Honestly, it's hard to remember a time before we all walked around with glass slabs in our pockets. But back in early 2007, the world was a very different place. People were still rocking the Motorola RAZR, clicking away on BlackBerry trackballs, and thinking a tiny plastic screen was the height of luxury. Then Steve Jobs walked onto a stage at Macworld and changed everything.
So, how much was the original iPhone exactly?
If you were standing in line on June 29, 2007, you basically had two choices, and neither of them was cheap. The base model, which came with a tiny 4GB of storage, would set you back $499. If you wanted to double that to 8GB, the price jumped to $599.
Now, here is the kicker: that wasn't the "unlocked" price. That was the price with a two-year contract from AT&T (which was still going by the name Cingular back then).
The "Expensive" Phone That Nobody Could Stop Talking About
It is kinda wild to think about now, but people were genuinely shocked by that $499 price tag.
Back then, most phones were heavily subsidized by carriers. You’d walk into a store, sign your life away for two years, and get a phone for $50 or maybe even for free. Paying five hundred bucks for a phone—and still being locked into a contract—felt like madness to some. Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft at the time, famously laughed at the price. He thought there was no way a phone without a keyboard would appeal to business customers at that price point.
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He was wrong. Obviously.
The Great Price Drop Drama of 2007
Apple did something just two months later that made early adopters absolutely lose their minds. In September 2007, they straight-up discontinued the 4GB model and slashed the price of the 8GB model from $599 down to $399.
Imagine paying $600 for a phone in June and seeing it for $400 in September. People were furious. The backlash was so intense that Steve Jobs actually had to issue a public apology and offer a $100 Apple Store credit to anyone who bought the phone at the original launch price.
It was a rare moment where Apple admitted they'd moved a bit too fast.
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What You Actually Got for the Money
Basically, you were paying for the future. The original iPhone didn't even have 3G. It ran on the painfully slow EDGE network, which meant browsing the web was a test of patience. There was no App Store. You were stuck with whatever Apple gave you: Mail, Safari, Maps, and a few others.
- Display: 3.5 inches (which felt huge at the time!)
- Camera: 2 megapixels (no video recording, no flash)
- Operating System: iPhone OS 1 (later renamed iOS)
- Colors: Silver aluminum with a black plastic bottom
Why the 4GB Model is Now Worth a Fortune
Here is a fun bit of trivia. Because the 4GB model was so unpopular—most people just spent the extra hundred bucks for the 8GB version—it was killed off almost immediately. This made it incredibly rare.
In the last few years, factory-sealed 4GB original iPhones have sold at auction for astronomical prices. We’re talking over $190,000 in some cases. If you happen to have one sitting in a drawer somewhere, still in the shrink wrap, you aren't just holding a piece of tech; you're holding a down payment on a house.
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How the Price Compares to Today
If we adjust for inflation, that $499 price tag in 2007 is roughly equivalent to about **$750 to $780** in 2026 money.
When you think about it, the "entry-level" flagship price hasn't actually changed that much. A base iPhone 17 today starts right around that same $799 mark. The difference, of course, is that the modern iPhone is basically a supercomputer that can film 4K movies, whereas the original couldn't even send a picture over text (no MMS!) or copy and paste text.
The Subsidy Shift
One big reason the price feels different today is how we buy them. In 2007, you paid the $499 upfront and then paid your monthly bill. Today, most people use installment plans. It’s a lot easier to stomach $33 a month than it is to drop $800 all at once, which is exactly why phone prices have been able to creep up over $1,000 for the Pro models without everyone revolting.
Actionable Insights for Collectors and Tech Fans
If you're looking into the history of the original iPhone or perhaps thinking of buying one for a collection, keep these things in mind:
- Check the Model Number: The original iPhone is model A1203. Don't get it confused with the iPhone 3G (A1241), which looks similar from the front but has a plastic back.
- The "Black Bottom" Rule: The original iPhone is the only one with a silver aluminum back and a distinct black plastic section at the bottom for the antennas.
- Battery Bloat is Real: If you find an old one, be careful. Those original lithium-ion batteries are nearly 20 years old now. They tend to swell, which can crack the screen or the internal components from the inside out.
- Functionality: Don't expect to actually use it. Most cellular networks have shut down the 2G bands this phone relies on. It’s essentially a very pretty, very historical iPod touch at this point.
The original iPhone was a gamble that paid off. It was expensive, limited, and tied to a single carrier, but it set the blueprint for the next two decades of human communication. Knowing how much it cost at launch helps put the current tech landscape into perspective—we're paying about the same, but we're getting a whole lot more.