On January 9, 2007, when Steve Jobs introduced the world to the iPhone, no one had inkling that it would evolve year after year, and become the world’s most popular smartphone.
From 2007 till date, Apple has sold more than a billion of the devices, and has become the most valuable company in the world.
There have been 12 generations of the iPhone in total, with each one coming with its own unique design and feature.
See how the iPhone has evolved in its 10years of existence.
iPhone First Generation
Release Date: June 29 2007
The iPhone first generation was the first model of smartphone designed and marketed by Apple.
The device had a 3.5-inch LCD screen at 320×480 and 163ppi, a quad-band 2G EDGE data radio, 802.11b.g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 EDR.
With a 2 megapixel camera, 1400 mAh battery, 128MB of on-board RAM, 4gb/8gb internal memory, and no SD slot, if someone gives this to you in 2017, you’d probably not appreciate it… 😀 But at that time, it was high-tech.
iPhone 3G
Release Date: July 11 2008
The iPhone 3G wasn’t so different from its predecessor. It had a RAM of 128MB, 2MP camera, an internal storage of 8 and 16gb.
The exciting feature, at that time was the 3G connectivity. People could now use the internet without getting angry at their phones. And, yes…there was an App Store!
iPhone 3GS
Release Date: June 19, 2009
Finally! there was an improvement in the camera. It came with a 3MP camera, a RAM of 256MB, internal storage of 8, 16 and 32gb. 😎
An extra plus to the 3GS was voice recording.
iPhone 4
Release Date: June 24 2010
At this time, we began to see notable difference. The iPhone 4 was the first iPhone to have a front cameras. Now, selfies have become a big deal.
It had a RAM 512MB memory, as against the 256MB of iPhone 3G, and its camera was a whooping 5MP. The maximum amount of storage storage still remained 32gb.
iPhone 4S
Release Date: October 14 2011
This was a significant improvement of iPhone 4. The camera went from 5MP to 8MP. Internal storage was increased to 64gb storage option but the memory was kept at 512MB. The iPhone 4S was the first to feature Apple’s voice assistant Siri.
iPhone 5
Release Date: September 21, 2012
Now, this was when the real high-tech began. Although, the camera stayed the same, there was a boost in the memory size, which became 1gb. Internet connectivity? The iPhone 5 marked the upgrade from 3G to LTE connectivity. Also, it was 4 inches, as against 3.5 inches of previous models.
Apple sold 5 million units of the iPhone 5 in the first week of sales.
iPhone 5s & iPhone 5c
Release Date: September 20, 2013
Apple sold nine million units of both the iPhone 5S and 5C in the first week. For the iPhone 5C, there wasn’t much difference from what obtained in iPhone 5, except the plastic shell, available in four different colors.
The iPhone 5S, on the other hand, introduced Touch ID, dual flash, and slow-motion video.
iPhone 6 & 6 Plus
Release Date: September 19, 2014
The iPhone 6’s internal specs were very similar to those of the iPhone 5s. The biggest difference was having a significantly larger screen and offering an even larger size called 6 Plus. The Retina display became HD and the option to get an iPhone with 128gb of storage became available.
But the amount of memory was the same and the camera didn’t see a megapixel upgrade. But it didn’t matter—Apple sold 10 million units in the first week.
iPhone 6s & 6s Plus
Release Date: September 19, 2015
Nothing changed, really. It basically looked the same. But inside, Apple upgraded the iPhone 6s quite a lot. The camera made a huge leap forward, going from 8MP to 12MP. The memory was also doubled from 1gb or 2gb.
iPhone SE
Release Date: March 31, 2016
The iPhone SE cannot be left out on this list. It was introduced as a more affordable option, has all the internal specs of the iPhone 6s in a small package, but without 3D Touch.
iPhone 7 & 7 Plus
Release Date: September 16, 2016
They both have very similar designs and functionality to their predecessors, with a few notable changes. They’re the first iPhones to have no headphone jacks, the first without physical home buttons, and the first waterproof iPhones.
The release of the iPhone 7’s marked the end of the 16gb base model option, with both phones starting at 32gb of storage and going up to 256gb.
iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X
10 year after! The trio of devices, which are currently making buzz around the world were unveiled on September 12 2017 during Apple iPhone’s 10th year anniversary event.
The special 10th anniversary model, iPhone X is the company’s most expensive handset to date, and has been described as the template for mobile phones for the next decade.
Features worthy of note on all phones is the wireless charging technology, meaning users can simply put the device down on a charging pad to power it up, rather than plug it into a socket.
They run the latest version of Apple’s operating system, iOS 11, which brings a host of new features such as split-screen multitasking and a “do not disturb when driving” mode.
While iPhone X will be released to the public on November 3rd 2017, the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus will be on sale from September 22.
The evolution of the iPhone simply shows how technology has grown over the years, enabling us to solve more and more problems at the tap of a button, and opening up the possibility to do more with just a smartphone.
