This is what led to the appearance of the first iPhone

Jul 18, 2012 15:17 GMT  ·  By

The patent war between Samsung and Apple is as hot as ever, but it stands to show that some interesting things (in a good way) can still come out of even this type of mess.

It turns out that there was an iPad prototype back in the early 2000s. It's not clear exactly when, but the mockups dug up by Network World are supposed to have been in existence as far back as 2002 - 2004.

Now we know where all the rumors about the Apple tablet came from.

Not that it wasn't already clear enough, even back then, that such a thing was being developed. It just so happened that the company ended up using the concept of a touchscreen device to make the first iPhone instead.

The pictures came to light because they were included in some Apple court filings.

Apple's early tablet prototype (8 Images)

Apple's early tablet prototype
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