History of IPhone

iPhone is a line of smartphones produced by Apple Inc. that use Apple's own iOS mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007. Since then, Apple has annually released new iPhone models and iOS updates. As of November 1, 2018, more than 2.2 billion iPhones had been sold. As of 2022, the iPhone accounts for 15.6% of global smartphone share.[3]

The iPhone was the first mobile phone to use multi-touch technology.[4] Since the iPhone's launch, it gained larger screen sizes, video-recording, waterproofing, and many accessibility features. Up to iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, iPhones had a single button on the front panel with the Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Since iPhone X, iPhone models have switched to a nearly bezel-less front screen design with Face ID facial recognition, and app switching activated by gestures. Touch ID is still used for the budget iPhone SE series.

The iPhone is one of the two largest smartphone platforms in the world alongside Android, and is a large part of the luxury market. The iPhone has generated large profits for Apple, making it one of the world's most valuable publicly traded companies. The first-generation iPhone was described as a "revolution" for the mobile phone industry and subsequent models have also garnered praise.[5] The iPhone has been credited with popularizing the smartphone and slate form factor, and with creating a large market for smartphone apps, or "app economy". As of January 2017, Apple's App Store contained more than 2.2 million applications for the iPhone.

Development of an Apple smartphone began in 2004, when Apple started to gather a team of 1,000 employees led by hardware engineer Tony Fadell, software engineer Scott Forstall, and design officer Jony Ive,[6] to work on the highly confidential "Project Purple".[7][8]

Then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs steered the original focus away from a tablet (which was later revisited in the form of the iPad) towards a phone.[9] Apple created the device during a secretive collaboration with Cingular Wireless (later renamed AT&T Mobility) at an estimated development cost of US$150 million over thirty months.[10] According to Jobs in 1998, the "i" word in "iMac" (and thereafter "iPod", "iPhone" and "iPad") stands for internet, individual, instruct, inform, and inspire.[11][12]

Apple rejected the "design by committee" approach that had yielded the Motorola ROKR E1, a largely unsuccessful "iTunes phone" made in collaboration with Motorola. Among other deficiencies, the ROKR E1's firmware limited storage to only 100 iTunes songs to avoid competing with Apple's iPod nano.[13][14] Cingular gave Apple the liberty to develop the iPhone's hardware and software in-house, a rare practice at the time,[15][16] and paid Apple a fraction of its monthly service revenue (until the iPhone 3G),[17] in exchange for four years of exclusive U.S. sales, until 2011.[18]

Jobs unveiled the first-generation iPhone to the public on January 9, 2007, at the Macworld 2007 convention at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.[19] The iPhone incorporated a 3.5-inch multi-touch display with few hardware buttons, and ran the iPhone OS operating system with a touch-friendly interface, then marketed as a version of Mac OS X.[20] It launched on June 29, 2007, at a starting price of US$499 in the United States, and required a two-year contract with AT&T.[21]

On July 11, 2008, at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2008, Apple announced the iPhone 3G, and expanded its launch-day availability to twenty-two countries, and it was eventually released in 70 countries and territories.[22][23] The iPhone 3G introduced faster 3G connectivity, and a lower starting price of US$199 (with a two-year AT&T contract).[24] Its successor, the iPhone 3GS, was announced on June 8, 2009, at WWDC 2009, and introduced video recording functionality.[25]

The iPhone 4 was announced on June 7, 2010, at WWDC 2010, and introduced a redesigned body incorporating a stainless steel frame and a rear glass panel.[26] At release, the iPhone 4 was marketed as the "world's thinnest smartphone";[26] it uses the Apple A4 processor, being the first iPhone to use an Apple custom-designed chip. It introduced the Retina display, having four-times the display resolution of preceding iPhones, and was the highest-resolution smartphone screen at release;[26] a front-facing camera was also introduced, enabling video calling functionality via FaceTime.

Users of the iPhone 4 reported dropped/disconnected telephone calls when holding their phones in a certain way, and this issue was nicknamed "antennagate".[27] In January 2011, as Apple's exclusivity agreement with AT&T was expiring, Verizon announced that they would be carrying the iPhone 4, with a model compatible with Verizon's CDMA network releasing on February 10.[28][29]

The iPhone 4s was announced on October 4, 2011, and introduced the Siri virtual assistant, a dual-core A5 processor, and an 8 megapixel camera with 1080p video recording functionality. The iPhone 5 was announced on September 12, 2012, and introduced a larger 4-inch screen, up from the 3.5-inch screen of all previous iPhone models, as well as faster 4G LTE connectivity.[30] It also introduced a thinner and lighter body made of aluminum alloy, and the 30-pin dock connector of previous iPhones was replaced with the new, reversible Lightning connector.[30]

The iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c were announced on September 10, 2013. The iPhone 5s included a 64-bit A7 processor, becoming the first ever 64-bit smartphone;[31] it also introduced the Touch ID fingerprint authentication sensor. The iPhone 5c was a lower-cost device that incorporated hardware from the iPhone 5, into a series of colorful plastic frames.[32]

On September 9, 2014, Apple introduced the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and included significantly larger screens than the iPhone 5s, at 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch respectively; both models also introduced mobile payment technology via Apple Pay.[33] Optical image stabilization was introduced to the 6 Plus' camera. The Apple Watch was also introduced on the same day, and is a smartwatch that operates in conjunction with a connected iPhone. Some users experienced bending issues from normal use with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, particularly on the latter model, and this issue was nicknamed "bendgate".[34]

The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus were introduced on September 9, 2015, and included a more bend-resistant frame made of a stronger aluminum alloy, as well as a higher resolution 12-megapixel main camera capable of 4K video recording.[35] The first-generation iPhone SE was introduced on March 21, 2016, and was a low-cost device that incorporated newer hardware from the iPhone 6s, in the frame of the older iPhone 5s.[36]

The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus were announced on September 7, 2016, which introduced larger camera sensors, IP67-certified water and dust resistance, and a quad-core A10 Fusion processor utilizing big.LITTLE technology;[37] the 3.5mm headphone jack was removed, and was followed by the introduction of the AirPods wireless earbuds.[38] Optical image stabilization was added to the 7's camera. A second telephoto camera lens was added on the 7 Plus, enabling two-times optical zoom, and "Portrait" photography mode which simulates bokeh in photos.[39]