Decades ago, Apple designed a Tetris clone called Stacker and it was featured on a prototype version of the third-generation iPod. The game has been unearthed by AppleDemoYT, known for sourcing rare prototype devices. The X user shared images and a video of the unreleased iPod.
The prototype iPod is a “DVT” device or in Design Validation Testing. It has a model number of A1023, which is not a known model number of any iPod version.
The engineering sample iPod also came loaded with other unreleased titles, including games called Block0 and Klondike, notes Engadget. The publication contacted the ex-SVP of Apple’s iPod division, Tony Fadell, to learn why the Tetris clone was never released but Fadell’s only comment, from 2022, says, “because we added games with later software release”.
In the game, the pieces are moved from left to right using the scroll wheel and they fall when the middle button is pressed. Later versions of the iPod received an official version of Tetris, besides games like Bejeweled, Mini Golf, Mahjong, Zuma, Cubis 2, and Pac-Man. All of these releases predate the App Store. The iPod Classic was discontinued in 2014 and the iPod Touch ended its run in 2022.
The third-generation iPod was manufactured in week 14 of 2003 and it was purchased from an electronics recycler in China. The device was non-functional when it was purchased, but was able to boot when the hard drive flex cable was replaced.
Also found on the prototype is a battery testing playlist with classical songs that play in a loop, suggesting Apple used this iPod to test the battery life of the third-generation iPod before it was released.
