Apple reveals 'Purple' phone prototype in court filing, to prove it didn't copy Sony

The previous batch of sketches revealed during Apple v Samsung suggested the iPhone may have actually borrowed ideas from Sony, but a new filing goes back even further into history to show that's not the case. The Verge spotted that the latest raft of paperwork includes a "Purple" prototype [above left] that was made around August 2005 and bears several hallmarks of the iPhone that finally appeared.

The Sony-styled prototypes came later, and were apparently just an "enjoyable side project." AllThingsD has also drawn together around 100 prototypes from Apple's deposition, which offers some interesting insights into what the iPhone could have looked like.

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