Considering how powerful the iPhone 4S is, the original model seems really dated in comparison. No, not the first-generation release from 2007 … the original iPhone.
A picture of a 1983 Apple prototype device has been circulating on blogs, with fans calling it “the original Apple iPhone.”
While it’s a far cry from the model Apple eventually attached the iPhone name to, what with its wired handset and lack of portability, its mere existence shows that Apple was considering — not to mention researching and developing — a computer-phone hybrid 20 years before smartphones started to come onto the market.
The old prototype features a touchscreen, which appears to display a check-writing program — or, in modern-day parlance, an app.
The model was reportedly designed by Hartmut Esslinger, who helped design the Apple II.
– Seth Millstein