On the 20th anniversary of Apple’s former CEO, Steve Jobs releasing the Apple iPod. To commemorate this milestone, Cabel Sasser of app developer Panic has posted an exclusive photo of an extremely early Apple iPod first prototype. Here is what the first prototype of the iPod looks like.
Apple iPod First Prototype
The prototype looks like a children’s toy. A simple, big and yellow casing can be seen with 4 buttons and a small grey display. This was way bigger than the actual iPod size. The birthdate of this prototype according to Cabel is September 3 2001.
The internals contain the Apple name and other identifying marks, such as the “SPG Development” sticker, that would indicate it is authentic. The small display runs the iPod software and has 4 buttons vertically arranged below. It has 3 ports on the sides. One is the charging port “FireWire”, a standard headphone jack, and a connector known as “JTAG” that is said to assist with debugging on the device.
We see a lot of empty space inside the case of the prototype. It may be so that they have enough room to experiment with other components before the final release. The case is in fact so big that around 3 – 4 first-gen iPods could fit inside.
Tony Fadel who is known as the father of the iPod also shared some comments regarding the iPod prototype; “This is a P68/Dulcimer iPod prototype we (very quickly) made before the true form factor design was ready. Didn’t want it to look like an iPod for confidentiality – the buttons placement, the size – it was mostly air inside – and the wheel worked (poorly)”
So, what do you guys think about the Apple iPod first prototype? Share your thoughts in the comments.
