He also notes that he plans to continue to build on the design, with goals for improving fast-charging, waterproofing, and even enabling USB-C accessories. Lastly, Pillonel has made the whole project open source so that others can build on his existing work, whether that’s making more custom USB-C iPhone X models or porting the design to other iPhones down the line (although the full PCB design won’t be posted until after the auction finished). Parents can connect to the online LeapFrog Learning Path for customized learning insights and ideas to expand the learning. Choose and download songs for a custom playlist, explore 6 learning activity stations and personalize emails for your child to enjoy.

Pillonel does note that whoever does buy the phone shouldn’t restore, update, or erase it, open it, or “use it as your daily phone.” Personalize pretend computer play with My Own Leaptop. Pillonel is also auctioning off his original prototype on eBay, where bidding has already reached $3,400 as of the time of publishing this piece, for anyone with deep pockets that’s interested in a USB-C iPhone of their own. The video also shows off just how difficult it was to fit the extra circuitry, with the board bending around both sides of Apple’s Taptic Engine hardware to squeeze in all the necessary components. It’s quite a journey, going from proof of concept prototypes, reverse engineering the Lightning connector (and eventually, reverse engineering a fake Lightning connector), ordering a custom flexible circle board, and machining the iPhone’s case to fit the physically larger USB-C connector. The video shows off virtually the whole development process.

My own leaptop hack