Apple created a Death Star iPhone to prevent the iPhone 4 from leaking

YouTuber DongleBookPro has revealed a prototype of the iPhone 4 that Apple obfuscated peculiarly. Incidentally, the prototype contains a few rather practical design changes. Unfortunately, it is unclear how many of these prototypes Apple produced, nor how DongleBookPro obtained it.

Arguably, the most noticeable thing about the prototype is the Death Star logo in place of the Apple logo. DongleBookPro claims that this was Apple's attempt to prevent details about the iPhone 4 from leaking, which failed spectacularly after an engineer left another prototype in a bar.

Additionally, the Death Star's camera sits behind the back panel, a feature that did not make it to the final iPhone 4. Also, someone design a clear case for the device that never made it to market. The case slips over the top of the Death Star, and offers no protection to its bottom corners.

Moreover, the Death Star contains the earliest known build of iOS 4 and has no visible screws, a trademark of iPhones up to the iPhone 13 series. Instead, Apple hid a screw behind the SIM card tray, giving the bottom of the device a cleaner look than the final iPhone 4. The device lacks a Retina Display too, with DongleBookPro noting that it uses different display drivers compared to retail units.

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