It was January 9th, 2007 when Steve Jobs took the stage at the MacWorld 2007 to introduce 3 new revolutionary products, “a widescreen iPod”, “a phone” and “an internet communicator device”.
That moment, the audience believed it was going to be 3 individual devices that are going to be announced. However, as when Steve Jobs kept the animation ongoing and repeats, “An iPod, a phone, an internet communicator. An iPod, a phone… Are you getting it? These are not 3 separate devices. This is one device.” That is when the audience were so thrilled that they were almost losing it, by which the product that Steve Jobs formally announces, the iPhone.
Today and this year on 9th January 2017, the iPhone celebrates its 10th birthday, the original iPhone which only has 2G capabilities, no App Store, no Wallpaper, no front-facing camera, no user level multitasking and etc, but just an iPod, a internet communicator and basic features of a phone.
To now the latest iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, it delivers a speed 120 times faster than the original iPhone. The front and back cameras are packed with megapixels and sensors to deliver a huge amount of detail, a screen that delivers the best colours and photos on a mobile display, 4G LTE speeds, stereo speakers, NFC (Apple Pay), water resistant and so much more.
Let’s take a look back at how far we have come with each year’s edition of the iPhone.
Timeline of the each iPhone’s key features over the years:
2007:
- Brings the core feature of what the iPhone is today with the 3.5 inch multi-touch display and a true smartphone during then.
2008:
- First iPhone to bring 3G capabilities.
- App Store
2009:
- Video camera.
- 2x faster than the iPhone 3G. At the keynote, Phil Schiller mentioned that the “S”, stands for Speed.
2010:
- Retina Display
- Front-facing camera for FaceTime calls
- Re-designed antennas as part of the iPhone’s structure.
- First iPhone to come in white for the front and back glass.
2011:
- Siri
- iCloud
- First Dual-Core processor, the A5 on a mobile device.
2012:
- First larger screen (4.0 inch) on an iPhone.
- 4G LTE.
- Lightning Connector
2013:
- First iPhone with a fingerprint sensor, Touch ID.
- First iPhone to come in Gold, a difference from Apple’s usual colour of black and white then.
- First iPhone in palette colours: White, Pink, Yellow, Blue and Green.
- Instead of selling the iPhone 5 at a cheaper price, Apple launched iPhone 5c, a rewrapped of the same components into a plastic body, the last being the iPhone 3GS.
2014:
- First time that an iPhone comes in 2 sizes, the 4.7 inch (iPhone 6) and the 5.5 inch (iPhone 6 Plus) display.
- NFC for Apple Pay
2015:
- First iPhone to come in Rose Gold
- 3D Touch
- 4K video recording
- Live Photos
2016 – March:
- A re-branded iPhone 5s with the same design, sharing the same form factor.
- Packed with hardware, software and features of the iPhone 6s, without 3D Touch.
2016 – September:
- New finishing: Jet Black, a polished aluminium back
- Dual-lens cameras on the back on the iPhone 7 Plus
- Force sensitive & customisable Home Button that uses the Taptic Engine.
- Water & Dust Resistant (IP67)
- Stereo Speakers
- Removed headphone jack
So, what’s in it for 2017?
As we move forward into 2017, it is rumoured that Apple will launch it’s 10th anniversary iPhone, a major redesign and it is packed with stunning features and hardware.
It is said that the iPhone 7 has acted out as a transition towards the upcoming iPhone, with example to a on-screen home button that can be customisable as like the iPhone 7 now.
Let us know in the comments section which are your favourite features in each of the iPhone series and what do you hope to see for the future of iPhone?
25TechGeek 