Apple having some trouble not losing iPhone prototypes

A repeat of last year's missing iPhone prototype (pictured) playing out again?

Gray Powell can take a little bit of comfort in todays news: According to a report Wednesday, hes not the only person to lose track of an unreleased iPhone in a bar.CNET reports that Apple has again lost a prototype of an unreleased iPhone. It went missing in a San Francisco tequila bar last month, and then was possibly sold by a San Francisco man on Craigslist for $200. Its the second high-profile Apple prototype to go missing and wind up on a public online sales site this year, and of course, follows last years missing iPhone 4 prototype brouhaha.

CNET says Apple was desperate for the missing iPhones return:

Apple electronically traced the phone to a two-floor, single-family home in San Franciscos Bernal Heights neighborhood, according to the source.
When San Francisco police and Apples investigators visited the house, they spoke with a man in his twenties who acknowledged being at Cava 22 on the night the device went missing. But he denied knowing anything about the phone. The man gave police permission to search the house, and they found nothing, the source said.

Its not clear in the report if the device made its way back to Apple. A police report was not filed.

Its been a busy summer for Apples lost-and-found. Earlier this month an older model prototype MacBook modified with a 3G external antenna and sim card slot showed up on eBay. The ! bidding was up to $70,000, when Apple asked the auction to be shut down, and Apple has since requested the prototypes return.

And who can forget spring 2010slost/stolen iPhone 4 scandal,that only recently resulted incriminal charges for the two men who found and sold the device that Apple engineer Gray Powell left in a bar.

Apple is rather famous for the tight security of its labs. But the company still seems to be rolling the dice by allowing employees to take prototypes outside the office before theyre released to the public.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.