The Evolution and Development of Apple's iPhone 4: A Closer Look at Prototype Units

Apple's iPhone 4, released in 2010, was a significant update to the previous model, introducing a new design with a stainless steel frame and glass front and back. However, this change came with some unexpected issues, including light problems with the camera and flash, as well as the proximity sensor being triggered by accident. This led to the white iPhone being released 10 months after the black version, showcasing the importance of testing and refinement in the development process.

The white color of the iPhone was a deliberate design choice that caused some initial issues, but ultimately worked out. However, Apple originally planned to ship the white iPhone with an older sensor design, which would have led to different results. Thankfully, this new design was implemented, and the product photos on the website were updated to reflect the newer look. For those who couldn't wait for the official release, companies like iResQ offered white iPhones via conversion kits, using pre-release parts from Apple.

In a fascinating look at the development process of the iPhone 4, we take a closer look at three prototype units that showcase the evolution and testing of the device. The first unit is a DVT (Design Verification Test) unit with an internal version of iOS 4, but some interesting features can be found in its software. There's a keyboard tester, iAd demo app, movie player tester, and even Fly Trap, which was used for tracking bug reports. Additionally, the prototype has tanks and REVERSI, demonstrating the extent to which Apple tested its games.

The second unit is also a DVT, running an internal iOS 6 build, but with many similarities to the first unit. This device features a gigabyte box that was removed in the production version, showcasing one of the changes made during development. The third unit, manufactured in week 24 of 2010, has an interesting trait: it has holes cut out of the glass and a handwritten label on it. The back piece is missing the camera ring and doesn't have any markings or logos on it, making it likely from an earlier stage.

The question arises as to why this potentially older piece would be on a newer phone. There are two possible theories: one is that Apple was doing early testing with a production unit or two, while the other theory suggests that a customer may have owned this phone and returned it to Apple for debugging purposes. Given the context of Antennagate, which was a major issue affecting the iPhone 4's reception, it's possible that these units were used to test and refine the antenna design.

Despite the challenges faced during development, the iPhone 4 went on to sell successfully and became one of the most popular smartphones of its time. The iPhone line has since surpassed 2.2 billion unit sales, cementing Apple's position as a leader in the tech industry. By exploring the backstory of products that have touched so many lives, we gain a deeper understanding of the design process and the challenges faced by companies like Apple.

In conclusion, the evolution and development of Apple's iPhone 4 are a testament to the company's commitment to quality and refinement. From prototype units to production models, each step in the development process showcases the importance of testing and iteration. As we continue to explore the world of tech, it's essential to remember the stories behind the products that have shaped our lives.

**Special Thanks**

We would like to extend special thanks to DongleBookPro for loaning us these prototype units. If you're interested in learning more about DongleBookPro and their channel, please visit the link in the description. Additionally, we'd like to thank Linode for making this episode possible. Linode offers 24/7 technical support and infrastructure that can help scale and deploy apps and websites. Their services include award-winning support and a multitude of app choices. Visit linode.com/computerclan and click the create free account button to take advantage of their offerings.

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**Catch You Next Time**

And that's all for today's episode! We'll see you next time when we explore more fascinating stories about tech and innovation. Don't forget to catch us on social media and join the conversation using the hashtag #ComputerClans. Thanks for watching, and until next time, stay curious!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Remember the iPhone 4?Very few smartphones have a wildand crazy story behind them.From the prototype being left in a barto the Antennagate controversy,the iPhone 4 certainly left its own dentin the universe, but that'sjust what's on the surface.I have some extremely rare iPhone 4prototypes here with me todayand you and me are gonnatravel back in timeand take a look at the changesthroughout these development stages.Sponsored by Linode.Hey guys, how are you all doing?If you're new here, welcome.My name is Krazy Kenand we're talking aboutiPhone 4 prototypes today,including the ever sointriguing Death Star prototype.But before we dive intothe prototype history,let's quickly recap theiPhone 4's public historybecause it has already been12 years since it came out.Holy crap.The iPhone 4 was publiclyintroduced on June 7th, 2010at Apple's annual WorldwideDevelopers Conference.But several months earlier in March,a funny little thing happened.A pre-release iPhone 4 prototypewas left behind at a bar in Redwood Cityand this breaking newshyped up the tech world.People were theorizing about the design,about what the blacklines on the band were,about what the specs andthe features would be,a whole bunch of stuff.Then during WWDC, SteveJobs revealed the new phonewith the quip...- Stop me if you've already seen this.(audience laughs)- iPhone 4 featured an all new designof stainless steel and glass, an LED flashand for the first time, a custom-designedApple A4 system-on-a-chip.Another feature iPhone 4 introducedinto the iPhone line wasa front-facing camera.That's right, selfies and FaceTimecalling were now possible.iPhone 4 also introducedthe Retina display,which over time evolved intothe incredibly high resolutiondisplays we have in not only iPhones,but other Apple products too.Oh, and let's not forget aboutthe network issues at the WWDC keynote.- You know, you could help me out,if you're on WiFi, ifyou could just get off.(audience laughs)I'd appreciate it.We figured out why my demo crashedbecause there are 570 WiFi base stationsoperating in this room.- So iPhone 4 was a game changer,but with any newambitious hardware design,there's bound to be a problem or twoand that problem just mightget exaggerated by the media.The iPhone's new stainlesssteel band also functionedas the antenna system,but there were reportsof dropped bars when userswould grip their phone.This led to the Antennagate controversyand on July 16th, 2010, only 22 daysafter iPhone 4 launched,Steve Jobs hosted a pressconference addressing this issue,which is something he rarely does.Arguably the issue wasblown out of proportionand the data Steve Jobs showedduring the press conferenceindicated only a small percentage of userswere having the problem, but he wantedto reassure us that theycared about every user.So Apple released iOS4.0.1, which displayedbar status more accuratelyand they offeredfree bumper cases for every iPhone 4through September 30th, which should helpreduce the death grip issue.- Okay, great.- Oh, and let's not forget Jonathan Mann'siPhone 4 antenna song.Steve jobs played thatduring the press conferenceand it's a banger!♪ And you can call me fanboy ♪♪ I've been called worse things ♪♪ But Gizmodo is ridiculous ♪♪ Pulling their anti-Apple strings ♪So why did the Antennagate issuehappen in the first place?Well, there's a coupleof hints we can examinewhen we look at the prototype stagesand we'll take a look at those soon.In the end, the iPhone 4still sold very successfully,selling 1.7 millionunits in just three days.So now that we've coveredthe general historyof iPhone 4, let's dive back in timewith these prototypes and Ineed to give a huge shout outto DongleBookPro forloaning me these unitsand helping me with this episode.If you wanna check out moreof his prototype stuff,you can click the link down belowin the description andhead over to his channel.Okay, let's take a look at the Death Star.This prototype is in theEVT stage of development.EVT stands for engineering validation testwhich essentially means aproduct has a working prototypeand now it's time to make a dozenor so units and begin testing.This EVT prototype uses a Death Star logoinstead of an Apple logo to help protectthe device's identity anddisassociate it with Apple.Google has also done this, for example,with their Pixel phones.In addition, instead ofsaying iPhone on the back,it says prototype and anFCC disclaimer is writtenbelow it and the volumebuttons do not havethe plus and minussymbols engraved on themand another small detail,there is no ring aroundthe rear camera, unlikein the production version,which was sold to consumersand also there's no screws on the bottom.Regarding electronic components,the Death Star prototypehas an early version ofwhat would eventuallybecome the Retina display.The displays subsystemappears to be differentcompared to the production iPhone 4and if you look closelyat them side by side,you can see the sizes of theconnectors are different too.In addition, the CPU isunmarked with an EVT sticker.A series chips in production iPhoneshave the Apple logo and chip name on them.So along with prototype hardwarecomes prototype softwareand this device isrunning an early versionof iOS 4 with a compileddate of November 4th, 2009.The UI of this early build is primitivecompared to the public releasebut it serves itspurpose, providing testerswith applications to makesure the phone works properlybefore stacking more software and prettyuser interface things on top of it.Applications includeoperator, which shows statusesof components and probablymy favorite name, SkankPhone,which combines phone,web browser, music playerfunctionality, et cetera,into one application.The next prototype we're gonna takea look at is the XX Gigabyte prototypeand visually it looks a lotlike the one that wasleft behind in the bar.So odds are good the onein the bar is the sameversion of prototype as this one.This prototype features the iPhone nameand Apple logo on the back,along with regulatory marks.The model number and some other numbersare x'd out, however.The gigabyte rectangle alsohas the storage capacityx'd out, but it's common to seeplaceholder text inthese development stages.This prototype iPhone hasan accompanying stealth casewhich when this is puton the phone, it kind ofdisguises it to make itlook like an iPhone 3Gs.We can't confirm a hundredpercent that this caseis specifically made for thisprototype, but it's similar.Employees would use theseto disguise the iPhoneswhen testing them out in the field.The case's configurationlabel also tells uswhat parts are in thisbuild and the N92 code nameindicates this is a CDMA prototype.At least that's what thecase was made to go with.This means that it's beingtested to work with Verizonand Verizon iPhones werelaunched in February, 2011.Oh, and let's not forget about 'BAT ASSY'.Now we come to the whiteXX gigabyte prototypeand this unit is in the DVT stage.DVT stands for design validation test.At this point, you'renow testing more units,usually up to a hundredor maybe a couple hundred,and you're ensuring the product meetsenvironment requirements,regulatory certifications,it goes through battery testing,durability testing, et cetera.This unit is running anormal version of iOSbut it does have anon-production proximity sensor.Note the array of small holes at the top.In comparison, the productionversion has a smallpill shaped cutout at thetop for the proximity sensor,which detects when the iPhoneis held up to your faceso the touch sensors andscreen turn off when necessary.So why was this change made?The white color of the iPhonecause some light problems,not only with the camera and the flashbut with the proximity sensor,it was getting triggered by accidentand these issues caused the white iPhoneto come out 10 monthsafter the black version.But thankfully this new design workedbut it appears apple originally plannedto ship the white iPhone withthe previous sensor design.It wasn't just a prototype design becausethe product photos on the websiteshow the older look but all the photoswere updated to the newerdesign when it launched.But if you didn't wanna wait,companies like iResQ offered white iPhonesvia conversion kits and these kits usedpre-release parts from Apple.John Rettinger and gumballtechboth did videos on this.Up next is another DVT unitbut this time with aninternal version of iOS.This unit physically looks more complete,with filled out model numberand FCC ID on the back.The gigabyte box is also gone by design.Apple chose to remove thisfor the production version.Software wise, thisprototype would usually runan internal build of iOS4, but this particular unitis running an internal iOS 6 build,but there's many similarities.Just whatever you do, don'tpress that brick button.There's a keyboard tester, iAd demo app,a movie player tester and Fly Trap,which was used for tracking bug reports.Oh, and we can't forget about tanksand can you believe it?REVERSI!And that brings us to this last unit,which according to the serial number,it was manufactured in week 24 of 2010.So it's likely one of the earliestmanufactured production models.But the interesting trait aboutthis iPhone 4 is the back.It has holes cut out of the glassand a handwritten label on it.This back piece is missing the camera ringand doesn't have anymarkings or logos on itso this piece by itself islikely from an earlier stage.So why would this potentially older piecebe on a newer phone?Well, there's two possible theories here.One, they were doing some early testingwith a production unitor two, maybe a customeractually owned this phoneand they returned it to Appleand Apple was trying to debug a problem.What were they trying to debug and test?Probably the antenna issues/Antennagate.These cutouts are specifically madearound antenna connectionsand there's a theoryabout how this whole Antennagate issuepossibly got missed during testing.When testers were usingthese phones out in the fieldwith these stealth cases,their hands were notgripping directly onto the phone.So some of the test results may havebeen skewed and some issues maybe got awaybut despite the whole Antennagate drama,iPhone 4 went on to sell successfullyand the iPhone line continued to prosper,surpassing 2.2 billion unit sales to dateand I absolutely loveexploring the backstoryof products that touched so many livesand seeing what was scrapped, changedand tested throughout the developmentand I love sharing thesediscoveries with you guys too.So again, special thanks to DongleBookProfor loaning me these unitsand if you want to check outmore stuff on his channel,click the link in thedescription and head over thereand a big thanks to Linode formaking this episode possible.They helped me out andthey can help you out too.If you have an app or a website that needsto be scaled and deployed, Linode hasthe 24/7 support andinfrastructure that you need.Linode offers out of boxapps for game serverslike TF2, CS:GO and even Minecraft.You can run your own virtualprivate network with open VPN,build an online application with Joomla'scontent management system or builda video streaming site witha multitude of app choices.There's so much you can do with Linode'saffordable Linux virtualmachines and to boot,they offer award-winning24/7 technical support.To put it simply, if it runson Linux, it runs on Linode.Visit linode.com/computerclanand click the create free account buttonand when you do that,I'll give you a 60 day$100 credit just for watching this episodeand you're also supportingthe Computer Clanso thank you very muchand feel free to subscribe for moretech episodes coming out every week.I love making episodesabout rare and retro tech,new tech, and of course, scam techand hey, if you liked thisepisode, you know what to do.Thanks and I'll see you next time.Catch the crazy and pass....(phone vibrates)Hey, what's up?Hello?Aw dang it, I lost the signal.Hey Steve, can I have a free bumper?- Okay.- Thanks Steve!- (upbeat music begins)\n"