Website shows prototypes of iPhone operating system

In honor of the tenth anniversary of the iPhone’s announcement, journalist Sonny Dickinson has shown two different prototypes of what was to become the operating system of the successful phone.

It’s unclear what the source of the early versions is, but Dickinson has come up with reliable information about Apple more than once. The two operating systems are still at a very early stage and both have very different approaches. The first model, pictured to the right, is named P1 and runs software from Tony Fadell, who contributed much to the design of the iPod. This is reflected in its interface design, which is essentially little more than the iPod’s interface with virtual buttons.

Left: Forstall, right: Fadell

The other design, the P2, comes from Scott Forstall. It may look like it was designed by someone who just wrote their very first piece of software and built a rudimentary interface around it, but it does lay the groundwork for what eventually became the final version of the operating system. It consists of large buttons that clearly indicate their function.

The hardware on which the phones run is clearly not finished either. The screen is made of plastic and the home button is just a dent in the front of the device. This completes the circle, after Apple replaced the home button with the iPhone 7 for a pressure-sensitive dent under the screen.