Prototype Of Apple's First Generation iPhone Just Sold For $1,500 On eBay

The phone comes loaded with an early version of Apple's iOS operating system and was listed by an Australian eBayer by the username applefancollector.

This is the description of the phone from the seller on eBay,

A special test software was installed [on this phone], which is still running on the device perfectly.

This is device is especially rare, as it shows the initial iOS version installed and the signal strength values etched on the back. This was done by Apple internally and is guaranteed genuine. I am collecting Apple products for ages and I know of only 5 such devices in existence, I saw another one a few weeks back on eBay, but the auction was stopped ( possibly by Apple ).

I was digging around a little and it appears that most of these devices were scrapped, so it won't come rarer than this.

The device itself is in near mint condition, apart from a very tiny mark in the back. This is highlighted in the photos. Technically, the device is also perfect. It passes all tests perfectly. I must stress again, this is an engineering prototype. It does not run a full version of iOS at its current state and you cannot make any calls with this.