It’s not the first prototype iPhone that’s been offered on eBay, but as far as we know, this new listing marks the first time that an early-build iPhone 4 has been brought to public auction outside the far East. we caught wind of the sale from iPhone Dev Team member pytey’s Twitter feed, and we’re hearing through the grapevine that this particular unit has hardware similar to Gizmodo‘s prototype last year — not identical to the retail version internally, though we don’t know exactly what has changed. We’re also told that the “DF1692″ you see etched on the lower right of the front and back is a unique code that makes sure Apple can keep track of what prototype belongs to which employee (so if you’re out there, DF1692, we’re sorry that your device is all over eBay).
Another thing you’ll notice is that the volume buttons lack ‘+’ and ‘-’ marks, but apart from that and the typical X’d-out model number and certification labels, there’s very little else going on here that identifies the unit as a proto. and good luck finding out whether this is a 16 or 32GB unit: the seller says it can’t be activated through iTunes (no surprise there). It’d be awesome if this included the iPhone 3GS-esque stealth enclosure that Gizmodo‘s unit made famous, but no dice.
At $810 and eight days remaining, do you think this will play out to its pricey conclusion, or will Apple step in? Follow the break for a gallery of shots from the auction.