The Humble Beginnings of Apple's Haptic Button Project: An Exclusive Look at the iPhone 14 Pro Prototype
A newly-discovered iPhone 14 Pro prototype features one of the earliest known incarnations of Apple's scrapped haptic button project. The device, codenamed Ranger, was in the drop test stage and had a unified volume button on its side. The prototype is missing several components including cameras and the display connector as it was used for durability testing, rather than to be functional. This early model indicates Apple was experimenting with different designs before settling on the final version.