Today marks 16 years since the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone. Photo: Apple
Today marks 16 years since the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone to the world for the first time.
Jobs, stood on stage at Macworld Expo in San Franciso, California, on 9 January 2007 and launched what he called a “revolutionary product” that would change the world.
“Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything.”
“Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone,” Jobs, dressed in his signature black mock turtleneck, boasted
And boy, was he right.
Before the iPhone made its grand entrance to the world, Nokia was king with almost every person carrying one, you just had to have a Nokia in your pocket.
The iPhone boasted huge advances over existing smartphones such as the Blackberry, Moto Q and Palm Treo with a fingertip touch screen, a powerful camera and easy access to the internet, among many other features.
Jobs famously described the iPhone as an iPod with touch controls, a phone, and a breakthrough internet communications device.
“An iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator. An iPod, a phone… are you getting it? These are not three separate devices: This is one device, and we are calling it iPhone.”
“iPhone is a revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone,” Jobs said during his keynote speech.
The original iPhone which was not available in South Africa, but the author of this article had the pleasure to own one, had a 3.5-inch LCD display, a 2-megapixel camera, and an aluminium and plastic body.
The Cupertino tech giants new smartphone was hugely popular and in massive demand with customers sleeping outside Apple stores for days to get one and with some even selling their places in the queue.
Fast forward 16 year later, the iPhone line-up has five different models: the iPhone SE, iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
The devices boast phenomenal features including an all-screen display with no Home Button and thin bezels, facial recognition, 4K video recording, a 48MP camera, Dynamic Island, a higher-refresh rate display, and a plethora of features and capabilities on iOS 16.
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Apple sold 6.1 million first-generation iPhones between the time it released the product to the public on June 29, 2007, and discontinued it on July 15, 2008.
According to The New York Post, about 2 billion iPhones have been sold since its introduction, with nearly 800 million in use around the world today -about one for every 10 people on the planet, according to estimates by various tech analysts.
Sales of iPhones accounted for 52% of Apple’s $365 billion in sales in 2021, according to company reports.
The iPhone, and the advances in technology it forced on other smartphones, has had a profound impact on the way people live.
Jobs died in October 2011 after a long battle with cancer.
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