Apple celebrates 10 years since Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone

AppleInsider

This Monday, Jan. 9, will mark exactly 10 years to the day since the first iPhone was unveiled at the Macworld 2007 expo by Steve Jobs. Apple acknowledged the milestone a day early, on Sunday, with Tim Cook promising: "The best is yet to come."

"iPhone is an essential part of our customers' lives, and today more than ever it is redefining the way we communicate, entertain, work and live," Cook, Apple's CEO, said in a press release. "iPhone set the standard for mobile computing in its first decade and we are just getting started. The best is yet to come."

It was on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2007 that Jobs touted the iPhone as three game changing products in one: a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, and a breakthrough internet communications device.

Competitors scoffed and initial sales were tepid, but by the time the formula was refined for the iPhone 3G, the iPhone quickly began to take off and ultimately defined the modern era of personal computing. Today, the iPhone is the single most important product in Apple's entire lineup, accounting for well over half of all of the company's revenue, and making Apple the most valuable company in the world.

This year, Apple is expected to create a 10th anniversary iPhone --?which has come to be known colloquially as the "iPhone 8" --?with a complete redesign that could change the game once again. It's believed that the device will have an edge-to-edge OLED display that could hide components, like Touch ID, the home button, earpiece and FaceTime camera -- within or behind the display, presenting users with a true edge-to-edge screen.

Other rumored features of the so-called "iPhone 8" include a glass back, curved screen, wireless charging, and a new 10-nanometer "A11" processor.

New iPhones will have to wait, however, as Apple typically refreshes its flagship handset around September. Until then, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus remain the flag-bearers for the world's most popular smartphone model.

"It is amazing that from the very first iPhone through to today's newest iPhone 7 Plus, it has remained the gold standard by which all other smartphones are judged. For many of us, iPhone has become the most essential device in our lives and we love it," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "iPhone is how we make voice and FaceTime calls, how we shoot and share Live Photos and 4K videos, how we listen to streaming music, how we use social media, how we play games, how we get directions and find new places, how we pay for things, how we surf the web, do email, manage our contacts and calendars, how we listen to podcasts, watch TV, movies and sports, and how we manage our fitness and health. iPhone has become all of these things and more. And I believe we are just getting started."

MacPro

It seems like yesterday and yet so long ago.  Happy Birthday iPhone.

ljm828312

Congrats Apple and iPhone. Was a little late to the game with ya. 1st iPhone was the 4s. Brilliant piece of machine, just makes me mad that i never bought the 1st. I have been the " s " model upgrader since my start, now the rumor mill is running rapid with 3 phones and a possible all glossy white version. I know you all at Apple will once again knock it outta the park with this years and many more years to come with the best phone in the world. You reinvented the phone and you reinvented the way we live our lives today, tomorrow and in the future. To all the other phone makers out there....... imitation is the sincere form of flattery. Congrats again Apple and the iPhone team.

macxpress

I still love watching the introduction of the iPhone. It one of the greatest presentations I've ever seen. 


So hard to believe its been 10yrs since the original iPhone was introduced. I sorta wish I still had mine for history sakes. 

mattinoz

Damn It the 5 series (nonC) is by far the best on balance version of the iPhone to date yet gets relegated to half shots in the graphics.

cpsro

The most awesome keynote and product intro. ever! So many people poo-poohed it. Even seeing it in person, neophytes had no idea of the revolution at hand and couldn't imagine the potential. And oh, the number of poo-poohers who did see the potential and hoped Apple would fail so they could take its place. I've bought every year's flagship model. Only regret is I sold the original (and for only a few dollars).

bdkennedy1002

And it's the last thing Apple has done to get me excited.

anantksundaram

That's the day I took every extra penny that I had, and bought Apple shares. My only regret is that I didn't borrow to buy more!

There are basically no other days I can think of that have brought me greater joy as both a consumer and a shareholder as that day.

Thank you, SJ. For your tenacity, patience, persistence, clarity, and most importantly, vision. 

ericthehalfbee

bdkennedy said:

And it's the last thing Apple has done to get me excited.

If Apple hasn't done anything you find exciting then you must have a dismal opinion of all the other tech companies out there.

boredumb

"Those were the days my friend 
We thought they'd never end 
We'd sing and dance forever and a day 
We'd live the life we choose 
We'd fight and never lose 
For we were young and sure to have our way..."
  -Mary Hopkins 

fotoformat

mattinoz said:

Damn It the 5 series (nonC) is by far the best on balance version of the iPhone to date yet gets relegated to half shots in the graphics.

Although I see kids of two years of age with iPhones, at 72 years of age I've only just purchased my very first mobile device... and after much pondering it was a 5S.

As a first-time user I was unsure of the form factor in my smallish hands, but after a few days of struggling to type captions to photos - the latter of which had a finger in many a shot - everything became routine... aided by the predictive text in French when messaging a lady friend. However, as I am now so enamoured with this method of communication, star (celestial) spotting, casual photo snapping (after 40 years of Nikons cracking my neck and shoulders), I aim to 'get in line' for you know what around the time of the 'anniversary' model.

PS: As I was typing this the 4 o'clock news on BBC Radio 4's lead headline was a 10-second sound clip of Jobs announcing the iPhone... I remembered it well!

Soli

1) Still the best keynote to date, even with the poor decision to have a demo of the Apple TV right before it that most people don't even recall happening during that event.

2) I really miss the January announcements with Spring and Summer product releases.

3) For all of you who bellyache that this company is dominating a market where Apple should enter (many of you then blaming this on Cook being an inept CEO), let's remember that we all wished for Apple to create an smartphone for many, many years before it actually happened. People posted mock ups—mostly based on the iPod design which was their primary financial driver and commanded the highest mindshare at the time—and other parties said that Apple was far too late to enter this established market owned by Blackberry nee Research in Motion, Nokia, and Palm in the US and Europe, and that Japan was so far ahead of anything the US was doing because they included a VHF TV on their super complicated smartphones. So the next time you want to complain that Apple sucks let's remember what can happen when you design and build well instead of trying to be a "me first" or "let's throw it again the wall and see what sticks" kind of company.

kamilton

Steve's finest moment.  Truly an historic keynote/demo.  We don't have a Wright brothers demo on video, but we've got Steve.  Happy Birthday iPhone!

bluefire1

Maybe Tim will further honor the original iPhone by accelerating the release of this year's models to the same month the original model was released: June.

Soli

bluefire1 said:

Maybe Tim will further honor the original iPhone by accelerating the release of this year's models to the same month the original model was released: June.

That can't happen unless WWDC happens by next month. Remember that the original iPhone didn't have a public SDK or App Store so there was no early release of the next generation of the OS in which developers would have to become familiar in order to support the new HW and OS.

Of course, if they wanted to just release an updated iPhone that doesn't alter iOS or change any major HW features then they could do it, but I don't see Apple releasing a 10-year anniversary edition of anything. It's not really their style even though they've done it in the past.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twentieth_Anniversary_Macintosh

leighr

Yes, not only the gold standard for phones, but also the gold standard for Presentations.

yojimbo007

bdkennedy said:

And it's the last thing Apple has done to get me excited.

Love the watch too !

yojimbo007

Happy 10th aniversery iPhone and Apple. Tim.. "the best is yet to come". I Truly hope so ! We need the excitement to carry on .:) 🤞

digitol

I'm so incredibly over hearing Cooky boy say the same thing over and over. Since we all have short memories, here are some links to illustrate my point. Some of these date back to 2013!!!!!!!!!  OVER 5 YRS, this clown has been promising, something new, great new stuff ahead, yet nothing of significance has been delivered. 
 
2013 -Tim Cook promises new products ahead! 
http://www.financialpost.com/m/wp/news/blog.html?b=business.financialpost.com/2014/02/28/apple-incs-tv-set-top-box-sales-surpassed-us1-billion-in-2013-tim-cook-says

2013 - Tim saying the same thing, New stuff ahead.. huh huh huh huh...
http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/29/5041410/tim-cook-and-new-apple-products-a-short-history

2014 - Tim Cook, we have amazing products in the pipeline!!! 
https://www.cnet.com/news/with-no-amazing-products-due-at-wwdc-apples-tim-cook-feels-the-heat/

2016 - Tim Coook Exciting new products in the pipeline
http://bgr.com/2016/05/02/tim-cook-defends-apple-new-products/

2016 - More Cook, we have great innovation in the pipeline...
https://www.thurrott.com/mobile/ios/66930/tim-cook-pulls-osborne

2016 - More Cook same thing: Great desktops in pipeline.. huh huh huh huh.
http://technewsground.com/apple-ceo-tim-cook-says-great-desktops-are-in-the-pipeline-new-macs-in-the-cards/

The list goes on and on.  I promise, New, Exciting, innovative, secret, coming soon, are in the pipleline.. huh huh huh - Newsflash hasn't happened, and its coming to the point where too little too late. Selling 2013 macs, today at full price, Not improving much of anything, Missing opportunities to launch products like Alexa. Falling asleep on wireless standards, Monitors, just about everything. To say Apple has work to do, is hugely understated. 

You, know Steve Jobs had a saying.. something along the line... If it didn't suck you wouldn't have to defend it.  I hear Tim cook getting awfully defensive lately. 

B3BADASS

I still have the very first iPhone released, was my first phone when I was little, used that thing for years after it's release, then i shattered the display several years later. I later tried out Android and stayed with it, to this day. Sadly never went back, I love iOS,  and do plan to switch back but I need Apple to try a little harder with their hardware and software. Hopefully this year they do some changes to iOS.

macxpress

bdkennedy said:

And it's the last thing Apple has done to get me excited.

Then why don't you go elsewhere instead of poo poo'ing all over every Apple story here. Obviously something is keeping you here so they must be doing something right. I don't think you realize the stuff they did was something that doesn't happen every year, or even every 5yrs. This is something that takes a lot of time and a lot of having everything fall into place as well.