Before Apple officially announced the iPhone in 2007, the company developed several prototypes. Some were quite unusual and very different from the original iPhone. This note presents a prototype iPhone with a truly unexpected design, as it has an iPod Click Wheel (the navigation component of iPod models without touchscreens) that can be converted into a numeric keypad via a rotary mechanism.

The prototype was introduced by Tony Fadell, who was responsible for the development of the iPod at Apple in the 2000s. Fadell recently published a new book, Build, in which he details his work at Apple and other tech companies.

The prototype of the first iPhone had an iPod Click Wheel that “converted” to a number pad.
The development story of the first iPhone has already been told by many. After Apple’s partnership with Motorola to install iTunes on the ROKR E1 failed, Steve Jobs and other Apple engineers were convinced they needed to develop their own smartphones.

Until 2007, Apple had no other mobile device other than the iPod, which was first used as the conceptual framework for the Apple smartphone. While the company was exploring the idea of ​​simply placing the phone on the iPod, a sort of prototype was created with the Click Wheel that turns into a numeric keypad.

According to Fadell, the sample was made by a third-party manufacturer in the early stages of design. Thanks to the hinge, users can quickly change the bottom of the iPod to use as a phone. The prototype also had a built-in camera and the colors are very similar to the official colors chosen for the first iPhone. Source