It sounds like it could be the opening line of a whole series of jokes: “A man walks into a bar with an iPhone…” The problem is that it’s becoming a trend in the Apple community Last year an Apple engineer left a prototype of the Apple 4 in a bar. It was eventually returned, but not before the phone was sold to Gizmodo for $5,000.

One would think that Apple would have learned from its mistakes, but reports are surfacing that an even newer proto-type, the iPhone 5, went missing in another San Francisco tequila lounge. According to an unnamed source, Apple contacted the police, telling them that the device was priceless and they needed to recover it.

Apple was eventually able to trace the phone electronically to a home in Bernal Heights. When its representatives got there, however, the man who answered the door denied having any knowledge of it. Yes, he was in the bar on the night the iPhone went missing, but he even agreed to have the house searched, and the iPhone was not found. When offered money in exchange for the phone, no questions asked, he stuck with his story and said he knew nothing about it. As of now, the phone is still missing, though Apple will not confirm the story, or even that there is an iPhone 5 prototype.

But that hasn’t stopped the rumors about the new phone’s release, which could come as early as this month.

The real question is why Apple prototypes keep ending up in bars. Is it some publicity stunt, or a way to pick up a date: “I’ll show you my phone if you show me yours”? After all, the apple was the original forbidden fruit.  The Apple iPhone prototype is equally forbidden.

Read More at NBC Bay Area
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