iPod Touch almost had a centered rear-facing camera according to prototype

When Apple was developing the 3rd generation of the iPod Touch, it apparently played around with the idea of a centered rear camera for the device.

Reported by MacRumors, Giulio Zompetti, a developer who collects prototypes of Apple devices, posted images of the prototype on Twitter, saying that it was the "best unit of my whole collection."

"Best unit of my whole collection. #prototype #iPod touch 3 with rear camera, a feature that wasn't present on the related production device."

The images show off a rear camera at the top of the back of the device, a feature that Apple decided against when it released the final version of the 3rd generation iPod Touch. The 3rd generation featured no camera on the device at all.

Apple saved the feature for the 4th generation of the iPod Touch, which Apple called "the new iPod Touch". The device featured both front-facing and rear-facing cameras, a first for the iPod Touch. The camera on the back of the device, however, was not located at the top center of the device. Rather, it was placed at the top left of the back of the device, a location that Apple has placed all of its cameras for the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

Seeing the prototype is an interesting look into the world of Apple's design lab, a world in which centered cameras could have been.