Great MacBook Air eBay deal turns out to be prototype...
... Or maybe the work of a modder with Cayce Pollardian logo-hatred.
A fellow claims that a stunning $700 deal on an MBA at eBay turned out to be an engineering sample of some kind. This would be possible to fake, and he even suggests that he might have gotten a modded machine. But in a wonderful and convincing detail, the serial number encodes a May 2007 incept date.
Either way, the thought that something like this could escape Apple's secretive innards is a myth-making par excellence.
Let's see what the Genius Bar makes of it!
Fake / Prototype Macbook Air [MacRumors]
Auction Page [eBay]
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Can't speak for Apple in particular, but prototypes do sometimes get junked, or employees involved in the project manage to get permission to take them home as mementos... so I don't find it completely unbelievable. Especially if whoever sold it got it as a gift from whoever rescued it and didn't know what they had.
If it's real one can argue that he got an even better deal as a museum piece -- though it may not actually be final enough to run all the Mac software, in which case it would have only that collector value.
@TECHNOGEEK: Agreed, I've seen Apple engineering samples/prototypes out in the wild before after the models have gone to production. I don't think they're supposed to sell them though, so Apple might still be peeved.
I've seen an Apple prototype before. I'm not a Mac guy so don't know what model it was, but it was encased in plexiglass, all the innards visible. I guess it was a very early stage prototype since the case was much bigger than the laptop innards.
It was given to a woman by a guy who worked at Apple. So yes, the prototypes do make it into the wild...
I eBay a lot and I'm not sure I'd do business with that seller. Feedback comments hidden, FB precentage less than 95. Poor detail ratings. That usually adds up to someone who's less than 100% straightforward.
WRYBREAD: They made a whole bunch of PowerBook cases out of clear plastic, and there are many a flickr sets to prove it.
The casing was too flimsy for final production, but the production models are out there. It's not that uncommon, or wasn't back in the day.
non-production models, rather.
The microphone and light sensor (those two dots on either side of the camera) are in the wrong place - that would require substantial modding. Also, the back plate is missing the stiffener bar on the inside... so it looks like a prototype to me.
Hot damn... a Cayce Pollard reference. The first Pattern Recognition reference I've ever seen.