Rare iPhone prototype suggests Apple was experimenting with haptic buttons

Apple’s been known to test out new iPhone features with all kinds of secret prototypes, and one of the latest discoveries is a strange one. A rare iPhone prototype, found by AppleDemoYT, is causing a stir, and it turns out the device was sourced from an electronics recycling facility

This particular iPhone prototype, code-named “Vesica Piscis,” looks like it was made somewhere between the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 Pro, but with some pretty wild changes. The most obvious difference? The Apple logo is gone and replaced with a mysterious symbol called the “Vesica Piscis.”

You might have seen this before, but only in Apple’s documents related to the AirTag prototype. It’s a placeholder symbol used to keep things under wraps, and it has some deep meaning—basically representing the intersection of two circles, which symbolizes unity and creation. Not your typical Apple logo, right?

Along with the odd logo, this prototype has some other oddities. It’s labeled as a “RANGER” prototype, which suggests it was put through some serious durability testing. AppleDemoYT says that the “DROP2.5” part of the label likely means it was tested for drops from a height of 2.5 meters, which is pretty standard for Apple’s durability checks.

One thing you’ll notice right away is the volume button—it’s just one long button instead of the usual two separate ones. This fits in with Apple’s rumored “Project Bongo,” which is all about developing new haptic feedback technology. So, yes, this prototype might be more about testing tech than being a finalized product.

The phone powers up and shows a message that reads “MCU Init Done,” which means the microcontroller is ready. It also goes by the name “Bender” in the macOS System Report, clearly a Futurama easter egg.

Looking at the internals, the phone seems to combine parts from both the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro. The logic board is totally different from anything we’ve seen before, and some of the parts—like the cameras and microphones—are just dummies. Some even use clear plastic to mimic the real components.

As for its origin, this prototype didn’t come from some shady Apple lab or a rogue engineer. Instead, it popped up on the Chinese marketplace “Xianyu,” sold by a seller who had no idea what they were selling. They just mentioned it came from an electronics recycling facility. Fortunately, this little piece of Apple history didn’t end up in a landfill.

It’s unclear if this prototype was ever meant to be an iPhone 14 Pro, or if it was just a test device for the new haptic features, but it’s certainly one of the most unique iPhones we’ve seen in a while.