Early iPhone prototype image revealed online

PanARMENIAN.Net - An early prototype of Apple's iPhone has been revealed with a screen that measures around 8.6 inches on the diagonal, almost as big as the iPad, Digital Spy said.

Various early versions of the Apple smartphone have surfaced over the years on the internet, but most have been close in proportions to the original iPhone that was released in 2007.

However, Ars Technica has secured a very early Apple in-house prototype of the device that dates back to early 2005.

The prototype, handed over by a former Apple employee who was exposed to early development of the iPhone, is very large, measuring around 5-inches by 7-inches, and being two inches thick.

The screen is thought to measure a whopping 8.6-inches on the diagonal, just short of the 9.7-inch display in the iPad.

"Seems large now," the unnamed source said, "but at the time it was really impressive seeing basically a version of [Mac operating system] OS X running on it."

The prototype appears to have more in common with a Mac than an iPhone, as it features an ethernet port, USB ports and a serial port on the device.

Apple did not intend to include these on the final product, rather they were included to make it easier to operate in development, the source said.