According to a former Apple executive, Apple seriously considered a physical keyboard for the iPhone way back in 2007, before the first iPhone was released.

In a Friday interview with The Verge, former Apple executive Tony Fadell said the physical keyboard was a hot topic at Apple when the first iPhone was being developed. Fadell worked at Apple when the company was still discussing concepts and building prototypes for its first phone.

'Heated Topic'

Fadell recalled that a BlackBerry-like prototype was never built, but it was definitely discussed and Apple was divided into camps pro or against a full touchscreen. "It was definitely discussed, it was a heated topic," Fadell told The Verge. At that time, BlackBerry was the biggest player in the sector, and its handsets featured physical QWERTY keyboards.

The former Apple executive said he was not a big fan of the physical keyboard idea, but he was also "skeptical" whether the full touchscreen concept would catch on. The resistive touchscreen technology used in early smartphones was not very good, and virtual keyboards were far from intuitive, requiring a stylus in many applications.

"I didn't know a lot about touch screens and I was skeptical, so I wanted to try it first," said Fadell. "I wanted it to work because it made sense to have a big screen and not just a little keyboard."

Prototypes

Before releasing the device in 2007, Apple had narrowed the design for the new iPhone down to three prototypes. "There were all kinds of different gestations to it. There were three different types of iPhone. There was an iPod + Phone, then there was the iPhone and then there was the next generation iPhone, which was the one that actually showed up," explained Fadell. "The biggest problem with the iPod + Phone was that we had this little wheel... Sometimes you have to try things to throw them away."

In the end, Steve Jobs had the final say, and he sided with Fadell, eliminating the physical keyboard. The iPhone brought capacitive touchscreens to the masses, allowing Apple to create an innovative, sleek and elegant phone, more user-friendly than most of its smartphone contemporaries. The lack of a physical keyboard allowed for a larger display, which extended the device functionality to completely new areas, such as video or complex games.

So it All Began

After the first iPhone's debut, the overall market started adopting multi-touch screen technology, and slowly shifted from physical to virtual keyboards. Some users still prefer a physical keyboard even today, but the virtual solution has gained significant ground.

The iPhone has come a long way since its debut in 2007, and now the tech world is eagerly waiting the sixth generation. Apple is expected to launch its new iPhone sometime this year, with most reports favoring an October release. The next-generation iPhone is expected to feature a bigger screen, LTE connectivity, NFC, an enhanced version of Siri, improved camera and battery performance, and many other exciting features. But don't expect a physical keyboard.

(reported by Alexandra Burlacu, edited by Dave Clark)