You might remember our report from earlier this month showing a 3G-enabled MacBook Pro prototype with a raisable antenna being sold on eBay. According to CNET, an Apple Store Genius Bar refused to fix the prototype laptop, and now Apple says they want it back.
The Apple Store repair invoice provided to CNET, shown below (click for a larger version), details the reason that the machine could not be serviced: “Opened machine to observe that nearly every internal part was 3rd party; main logic board, optical drive, display, hard drive, top case, and others. Machine number (W8707003Y53) is also not recognized as a valid number.”
The story goes that Carl Frega purchased the machine off of Craigslist, sold it to another buyer only to have to return it, as the buyer thought it was a fake, then attempted to sell it on eBay, only to have Apple block the sale and request that the prototype be returned.
Apple is currently in contact with Frega to have someone pick up the prototype, despite the fact that bids rose as high as $70,000 before the auction was yanked by Apple.
Apple has a reputation for stopping sales of Apple prototypes, and for requesting that prototypes be returned to them. The most famous case of this is, of course, Gizmodo’s purchase and detailed report of an iPhone 4 prototype allegedly left on a bar stool by Gray Powell.
