Candy Apple

In late 2006, as speculation over the impending launch of the first iPhone sent the tech press into a frenzy, everyone wondered what Apple's design department had up its sleeve. Predictions were rampant over what the handset would do and what it look like. And since Apple isn't a leaky ship, we could only guess on both fronts.

On December 20 of that year, I assembled this photo gallery of the most popular iPhone concept designs I had seen. They were just rumors, and we would find out all the handset's details once Macworld 2007 commenced three weeks later. But for a few days they were all we had.

So now, on the occasion of the iPhone's fourth birthday, I'm posting the slideshow again to offer you a look at what Apple's handset could have been. At the time some were plausible, and some were ridiculous, but none of them quite compare to what we got.

Some of the first concept images to emerge were of these silly looking flip-phone designs in green and red.

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