In the prototype of the iPhone, Apple was looking for a mobile phone in a device similar to the iPod

Before introducing the first generation iPhone in 2007, Apple had secretly tested several prototypes for its mobile phones, some of which had very different designs. One of these devices was a product that could Click Wheel Or the same control circle IPod To dial dial.

Tony Fadl, best known for developing the iPod in the 2000s, recently published a book called Build Has released more details about his time with Apple and other tech companies Has published. Until 2007, Apple did not have a portable device other than the iPod, so it used this product as a basis for designing its smartphone.

The Cupertinos first explored the idea of ​​offering mobile capabilities on the iPod. In this regard, they prototype a device in which the Click Wheel could Dialing page Become. “The prototype of this product during the development process,” says Fadel.IPod PhoneMade by another manufacturer.

This prototype, with the help of a rotating mechanism, allowed the user to very quickly change the bottom of the iPod and use it as a mobile phone. Apple Mobile Prototype Camera It also had colors that were later used in the first generation iPhone.

How did Apple turn the iPod into an iPhone?

The interesting thing is what Fadel says Steve Jobs He was the one who strongly believed that Apple should put its phone inside the iPod instead of developing a completely new device. Jobs believed that because Clock Wheel design was so popular on the iPod, their smartphones should have a similar design.

Although the former iPod vice president initially thought this was a good idea, he admits that the experience of using a Click Wheel phone was not good at all. That’s why Apple engineers and designers decided to look at the project differently. This time they go to one Larger display They left with almost no physical button.

Fadel shared a lot about working at Apple in his Build book. For example, he explained how opposed Steve Jobs was to compatibility with the iPod Windows computers Was. This book also narrates events about the company «نست لبزWas founded by Fadel and later acquired by Google.