Today Marks 15 Years Since Steve Jobs Unveiled the Original iPhone

[voraciousvegan]

I got the very first iPhone in middle school, right after it came out. I was mugged for it by two middle schoolers in bandanas after school one day. They didn't manage to get the beloved iPhone in my pocket, but I ended up with a nasty head injury and a traumatic memory of my very first iPhone.

 

[BaltimoreMediaBlog]

I have repaired a lot of iPods but I never dared opening the original iPhone. It seems so easy to break. Not sure what would be worse ?

Exactly, I have bought spudgers and such, but I'm so scared of breaking it as it is literally glued shut, and mine still syncs to older Mac OS versions too, so I know it is still fully functioning if I could just fix that one thing. How long the battery would keep a charge? Who knows? Maybe not long, but when powered, it seems to be fully function except for this one problem and the screen still works fine too even with a minor crack in the glass.

 

[Analog Kid]

I feel like the date we should be tracking is the AppStore announcement-- that's when everything changed for the industry. The iPhone was an exciting product, but it was still just a phone with a few innovations-- most notably removing the keyboard. There were other phones with similar capabilities in the world, even if they were less well refined.

It was the AppStore that turned it into a force of nature. Building the whole device on top of OS X made the AppStore possible, but it wasn't until Apple took that next step that iPhone truly became the phenomenon it is. "There's an App for that" is what drove adoption of iPhone, paved the way for Android, and pushed out the traditional players.

 

[skaertus]

The original iPhone was not available here in Brazil. Some of my friends bought one in the U.S., tied with a 2-year contract, and managed to make it work with local carriers. I bought a 1st gen iPod Touch, which was a similar device. I still have it, even though I have not turned it on for years now (I am not sure if it still works).

 

[CynanX]

The only thing I knew of Apple back then was a Macintosh that I’d seen in a design lab when I was back at school.

I’d already been through a Compaq style Windows Mobile phone which was huge, a Sony P800 and then several HTC devices, and finally using an HTC Diamond when I saw a work college using the original iPhone. I didn’t give it much thought. It didn’t seem that great to me. No copy & paste? Ha!

By the time the 3G came out I was lucky enough to be given one as a work phone. Using is believing. My world was changed. I’ve been using iPhones ever since.

It wasn’t until a few years back where again work provided me with a MacBook and once again my world was changed. Bye Windows. Hello MacOS.

Apple till I die now 😂

 

[Yr Blues]

I got the very first iPhone in middle school, right after it came out. I was mugged for it by two middle schoolers in bandanas after school one day. They didn't manage to get the beloved iPhone in my pocket, but I ended up with a nasty head injury and a traumatic memory of my very first iPhone.

How did a middle-schooler afford an iPhone at the time?

 

[reyesmac]

$500 entry level price, same as the highest end model, just had lower amount of storage. Truly revolutionary even though it was the most expensive mainstream phone at the time. Todays Apple can't even give you that level of parity on a $1,000 phone. Making them two different sizes and keeping the best features exclusively for the most expensive one.

They also ushered in an age where a huge number of the population is suffering from a serious cell phone addiction problem because they are so cool. And we haven't even seen what the kids who grew up on this stuff will do when they get in charge. That'll be fun.

Today $500 gets you an iPhone 11, not sure how many years old that is, but it looks like it's the best value since any newer iPhone with that large of a screen costs hundreds more. But compared to the SE that means an extra inch of screen costs you an extra $100. Nice.

 

[incoherent_1]

The success and impact of this product cannot be underestimated. It still amazes me how much so many people couldn’t imagine life without a modern smartphone.

 

[1BadManVan]

Pretty crazy how big of an impact the IPhone had over the years. I remember when it first came out, I convinced myself there was no way I was paying so much for a phone. Couple years later I got the 3GS and never looked back lol.

 

[1BadManVan]

$500 entry level price, same as the highest end model, just had lower amount of storage. Truly revolutionary even though it was the most expensive mainstream phone at the time. Todays Apple can't even give you that level of parity on a $1,000 phone. Making them two different sizes and keeping the best features exclusively for the most expensive one.

They also ushered in an age where a huge number of the population is suffering from a serious cell phone addiction problem because they are so cool. And we haven't even seen what the kids who grew up on this stuff will do when they get in charge. That'll be fun.

Today $500 gets you an iPhone 11, not sure how many years old that is, but it looks like it's the best value since any newer iPhone with that large of a screen costs hundreds more. But compared to the SE that means an extra inch of screen costs you an extra $100. Nice.

An extra inch of screen real estate, Face ID, smaller bezels, more ram, better camera etc. plus 1” screen difference on a phone is a pretty big difference lol.

 

[JosephAW]

That’s when the iPhone had a notch on the top and bottom extending all the way across.

 

[Dremmel]

It was seismic. Will never forget Steve Ballmer writing it off.

 

[jouster]

Mine still works perfectly apart from the cellular radio, WiFi, screen, battery, and most of the software.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Steve was a pure visionary genius. RIP.

 

[StarShot]

Time flys. I was ONLY 68 that year and the thought of paying over $500 for a frigging phone was way beyond what I thought a cell phone should cost. That said, a year later when I was 69, I stood in line on opening day to snare the 3G for a bit more than $500 if I remember correctly. And I've had a new one every year since.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

On this occasion I always like to recognize Steve Ballmer for the visionary and business genius he was in asserting that the iPhone was too expensive, had no appeal for business customers because it lacked a physical keyboard, and that the $99 Microsoft-based phone was a strategy he liked better. Kudos on that call Steve-O.

I had a Palm Treo 'Windows Phone', and at times a brick would have been more useful.

It was on Verizon, and they couldn't get email, SMS to work. There were other features too that it wouldn't do, and it ate the contact list on it many times, and once ate it on my PC too. I had to call people to get their email addresses, which was embarrassing. For the family, an uncle got hit with the virus that sent a copy of the phishing email to everyone in their address book, so I had email addresses for family that either hadn't wanted to, or never gave it to me. Bonus!!! Too funny...

Thanks for the flashback to that time.

 

[JKAussieSkater]

So we’re gonna remember historical events in 5 year increments now? ?
Okay, I look forward to acknowledging this MacRumors story again in 2027! (an actually significant duration of 20 years).

 

[Analog Kid]

So we’re gonna remember historical events in 5 year increments now? ?
Okay, I look forward to acknowledging this MacRumors story again in 2027! (an actually significant duration of 20 years).

There's only a "we" when you participate, so feel free to remember historical events at whatever cadence suits you.

 

[Clix Pix]

When I first watched the keynote in January when Steve introduced the iPhone, somehow his usual Reality Distortion Field magic didn't work and I sat here thinking, "huh, I hardly use the cell phone I've got now; why would I want one of those things?" Well.....fast-forward a few months and a day or two before the official launch of the iPhone I again watched that same January keynote and this time I realized just why I would want one of "those things"..... and on Launch Day was in line at my local mall to buy one.

Handed over my plastic card, stated the capacity that I wanted, and was handed a bag which contained the box holding the brand-new, never-seen-before iPhone. On the way out of the store I finally had a chance to at least lay eyes and hands on one briefly so I had a better idea of what I had just spent $600 on. Got her home, spent some time porting over my old cell phone's phone number and of course my account from the previous cell phone provider to AT&T and then set about learning exactly all the wonderful new things that this device was going to do for me...

Didn't take long to get hooked on the iPhone and this many years later, plus many generations of iPhones, still am!

 

[webkit]

$500 entry level price, same as the highest end model, just had lower amount of storage. Truly revolutionary even though it was the most expensive mainstream phone at the time. Todays Apple can't even give you that level of parity on a $1,000 phone. Making them two different sizes and keeping the best features exclusively for the most expensive one.

I don't see a problem with Apple giving customers more choices in cameras, sizes, features, etc. at different price points instead of forcing them to buy one "all-encompassing" device and have to pay up for things they may not want.

I think today's iPhones are actually bargains compared to the launch prices of the original iPhones when you factor in the 2-year AT&T contract requirement, inflation, etc.

They also ushered in an age where a huge number of the population is suffering from a serious cell phone addiction problem because they are so cool. And we haven't even seen what the kids who grew up on this stuff will do when they get in charge. That'll be fun.

Older generations have been complaining about younger generations being addicted to or obsessed with certain devices and activities for ages. I don't think kids today are necessarily any more "addicted" to smartphones than kids from decades ago were addicted to talking on landline phones, playing music, playing video games, watching TV, watching movies, etc. A big difference today is that ONE device can do the same things (and more) that took several different devices in the past so it may seem like they are addicted to one thing when they are really doing a wide variety of things.

 

[ZipZilla]

autocorrect still sucks

 

[Thebrochure]

Back when you could use the phone with one hand without feeling as if you were trying to defuse a bomb.

 

[alexandr]

This guy…..

touche...?

 

[R3k]

The day smart goggles replace the iPhone is the day I abandon tech entirely and go live in the woods…

Metaverse National Park? I hear the Geocaching is lucrative there.

 

[alexandr]

I don’t think anyone watched the original unveiling, Apple wasn’t streaming them then; everything we found out was by the tech reporters live blogging it for sites like Engadget and other sites. The video was released afterwards and viewed so many times as Steve Jobs was on top of his game that day.

hm, i'm pretty sure they did show it. i def have pretty clear memories of watching it as it was happening. my mind could be playing tricks on me though — it's been 15 years