14 DAY TRIAL // An iPhone 4 prototype has emerged on eBay attracting bids that currently net over $1,700 to whomever is selling it. Apple / eBay are yet to intervene. The sale could well get both the seller and the buyer in trouble.
Originally discovered by This Is My Next and listed on eBay as “Apple iPhone 4 black APPLE GENUINE PROTOTYPE, TESTER”, the device appears to be a genuine prototype with notable features such as the five Xs appearing where the model number should be.
There are also no plus and minus symbols on the volume buttons, and the unit is virtually unusable as a phone (or for anything an iPhone does for that matter), as it cannot be activated.
Most notably, the unit has a “DF1692″ marking etched on to the front and back glass plates.
As the folks at Cultofmac point out, this code is the unique identifier of a prototype device used to keep track of it.
It can also give away the identity of the employees this unit was assigned to. Needless to point out, this could well get that employee in a world of trouble.
At the time of this writing, the current bid was US $1,725.00.
It has been reported that the auction once reached an incredible one million dollars.
However, the price soon went back to normal (if we were to consider $1,750 for a useless phone ‘normal’) as the seller canceled some illegitimate bids.
“Due to non-legitimate bidders I am canceling ‘some’ bidders and I am requesting all potential buyers to EMAIL ME FIRST. If you don’t email me OR If you don’t have ‘appropriate feedback’ your bid will be cancelled. Thank you,” he wrote.
Apple has lost several iPhone 4 prototype units, the first of which famously got technology site Gizmodo scraped off the invitee lists at the company’s events.