The Unveiling of a Prototype: A Look Behind Apple's Development Process

In this article, we take a deep dive into the world of Apple prototypes, exploring the story behind a unique MacBook Pro that sheds light on the company's development process. From its early beginnings to its eventual release, we examine the device's features, specifications, and history, providing an in-depth look at how Apple brought the Force Touch trackpad to life.

The Prototype Reveal

The prototype in question is a sleek and modern MacBook Pro with a unique logic board model number. Upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that this device is not your average consumer-grade laptop. The first thing that catches our attention is the absence of typical branding and labeling on the device. Instead, we see stickers and markings with various numbers and codes, which, as it turns out, reveal a wealth of information about the device's development.

The Serial Number

Running the serial number through an internal database yields a fascinating result: March 2014, the date of creation. This is just over six months before the laptop was released in its final version. Furthermore, when booting into single-user mode, we discover that the kernel revision dates back to August 17th, 2014 – a full year before the laptop's release. This early testing and development phase provides valuable insight into Apple's iterative design process.

The Machine Number

Taking a closer look at the palm rest, we find an intriguing code: machine number 175. According to our sources, this device was one of several prototype machines used in the development of the Force Touch trackpad. The "main" designation signifies that this was the primary test device for the configuration. It's remarkable to think about the countless prototypes and testing iterations that went into perfecting this technology.

Calibration and Testing

The purple sticker on the device appears somewhat ambiguous, but after some detective work with an engineer friend, we uncover its significance. The measurements "veh peak veh" and "lcr" refer to the calibration of the Force Touch sensors. This glimpse into Apple's testing process offers a unique perspective on how they honed in on this feature.

Surviving the Test of Time

After years of development, it appears that this prototype has become a relic of the past – or so one might assume. However, somehow, this device managed to survive and make its way into our hands seven years later. It's a testament to Apple's engineering prowess and their ability to keep prototypes under wraps.

A Piece of History

This unique MacBook Pro serves as a tangible connection to Apple's development process. By examining the device, we gain insight into the company's design decisions, testing methods, and attention to detail. While it may not be a functional device in its current state, this prototype has become an unlikely piece of history – a fascinating look behind the curtain at how technology is created.

A Special Thanks

We extend our gratitude to Apple Demo for making this incredible discovery possible. Their efforts allowed us to get our hands on this rare prototype and share its story with the world. We hope you've enjoyed this journey into the heart of Apple's development process, and we look forward to sharing more exciting content in the future.

A Parting Note

As we close this article, it's essential to acknowledge that this device is not meant for everyday use. Its significance lies in its place as a piece of history – a tangible representation of Apple's dedication to innovation and design excellence. If you appreciate the behind-the-scenes look at how technology comes to life, then this may be the perfect reminder that there's always more to explore beyond the surface level.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enupon first glance this looks like a perfectly normal last generation 15-inch retina macbook pro there's pretty much nothing special about it or so it seems take a closer look and you'll notice a sticker with the serial number printed on it on the side of the device and a qr code on the top case next to the hinge but things get really weird when you take the bottom case off of this device yeah really weird this is unlike any macbook you've ever seen before today's video is sponsored by gosund makers of affordable smart home devices their smart plugs and smart bulbs are a cost-effective way to make your home more convenient with alexa and google home voice control as well as seamless integration through the smartphone app with the gosund app you can easily adjust the color and brightness of their smart bulbs you can also link multiple bulbs to adjust them as a group with so much customization you could use them to create an ambiance in a gaming room or as a reading or bedside table light you can even schedule automation to have the lights wake you up in the morning and then turn off when you go to sleep at night plus all of this is super easy and controlled right on your phone like that you can also use the smart plug to control conventional appliances with ease these connect on any 2.4 gigahertz wi-fi network to set up groups and timers for example you could use them to connect a network of string lights that would ordinarily not have smart capabilities and you can also use it to turn off appliances that you don't want sapping power overnight you can find links to gosund products in the description below a pack of four smart bulbs comes in at under thirty dollars and a two pack of smart plugs is just sixteen and now back to the video alright so what the heck is going on here well as you may have guessed by now and i'm sure the title has informed you this is no ordinary macbook pro what it is is a very early prototype of what later became known as the best macbook pro ever made the mid 2015 15-inch retina macbook pro if you came across this macbook in a recycling center however you'd have no idea what exactly it is that's because if you open up the about this mac pane there's really nothing to go by it just says that it's a mac with a 2 gigahertz core i5 8 gigabytes of ram and null in place of the serial number wait hang on a second core i5 yeah if you didn't think that this was a special computer that really seals the deal no 15-inch retina macbook pro has ever shipped with a core i5 yet that's what this machine supposedly has at least that's what shows up in the about this mac pane there's a lot of question marks with this device as its configuration obviously doesn't match anything you could ever find one interesting tidbit that i almost completely missed on this computer is that the ram is 1867 megahertz that was never put in a 15-inch macbook pro all of the retinas of this generation had 1600 megahertz and then after that the touch bar went to 2133 and then on to ddr4 the only max that ever shipped with 1867 megahertz were some of the imacs the 13-inch 2015 macbook pro as well as the trashcan mac pro so definitely weird on that front also even though the mac reports that it has a core i5 installed when i ran unigine heaven to see how the graphics are they're bad by the way it showed up as a core i7 4750hq which is the same as the base model late 2013 macbook pro so you may ask given that this computer has no configuration that matches anything that ever went on sale how do i know that it's a prototype for the mid-2015 well this macbook pro has a work in progress very much pre-production force touch track pad and it's hilariously bad it's kind of tough to show it on camera but the calibration is super weird there's also no secondary click so it just clicks a single time you can't force press and it feels mushy and weird also the tracking is awful it feels like there's no driver and when you move the mouse around the screen it's really jerky and almost impossible to use in the system preferences paint it doesn't even show up as a track pad at all it has no multi-touch gestures or any adjustments whatsoever in fact there's more evidence to suggest this computer is very early stages because the function keys aren't even mapped to their assigned buttons for example you might want to turn up the volume so you'd go to press the volume up key yeah it goes over to the dashboard because it's not mapped properly so with all this weirdness and the very cool red logic board telling us that this is a very unusual macbook i decided to do some digging to find out anything i could about this macbook and when it was made it might seem confusing that a computer that came out in 2015 would only be able to run os 10 mavericks but sure enough if you try to install any other operating system it doesn't take it it won't do anything with that and that basically indicates that this would have been in the testing phase when os 10 mavericks was current so up until the end of 2014 when yosemite came out now it's at this point that i need to thank the guy that made this whole video possible apple demo he arranged the purchase of this macbook and helped me out with a ton of the information in this video so one of the first things that we did was examine two specific numbers the first is the logic board model number on a prototype it ends in the number that corresponds to the prototype revision usually somewhere around 5 to 10 for the prototypes that make it out into the wild but this particular macbook pro has a logic board revision number of dash 0 1 meaning this is the first of its kind this could very well be the very first version of the force touch trackpad before even the 12 inch macbook that came out before this device's final version one of the other things apple demo helped me deduce about this computer stems from all of the stickers and markings around the device on the bottom case where one would normally expect to find model information we just see that everything is blanked out with x's so all the internal information is found on these stickers first off the serial number appears on a few stickers around the device like this one on the side that appears to be in comic sans font really it's kind of weird anyway we ran the serial number through an internal database and it spit out march 2014 as the date of creation next i tried booting into single user mode to check if there was any information about the kernel did you catch that i sure didn't but apparently what that shows was a kernel revision of august 17th 2014. that's the date this colonel was signed and boy is that early with a manufacturing date from the serial number of march 2014 and the most recent kernel so the most recent testing done in august of 2014 that is almost a full year before this macbook pro actually came out in its final version in mid-2015 so in development terms especially given that the 2015 macbook pro didn't even have a redesign this is probably as early as it gets and that explains a lot of the weirdness with the configuration they borrowed a cpu from the late 2013 macbook pro then they took ram that was being used in an imac at the time and then they put it with an ssd that they pulled out of the existing macbook pros because the 2015's ended up actually being faster and i checked the model number on the ssd and it matches the older generation nvme drives it's really just a cobbled together bunch of random parts that was used just to fill up a space so they could test out that trackpad if we take a look at the palm rest we can mine even more information about the prototype for example we can see that this is machine number 175 and the main signifies that this was the main machine of development for this configuration the 2015 macbook pro so this was the primary test device as apple was working on developing the force touch trackpad the purple sticker here looks a little bit more ambiguous it's handwritten with some seemingly random numbers apple demo got in touch with an engineer friend and we think we were able to get to the bottom of it the measurements veh peak veh and lcr refer to the calibration of the force touch sensors this gives us some behind the scenes look into how force touch was actually being tested and honed in and when this machine is booted you can tell that they were really working on the most basic aspect of it at this point it's pretty crazy to think about 175 of these machines being built and then tested tested tested and tested again and then destroyed apple doesn't keep prototypes around they get recycled and broken down except for this one somehow seven years later this one not only survived but made it out into the wild against all odds apple probably would have been pretty angry if this got out into the public back in 2014 but now there's not really a whole lot you can do with it so yeah this is not the sort of device that you're going to be buying and using every day and bragging to your friends about how your daily is a prototype it doesn't really do anything at all but it is a really cool piece of history to have a peek behind the scenes at how apple was developing the technology that we now have in every single macbook and if you think that's cool too then you might as well subscribe because clearly we agree on a lot of things so with that i'd like to thank you guys so much for watching again big thanks to apple demo for getting me hooked up with this device and i will see you guys in the next video youupon first glance this looks like a perfectly normal last generation 15-inch retina macbook pro there's pretty much nothing special about it or so it seems take a closer look and you'll notice a sticker with the serial number printed on it on the side of the device and a qr code on the top case next to the hinge but things get really weird when you take the bottom case off of this device yeah really weird this is unlike any macbook you've ever seen before today's video is sponsored by gosund makers of affordable smart home devices their smart plugs and smart bulbs are a cost-effective way to make your home more convenient with alexa and google home voice control as well as seamless integration through the smartphone app with the gosund app you can easily adjust the color and brightness of their smart bulbs you can also link multiple bulbs to adjust them as a group with so much customization you could use them to create an ambiance in a gaming room or as a reading or bedside table light you can even schedule automation to have the lights wake you up in the morning and then turn off when you go to sleep at night plus all of this is super easy and controlled right on your phone like that you can also use the smart plug to control conventional appliances with ease these connect on any 2.4 gigahertz wi-fi network to set up groups and timers for example you could use them to connect a network of string lights that would ordinarily not have smart capabilities and you can also use it to turn off appliances that you don't want sapping power overnight you can find links to gosund products in the description below a pack of four smart bulbs comes in at under thirty dollars and a two pack of smart plugs is just sixteen and now back to the video alright so what the heck is going on here well as you may have guessed by now and i'm sure the title has informed you this is no ordinary macbook pro what it is is a very early prototype of what later became known as the best macbook pro ever made the mid 2015 15-inch retina macbook pro if you came across this macbook in a recycling center however you'd have no idea what exactly it is that's because if you open up the about this mac pane there's really nothing to go by it just says that it's a mac with a 2 gigahertz core i5 8 gigabytes of ram and null in place of the serial number wait hang on a second core i5 yeah if you didn't think that this was a special computer that really seals the deal no 15-inch retina macbook pro has ever shipped with a core i5 yet that's what this machine supposedly has at least that's what shows up in the about this mac pane there's a lot of question marks with this device as its configuration obviously doesn't match anything you could ever find one interesting tidbit that i almost completely missed on this computer is that the ram is 1867 megahertz that was never put in a 15-inch macbook pro all of the retinas of this generation had 1600 megahertz and then after that the touch bar went to 2133 and then on to ddr4 the only max that ever shipped with 1867 megahertz were some of the imacs the 13-inch 2015 macbook pro as well as the trashcan mac pro so definitely weird on that front also even though the mac reports that it has a core i5 installed when i ran unigine heaven to see how the graphics are they're bad by the way it showed up as a core i7 4750hq which is the same as the base model late 2013 macbook pro so you may ask given that this computer has no configuration that matches anything that ever went on sale how do i know that it's a prototype for the mid-2015 well this macbook pro has a work in progress very much pre-production force touch track pad and it's hilariously bad it's kind of tough to show it on camera but the calibration is super weird there's also no secondary click so it just clicks a single time you can't force press and it feels mushy and weird also the tracking is awful it feels like there's no driver and when you move the mouse around the screen it's really jerky and almost impossible to use in the system preferences paint it doesn't even show up as a track pad at all it has no multi-touch gestures or any adjustments whatsoever in fact there's more evidence to suggest this computer is very early stages because the function keys aren't even mapped to their assigned buttons for example you might want to turn up the volume so you'd go to press the volume up key yeah it goes over to the dashboard because it's not mapped properly so with all this weirdness and the very cool red logic board telling us that this is a very unusual macbook i decided to do some digging to find out anything i could about this macbook and when it was made it might seem confusing that a computer that came out in 2015 would only be able to run os 10 mavericks but sure enough if you try to install any other operating system it doesn't take it it won't do anything with that and that basically indicates that this would have been in the testing phase when os 10 mavericks was current so up until the end of 2014 when yosemite came out now it's at this point that i need to thank the guy that made this whole video possible apple demo he arranged the purchase of this macbook and helped me out with a ton of the information in this video so one of the first things that we did was examine two specific numbers the first is the logic board model number on a prototype it ends in the number that corresponds to the prototype revision usually somewhere around 5 to 10 for the prototypes that make it out into the wild but this particular macbook pro has a logic board revision number of dash 0 1 meaning this is the first of its kind this could very well be the very first version of the force touch trackpad before even the 12 inch macbook that came out before this device's final version one of the other things apple demo helped me deduce about this computer stems from all of the stickers and markings around the device on the bottom case where one would normally expect to find model information we just see that everything is blanked out with x's so all the internal information is found on these stickers first off the serial number appears on a few stickers around the device like this one on the side that appears to be in comic sans font really it's kind of weird anyway we ran the serial number through an internal database and it spit out march 2014 as the date of creation next i tried booting into single user mode to check if there was any information about the kernel did you catch that i sure didn't but apparently what that shows was a kernel revision of august 17th 2014. that's the date this colonel was signed and boy is that early with a manufacturing date from the serial number of march 2014 and the most recent kernel so the most recent testing done in august of 2014 that is almost a full year before this macbook pro actually came out in its final version in mid-2015 so in development terms especially given that the 2015 macbook pro didn't even have a redesign this is probably as early as it gets and that explains a lot of the weirdness with the configuration they borrowed a cpu from the late 2013 macbook pro then they took ram that was being used in an imac at the time and then they put it with an ssd that they pulled out of the existing macbook pros because the 2015's ended up actually being faster and i checked the model number on the ssd and it matches the older generation nvme drives it's really just a cobbled together bunch of random parts that was used just to fill up a space so they could test out that trackpad if we take a look at the palm rest we can mine even more information about the prototype for example we can see that this is machine number 175 and the main signifies that this was the main machine of development for this configuration the 2015 macbook pro so this was the primary test device as apple was working on developing the force touch trackpad the purple sticker here looks a little bit more ambiguous it's handwritten with some seemingly random numbers apple demo got in touch with an engineer friend and we think we were able to get to the bottom of it the measurements veh peak veh and lcr refer to the calibration of the force touch sensors this gives us some behind the scenes look into how force touch was actually being tested and honed in and when this machine is booted you can tell that they were really working on the most basic aspect of it at this point it's pretty crazy to think about 175 of these machines being built and then tested tested tested and tested again and then destroyed apple doesn't keep prototypes around they get recycled and broken down except for this one somehow seven years later this one not only survived but made it out into the wild against all odds apple probably would have been pretty angry if this got out into the public back in 2014 but now there's not really a whole lot you can do with it so yeah this is not the sort of device that you're going to be buying and using every day and bragging to your friends about how your daily is a prototype it doesn't really do anything at all but it is a really cool piece of history to have a peek behind the scenes at how apple was developing the technology that we now have in every single macbook and if you think that's cool too then you might as well subscribe because clearly we agree on a lot of things so with that i'd like to thank you guys so much for watching again big thanks to apple demo for getting me hooked up with this device and i will see you guys in the next video you\n"