Seller claims he bought it on craigslist from a guy in San Jose, 1.5 years ago

Feb 17, 2010 14:10 GMT  ·  By

Prototype Apple products always make waves, and this item should be no different. Listed as “PROTOTYPE - Apple 17" MacBook Pro - Red Motherboard,” a computer purporting to be coming from Apple’s tool shed has surfaced on eBay. The current bid is of US $255.00, but that’s because it’s not fully functional. According to its owner, however, there appears to be a small malfunctioning that can be easily remedied.

“Im selling my Apple 17" MacBook Pro Prototype,” the seller writes, providing the specs: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5 GHZ, 512MB Video Card, 250 GB Hard Drive, 2 GB RAM. He then proceeds to include a short history of how he got his hands on the computer, when and how it stopped working for him, and so on.

“I bought this 1.5 years ago on craigslist from a guy in San Jose,” the seller explains. “It worked fine until I finished doing my finals and put it to sleep. I woke the next morning to turn it on and it starts to turn on for 3 seconds and then dies. If I hold the power button it starts to turn on for 5 seconds and then dies.”

He adds, “I scheduled an appointment with the apple store and they told me that this laptop doesn't exist and that its a prototype because it has a red mother board.” “[The] only thing i could do is get it fixed by an authorized Apple repair store or sell it,” the post reads on. “I decided to sell it. I have no idea what is wrong with it but if your an computer guy you might still fix it because it still shows signs of life,” he reveals.

Telling potential buyers he can also provide pictures of the device in working state, the seller notes that his prototype Mac should make a good collectors item, or at least a good source of spare parts. “The screen is still good, Hard Drive is good and allot [sic] of other parts are good,” he says.

Softpedia note

You don't think this is the same 'Prototype Laptop' Stolen from Apple’s Campus, do you?