iPad prototype appears on eBay with dual 30-pins

[javajolt]

Your one and only chance to own an official landscape-oriented iPad may be here, ladies and gentlemen, ad an eBay seller has one that they want to unload on you. The auction appeared in the last 24 hours with not one, but two 30-pin dock connectors, one in the normal position, the other on the long end of the tablet. This device seems to confirm the validity of the original dual-port iPad cases that popped up before the original iPad was released in 2010.

Device running Apple's Switch Board diagnostic software

This device has 16GB of storage and is in near-working condition. In effect, this was supposed to be a tester device for Apple, it seems, but never made it past the viewing floor. The internal parts are said by the seller to be prototypes, each of them except for the battery which was removed for one reason or another before being whisked away into the wild where it rests now. There’s also no securing clip to hold down the device’s display flex cable and the touchscreen is “sporadic” as it’s noted – not the best tablet in the world if you’re looking for a working device, shall we say.

Original iPad prototype auction showing landscape dock connector and internals

The iPad is one of the most iconic devices in mobile history, certainly setting the stage in many ways for our modern mobile world of many device screen sizes. Because of this, you can expect two things – first, that the auction will go up past its current sale price of of $4,800. The seller is offering a "buy it now" option for $10,000 through direct message. Second, that Apple will demand that this device be returned to them where it will be swiftly destroyed. Buyer beware, this may not be the most legal of situations – no guarantees!

[javajolt]

It may not have a Retina display or quad-core graphics. Hell, it’s not even brand new, or even very clean. But it’s a freak of iPad nature, and it just sold on eBay for $10,200.
 
As if witnessing the spectacle of a two-headed snake, Apple enthusiasts were awed by this prototype of the original iPad, which includes not one, but two dock connectors. Like all hardware companies, Apple creates a number of prototype designs to test product durability and performance, and flesh out ideas.

In this particular hardware study, it would appear that Apple was imagining a tablet that would have a dock connector positioned for both landscape mode and the portrait mode orientation with which we’re all familiar. It’s worth noting that Apple even went so far as to file a patent for the dual-dock connecting beast.
 
Whoever won the eBay auction paid a hefty price for a device that is “fully functional apart from the touch screen,” according to the listing. The seller noted that the clip that holds the display’s flex cable could be replaced, and that holding the connector down leads to sporadic touch functionality.

The nearly useless iPad is running Apple’s SwitchBoard suite, which is used for software debugging. The installed software, along with the second dock connector, helps substantiate the seller’s claim that the device is a prototype.

It’s not unprecedented to see Apple prototypes showing up on eBay. An Apple TV prototype from 1995 sold on the auction site for $46. A MacBook Pro with a rabbit ears and a MacBook Air prototype appeared on the auction site in 2008. The MacBook Air prototype was later returned to Apple in exchange for a refurbished Macbook Air, and the MacBook Pro with the 3G antenna was returned to Apple by the original eBay seller.

The iPad prototype was purchased Monday night by an anonymous bidder. Now we play the waiting game to see if Apple wants it back.

Via AppleInsider