Unreleased Black iPod Hi-Fi photos reveals an alternative color scheme

Photographs of an unreleased black version of the iPod Hi-Fi have surfaced, showing what consumers could've bought had Apple not discontinued the audio accessory.

Apple launched the iPod Hi-Fi as a boombox speaker system for the iPod in February 2006, but was enough of a flop that it dropped off the online store in September 2007. Years later, a version of the speaker that didn't actually make it to retail has appeared.

Tweets on February 28 and 29 from Jose Benitez Cong, formerly of Apple but now at Humane, included pictures of a variant of the iPod Hi-Fi that lost the white elements of its enclosure, in favor of a black version. The result is an all-black iPod Hi-Fi, which Cong refers to as the "only black HiFi in existence."

In the tweets, Cong explains he "helped build the team behind" the speaker. Of the device itself, he refers to it as a "marvel of a design for its time," and thinks it may be the "only one that survived" in that particular color scheme.

That black speaker has since been gifted "to a good friend" of Cong's.

The iPod Hi-Fi was a large box of a speaker, with an all-in-one design that could be powered from a wall socket or six D-cell batteries. It included a unique isolated enclosure system with two custom-designed wide-range speakers and a tuned ported bass system to minimize vibration.

It also had a removable front grille, touch-sensitive volume controls, Apple Remote support, and built-in handles. It would also recharge the connected iPod.

Apple's audio efforts have expanded considerably since then, though its speaker offerings consist of the HomePod and the HomePod mini.