Looking back at images of the first iPhone today feels a lot like looking at a photo of a Model T Ford while sitting inside a Tesla. It's primitive. It's bulky. Honestly, by modern standards, it’s kind of a brick. But back in 2007, that 3.5-inch screen was a massive window into a future nobody—not even the biggest tech nerds—quite saw coming.
Steve Jobs stood on that stage at Macworld and famously told everyone he was introducing three devices: a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough internet communications device. He wasn't lying. But when you hunt for high-resolution images of the first iPhone from that era, you see more than just a gadget. You see the fingerprints of a company that was absolutely terrified and exhilarated all at once.
The hardware was a weird, beautiful mess of aluminum and plastic. That black plastic strip at the bottom? It wasn't an aesthetic choice. Apple’s engineers realized late in the game that cellular and Wi-Fi signals couldn't easily penetrate the beautiful brushed aluminum casing they’d designed. They had to cut a hole in their "perfect" design just to make the thing work as an actual phone. It’s those little imperfections that make the original photography of the device so fascinating.
The visual evolution of the "Project Purple" prototype
Before the shiny press shots we all remember, there were the prototypes. If you dig into the archives of the Apple vs. Samsung lawsuits from a decade ago, you’ll find the real images of the first iPhone—or at least, what it almost was.
One early design, codenamed "Purple," looked remarkably like an iPod Mini but with a touchscreen. Another version was literally just a giant iPad-like slab. Imagine trying to hold a 10-inch glass plate to your ear to take a call from your mom. Apple's design team, led by Jony Ive, went through dozens of physical iterations. Some were octagonal. Some had curved glass that was way too expensive to mass-produce in 2006.
The images of the first iPhone that finally hit the public showed a device that was 11.6 millimeters thick. That sounds chunky now, but at the time, compared to the Moto Q or the BlackBerry Curve, it was sleek. It felt like a smooth river stone.
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Why the screen looks so different in old photos
If you look at side-by-side images of the first iPhone and a modern iPhone 15 or 16, the most jarring thing isn't the size. It's the "Screen Door Effect."
The original iPhone had a resolution of 320x480 pixels. That’s a pixel density of 163 ppi. For context, modern iPhones hover around 460 ppi. When you zoom in on original press photos, you can practically see the individual red, green, and blue subpixels.
There was also no "Retina" display back then. The glass wasn't even supposed to be glass. Legend has it (and by legend, I mean Walter Isaacson’s biography of Jobs) that Steve carried a plastic-screen prototype in his pocket for a few weeks. When he saw how badly the keys in his pocket scratched the plastic, he demanded the team switch to glass just weeks before launch. That’s why the early images of the first iPhone show that iconic, highly reflective surface—it was a last-minute scramble that changed the industry forever.
The missing features you forgot about
It's hilarious to think about now, but those early images of the first iPhone show a device that was essentially "nerfed" by today's standards:
- There was no App Store. You were stuck with the icons Apple gave you.
- There was no 3G. It ran on AT&T’s "EDGE" network, which was painfully slow.
- The camera? A measly 2.0 megapixels. No flash. No video recording.
- You couldn't even change the wallpaper. It was just a black background behind the icons.
- No copy and paste. Seriously. You had to re-type everything.
The 2G vs. 3G visual confusion
A lot of people get confused when searching for images of the first iPhone because the iPhone 3G, which came out a year later, looks very similar from the front. But the back tells the real story.
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The true "iPhone 2G" (the original) is the only one with that distinct two-tone look: silver aluminum on top, black plastic on the bottom. The iPhone 3G and 3GS went to a full plastic back in either all-black or all-white. If you see a photo of an iPhone with a silver back and a small black strip, you’re looking at the original 2007 "Jesus Phone."
The headphone jack was also a nightmare. It was recessed so deeply into the casing that most third-party headphones couldn't plug in without an adapter. Apple basically forced everyone to use their specific white earbuds, which you can see prominently featured in almost all the original marketing imagery.
Real-world value of a "Mint" original iPhone
If you have one of these sitting in a drawer, don't throw it away. Collectors have gone absolutely wild for this specific hardware.
In recent years, factory-sealed original iPhones have sold at auction for staggering amounts. In 2023, a 4GB model (which was discontinued shortly after launch because everyone wanted the 8GB version) sold for over $190,000. Why? Because it’s the rarest variant of the most important piece of consumer electronics in history. Even a beat-up, cracked-screen original iPhone can fetch a few hundred dollars on eBay from hobbyists who like to refurbish them.
The 4GB model is the "Holy Grail" for collectors. Most people don't realize that when the iPhone launched, you had a choice. But the price difference was so small that the 4GB version was a total flop. Apple killed it after just two months. Consequently, images of the first iPhone with a 4GB box are incredibly rare and signify a massive payday for the owner.
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How to identify an authentic original iPhone from photos
If you're looking to buy one for a collection, you have to be careful. There are tons of "franken-phones" out there with replacement parts.
- Look at the Model Number on the back. It should say A1203.
- Check the "Chrome" bezel. On authentic units, this is polished stainless steel. If it looks like cheap painted plastic, it's a fake or a bad third-party repair.
- The mute switch. On the original, it has a very specific mechanical "click" and a tiny orange dot when silenced.
- Serial numbers. The first two digits of the serial number often tell you the year of manufacture (7 = 2007, 8 = 2008).
The legacy of the 2007 interface
The "Skeuomorphic" design—where icons looked like real-world objects—is draped all over the early images of the first iPhone. The Calculator looked like a physical Braun calculator. The Notes app had a yellow legal pad texture with a "leather" binding at the top. The YouTube icon was an old-school cathode-ray tube television.
This wasn't just for fun. Apple's VP of Human Interface, Scott Forstall, believed that because touchscreens were so new, people needed visual cues to understand how to interact with them. If a button looked like a shiny 3D bubble, people would know they could press it. We don't need those "training wheels" anymore, which is why iOS looks so flat and abstract today.
What to do if you find an old iPhone
Don't just plug it in and hope for the best. Lithium-ion batteries from 2007 are notorious for swelling. If you see the screen bulging or the back casing separating in your images of the first iPhone, that’s a fire hazard.
If the battery is flat, it might take an hour of charging before the screen even flickers to life. And remember, because it uses the old 30-pin connector, your modern USB-C or Lightning cables are useless.
Next steps for owners and enthusiasts:
- Check the storage: Slide into Settings > General > About. If it says 4GB, stop what you're doing and call an appraiser.
- Check the OS: If it’s still running iPhone OS 1 (before it was even called iOS), the value is significantly higher to collectors. Do not update the software.
- Preservation: If you're keeping it for sentimental reasons, store it in a cool, dry place at about 50% battery charge. Never leave it at 0% for years, or the battery will chemically collapse.
The original iPhone wasn't just a phone. It was the end of the "gadget" era and the beginning of the "ecosystem" era. Those grainy, 2-megapixel photos taken on a summer day in 2007 were the first steps toward the world we live in now.