. As the publication points out, these connectivity options were never intended to make it into final production but rather were included to make working on the prototype easier for developers.
Interestingly enough, at the time of this prototype, nobody really knew what the final product would morph into. The product more resembles a crude iPad than the comparatively sleek iPhone that was shown a couple of years later. The unnamed source points out that it seems rather large now but at the time, it was impressive to see this sort of hardware running a version of OX S.
The source goes on to highlight the fact that Apple's top brass had a pretty good idea in 2005 of where the iPhone would end up from the looks of the logic board even if the final product ultimately became much more integrated. The ARM chip appears to be a variant of the Samsung S3C2410, an older and slower version of what eventually ended up in the first Apple phone.
