Early iPad prototypes surface in Apple v, Samsung
updated 07:33 am EDT, Fri July 27, 2012
More Apple prototypes surface ahead of court case against Samsung
If you ever wondered what Apple was working on over the many years of tablet rumors leading up to the iPad launch in 2010, the high-stakes court case between Apple and Samsung has already yielded more than most imagined likely. In addition to an iPhone prototypeinspired by Sony design aesthetics already revealed, new photos uncovered by The Verge have surfaced of iPad prototypes that have not previously been seen by the public.
From the pictures, it can be determined that Apple toyed with calling the iPad an iPod, experimented with 16:9 aspect ratio displays with thinner bezels as well as utilizing in-built kickstands. These now join an iPad prototype with dual dock connectors that sold on Ebay earlier this year, which revealed that Apple had considered giving users the option to dock the iPad in portrait mode as well as landscape mode. To date, none of these design elements has appeared on a shipping iPad.
Steve Jobs had often commented on how he was just as proud of the products that Apple chose not to ship - for Jobs these defined Apple as much as the iconic products that it actually ended up shipping. Jobs had indicated that Apple had been working on the iPad before he decided to implement the iPad OS in a smartphone. Patent applications for the iPad date back to 2004, showing that the highly refined product that Apple ultimately released had undergone numerous iterations and designs before it was considered fit to ship.
