Is this Apple’s supersecret ‘protologo’ logo? [rumor]

The back of Apple devices (iPhones, iPads, iPods, Macs, etc.) typically display the iconic partly-bitten apple logo. Why do I say “typically”? Because there are rumors of a supersecret Apple ‘protologo’ which Apple uses for prototype devices. And one such prototype with one such protologo just happened to appear on the Internet, in the form of an eBay listing.

The eBay listing, which was at US$4,500 before it was removed, claims to sell a “Apple iPhone 4 32GB N90AP Prototype Unreleased Switchboard Tester Unit”. The seller claims “this iPhone is not only unique in it’s hardware, but it’s running Apple’s software testing suite, called SwitchBoard”. On the front, the device doesn’t look unique at all; it looks just like a standard iPhone 4. On the bottom, the device doesn’t have the regular iPhone 4 screws and has ports that appear to be longer than the publicly released iPhone 4 but is otherwise normal. The back, however, is where it gets interesting.

On the back of this alleged iPhone 4 prototype, in the place where the Apple logo would typically be, is what is said to be Apple’s protologo:

To further fuel the gossip, a contributor to 9to5Mac, the blog that originally made the eBay listing discovery, has published a video on Youtube claiming to have played around this iPhone 4 prototype:

Despite the video, there is no way of knowing if this iPhone 4 prototype is real and if indeed the logo is Apple’s secret protologo. Apple for sure won’t be commenting on this development. All I know is… gotta catch ‘em all!

[via CNET, 9to5Mac]