Many of you would not believe that it has been 14 years since Apple shipped its first iPhone. Steve Jobs took the stage in January 2007 to launch the first iPhone, which went on sale on June 29, 2007. 14 years later, the world is now waiting for the company to launch the iPhone 13 series later this year.
Compared to today’s iPhones, the first iPhone was extremely slow and limited. However, it still managed to change the world with its innovations. These innovations included a full capacitive touch screen, multi-touch gestures and more.
Apple started work on the original iPhone back in 2005 and took over two years to perfect the product.
To recall, at 2 PM on June 29, 2007, Apple Stores across the US closed their doors to prepare for the premiere of the iPhone and then opened up at 6 PM to long lines of customers who had been waiting six months to get their hands on the new device.
The original iPhone was amongst the most expensive phones back then priced at $499 (approximately Rs 37,124) for the 4GB model and at $599 (approximately Rs 44,563). Even though the device had a high price, there was another catch for the consumers who would have had to pay much more, as the original iPhone could only be purchased with an AT&T contract.
The original iPhone: Specifications
At the time, the original iPhone ran the company’s own iPhoneOS with no App Store. It was powered by a 32-bit Samsung ARM chip clocked at 412MHz. The device came with a 3.5-inch LCD display with a slew of sensors including proximity, ambient light and accelerometer. It was backed by a 1,400mAh battery and had a 2-megapixel rear camera.
Though these specifications are laughable at the moment, they were cutting edge in 2007. However, it was not a smooth sailing ride for the original and it had to face a lot of criticisms. These included the lack of a keyboard, battery being sealed off, no expandable memory and more.
Steve Jobs announces the first iPhone
The original iPhone announcement has been one of the best Steve Jobs presentations there is, where he pointed out the flaws of all the so-called smartphones in the market, and then went on to describe, how Apple is looking to fix those problems with the new iPhone.
Major companies ridiculed Apple for launching the iPhone
Microsoft‘s then CEO Steve Ballmer said that it is the most expensive phone in the world and it does not appeal to business customers. He provided the public with every reason as to why the iPhone would fail.
Blackberry was also dismissive of Apple at the time, stating that “it’s OK, we’ll be fine.”
Even though Microsoft and Blackberry amongst other major companies ridiculed the iPhone, we all know how successful of a product it is. Also, the question remains, where is Windows Phone and Blackberry?
The original iPhone was discontinued on July 15, 2008.
