Apple has to wonder if it's really hiring the cream of the crop when another of its employees manages to leave a another prototype iPhone in a bar.

Yes, in a story we've all heard before, some hipster from Apple went out on the town with the prototype, presumably under the guise of some sort of testing, and then accidentally left it behind, CNET reported.

Apparently, the hapless worker was working on the prototype at Mexican bar and restaurant Cava22 in July when the phone went missing, and it may have subsequently been sold on Craigslist for $200.

The story is an almost exact reprise of the one last year, when a prototype iPhone 4 that had been found in a bar was sold to gadget blog Gizmodo for $5,000. The then-editor Jason Chen and Gizmodo itself got away without facing charges in that incident, though the two men who found and sold the smartphone were charged with misdemeanours.

Apple reportedly went straight to the police this time, but hasn't been able to find the phone.

Cava22 owner Jose Valle has said that neither the police nor Apple have ever contacted him, although he does remember getting calls about a lost iPhone about a month ago.

"I guess I have to make my drinks a little less strong," he said.

He may well be right, as according to one of the many reviews of Cava22 on yelp.com: "Lots of tequila. Lots" is on the menu along with some good seafood.

Meanwhile, the obsession with the iPhone 4G/4GS/5/5S that hasn't even been officially announced yet continues, with another report suggesting that the little icon used to denote an iPhone on Apple's Photo Stream beta looks different to that depicting existing iPhones and therefore could be a leaked hint of what the new iPhone will look like. One wonders why Apple ever has to spend any money on marketing. ®