Have you ever looked at an iPad and thought, “man, I really wish this tablet had a charging port on the bottom and side?”
Probably not, right? Well, a few recently leaked images of a prototype first-generation iPad are accurate, Apple was at one point considering adding two 30-pin charging ports to the tablet, allowing the device to be charged more easily in both portrait and landscape.
The images were shared by Twitter user Giulio Zompetti, a collector of rare Apple devices. According to AppleInsider, a similar iPad prototype with a dual charging system was auctioned on eBay back in 2012.
Here is a detailed view of both the hardware interfaces. #AppleCollection #Apple #iPad #prototype pic.twitter.com/CcWWAUPcz9
— Giulio Zompetti (@1nsane_dev) March 27, 2021
Apple obviously ditched the extra port because it determined this wasn’t really necessary and that you could just as easily turn the iPad on its side and have the charging cable bend a little bit. Apple’s first-gen iPad was released way back in 2010, so, likely, this prototype dates back to that year. Though Apple stuck with its 30-pin charger for several iPad generations, it eventually ditched the often unreliable charging port with the 5th-generation iPad in 2012.
Amusingly, it’s worth pointing out this concept didn’t die out entirely. Apple’s magnetic MagSafe charger for the iPhone 12 series easily spins in whatever direction you need it to when it’s attached to the back of the smartphone, similar to this double port prototype iPad.
Source: @1nsane_dev Via: AppleInsider
