The Apple Watch leak offers a rare glimpse into Apple’s “Ultra security program”

New images and videos that purport to show an Apple Watch prototype, hidden by a security box that resembles a tiny iPod, offer a rare view behind the product development curtain of the notoriously secretive company built by Steve Jobs. First triggered a few months ago by Twitter user Apple Demo, this is the first time that we have looked at the connected device and running Apple’s own internal development applications on pre-watchOS 1.0 software.

The video begins by showing what appears to be the original cardboard packaging used to deliver the prototype hardware to testers. “This product is classified as Apple Confidential and designated as an ‘Ultra’ security program,” says the label. “This prototype MUST be returned when recovered or when yours”, says the tag before being obscured to hide the device’s origins. A sticker on the back of the device’s prototype shows that it is a “PVTe” configuration, which presumably means Prototype Validation Test (engineering) in line with the language seen on Apple’s previous development hardware, such as the leaking EVT card for the original iPhone.

Image: Apple Demo

When the touchscreen device is turned on, we can see that it is configured to show Apple’s own internal applications. One is the “Lisa tester”, identified with a Lisa Simpson icon, but probably a tribute to Jobs’ daughter and the namesake of Apple’s Lisa computer – one of the first computers to feature a GUI interface. The app allows testers to adjust the UI elements of the Watch prototype. The “Springboard zoom” app found within the Lisa Tester is very similar to the original watchOS home screen that was launched on the first Apple Watch in 2015.

There is no digital crown for navigation. Instead, the buttons on the right side of the box can be used to turn on and off. The Home button on the front and what appear to be volume up / down buttons on the left are never shown being used and may not be functional. When clicking on the settings, the device reports that it has not received FCC approval for sales, adding additional confirmation of its prototype status.

Image: Apple Demo

Assuming the prototype is real – and it definitely looks like it – then it’s a remarkable example of a pre-production Apple device that we were never meant to see.