Bonhams today announced that it will be auctioning several rare prototype Apple devices on November 3, including an unreleased VideoPad.
The VideoPad was intended to be a personal digital assistant (PDA) device similar to Apple's Newton MessagePad series, with Apple testing three versions of the device between 1993 and 1995, including the VideoPad 1, VideoPad 2, and VideoPad 3, according to Bonhams. The auction company says the VideoPad 2 headed to auction is the only surviving concept prototype, and it is estimated to fetch up to $12,000.
The three VideoPad prototypes were based on a conceptual design sketch drawn by Apple's former CEO John Sculley, but the devices were ultimately scrapped by Steve Jobs upon his return to Apple in the late 1990s, according to Bonhams.
The prototype VideoPad 2 features a hinged flip-top design with two screens, although the top screen appears to be missing. The device was apparently going to have a built-in camera for video conferencing, two speakers, a memory card slot, a power socket, and a phone line input, but it was ultimately never released to the public.
The prototype was purchased from an Apple engineer in Palo Alto in 1999, and it comes in its original black leather carrying case with the Newton logo, according to Bonhams. More details are available on the auction website.
Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about.
New Apple Intelligence Languages
Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese.
AirPo...
Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed.
French blog Consomac also reported on this topic.
The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black.
Images Credit: Consoma ...
Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device.
Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors.
Likely Features
N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7
Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by Juli Clover
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese.
Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues.
Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W.
The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max
61W USB-C Power Adapter
67W USB-C Power Adapter
70W USB-C Power Adapter
96W USB-C Power Adapter
140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...
“The device was apparently going to have a built-in camera for video conferencing, two speakers, a memory card slot, a power socket, and a phone line input”
Video conferencing over a POTS line and with 1990s technology. It’s no wonder Jobs killed it.
Since that was back then, the memory card was probably an SRAM card. Those were brutally expensive. I still have a couple of them around, for my PIC-1000s(!).
I can just imagine sitting there waiting for the modem to connect before starting my video call. Why would I want to do that at one FPM (frame per minute) when I could just pick up the phone and call the person?
The same reason people fly to meetings instead of call.
We’re spoiled now, but imagine being able to see your mother in California when you were at college in New York back in the 1980s or 1990s.
