Apple has always been on the cutting edge it seems. They had visions of an iPhone back in 1983 with this all-white landline edition. Not sure what all could be done on the touchscreen, but I am assuming it a notes app to remind you to pick up the milk on your way home from work.
The phone was designed for Apple by Hartmut Esslinger, an influential designer who helped make the Apple IIc computer (Apple’s first “portable” computer) and later founded Frogdesign. The 1983 iPhone certainly fits in with Esslinger’s other designs for Apple. It also foreshadows the touchscreens of both the iPhone and iPad.