The iPhone design, like quite a few Apple products, is iconic, yet we hardly ever get a chance to see the development process that leads up to the product ending up on the market. Recent court documents reveal early design stages of both products. Currently Apple and Sony are battling each other in a number of court battles, with Apple winning some and Sony others, but neither are really coming out ahead.

The benefits for the bystanders are the images of early prototypes submitted as court documents. The Verge has published a gallery of the images. It’s interesting to see early iPads with kickstands, wide screens, and some with odd gull-wing handles on the side. The early iPhone looks rather chunky in the images as well, a sort of overweight cousin of the sleek Iphone that we all know now.

These images are a rare treat for Apple fanboys and critics alike. It’s rare for any company, especially one as secretive as Apple, to reveal early prototype designs. Although these models failed to make it to market, they might still hold design cues and decisions for future products — and they might not be protected with patents. But don’t worry. Apple and Samsung are going at it hard in several courts around the world. We might get see even more prototypes and early designs before the two sides call it quits.

[Source: TechCrunch, The Verge]