Now-Dead Lumia 1020 Replacement Leaked

Leaked images of what could have been a Lumia 1020 replacement are now thought to depict the cancelled prototype Windows Phone that was codenamed McLaren. Originally set for a late 2014 release, this handset would have taken advantage of some functionality that never made it into Windows Phone 8.1, which explains the cancellation. But these images will serve as a terrible "could have been" for anyone who was pining away for a new flagship in late 2014.

I didn't cover the original leak of the supposed "Lumia 1030" handset last week because I didn't believe it was accurate or real. But a series of newly leaked photos of the device on the China-based social networking service Baidu this week provide more detail and basically prove this is a prototype for the McLaren device that Nokia scuttled after Microsoft killed off a planned "3D touch" navigation system for Windows Phone 8.1.

As you can see, however, the now-dead handset features a Lumia 1020-like giant PureView camera module, so this device would have also been the new standard-bearer for Windows Phone. It is notable, perhaps, that to this day no smart phone—not the iPhone 6, not any Android device—has met, let alone surpassed, the quality of the camera in the Lumia 1020.

So here are a few shots from the leak. Enjoy them. Be wistful, of course. And hope we see something like this in early 2015 as I do.