What’s This? Apple Lost Another Unreleased iPhone?

All the magic surrounding Apple does have this certain effect on people making them more likely to think that the company is perfect, and thus, does not make mistakes. Yet every now and then, the company does slip up because after all, it’s still an organization made up of people (save, perhaps, for legendary co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak who some may think have come from another planet with a superior race).

Take for example the notorious loss of a prototype iPhone 4 last year which ended up in the hands of tech blog Gizmodo and kicked up a high-profile investigation and widely-reported dispute between Apple and Gizmodo-owner Gawker Media. And now, CNET reports that Apple may have again lost another unreleased iPhone.

In a report published this Wednesday, CNET reveals that another Apple employee has lost a prototype iPhone (presumably an iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S) in San Francisco. Oddly, this unnamed employee reportedly lost the prototype iPhone in another bar, much like Gray Powell, the Apple employee who lost the then unreleased iPhone 4 disguised to look like an iPhone 3GS in a bar in Redwood City, California last year. Maybe Apple needs to ban drinking with employees who are given prototype iPhones, or have them escorted whenever they want to drink, don’t you think?

According to the report, the loss of the iPhone prototype was just this July and naturally, it started a frenzy over at Apple to retrieve the lost iPhone. Interestingly, the iPhone prototype may have been sold on Craigslist for just $200, CNET says, much lower than the $5,000 Gizmodo paid to get the iPhone 4 prototype. Apple, the San Francisco police and Craigslist are keeping mum on the subject. Authorities told the publication that Apple did not file a police report on the lost iPhone, if there was one.

The prototype iPhone was reportedly lost at a San Francisco Mission district bar called Cava 22 which is described by CNET as a “tequila lounge”. After it was lost in late July, Apple reportedly worked with the police to get the iPhone back. Citing an unnamed source, the publication says that Apple traced the phone to a “two-floor, single-family home in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood.” You’d think they’d find it there, right? However, it only gets more interesting.

The CAVA 22 bar where an Apple employee reportedly lost another unreleased iPhone. Image from CNET. (Photo Credit: James Martin)

Naturally, Apple and the police came knocking on the house where the prototype iPhone was traced to. They talked with a 22-year-old man who said that yes, he was at Cava 22 the night the prototype was lost. He denied knowing of the device, however, and even let the police search the house. They did not find the iPhone. Desperate to retrieve the device, Apple employees are said to have “offered the man money for the phone no questions asked” but the man continued to deny he knew of the lost device.

From the report, it is still unclear where the prototype iPhone is. Has it been sold? Your guess is as good as mine. Is someone out there now enjoying the iPhone 5 ahead of its rumored launch this October? It’s possible. Was there a lost iPhone 5 in the first place? Yes there was, that is if you believe CNET which decided to put its credibility on the line by publishing the report.

[quote style="boxed"]Now if only Apple’s magic included it being able to retrieve lost objects.[/quote]

Has Apple lost another iPhone prototype like it did an iPhone 4 prototype last year? Image: प्रतीक / Flickr (CC)