Honestly, looking at pictures of the iphone 1 today feels like peering into a different century. It’s tiny. It’s chunky. And yet, there is something about that brushed aluminum back and the rounded black plastic bottom that still feels more "Apple" than the sleek titanium slabs we carry now.
Back in 2007, people called it the "Jesus Phone."
The hype was absurd. I remember the grainy press shots surfacing after the Macworld Expo in San Francisco. Steve Jobs stood on stage, wearing that iconic black turtleneck, and pulled a device out of his pocket that effectively killed the Blackberry overnight. But if you actually sit down and study the original hardware today, you realize how many "weird" things we’ve collectively forgotten.
The Design That Changed Everything (and the Parts That Didn't)
When you see high-res pictures of the iphone 1, the first thing that hits you is the screen-to-body ratio. By modern standards, it’s hilarious. The 3.5-inch display is swallowed by massive "forehead" and "chin" bezels.
But in 2007? That screen was a monster.
Most phones at the time, like the Moto Q or the Palm Treo, were basically physical keyboards with a tiny window on top. Apple did the opposite. They gave us a 480x320 resolution display that actually looked sharp because the pixel density—163 ppi—was unheard of for a handheld.
Why the back looks like that
Ever notice the black plastic strip at the bottom of the silver back? That wasn't just a "design choice." Aluminum is terrible for signal transparency. Since the iPhone 1 relied on Quad-band GSM and the (painfully slow) EDGE network, Apple had to put the antennas behind plastic so the thing could actually make a phone call.
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- Weight: 135 grams (light as a feather compared to an iPhone 15 Pro).
- Thickness: 11.6 mm. It was a little brick.
- Materials: A mix of optical-quality glass, stainless steel, and aluminum.
The glass story is actually my favorite bit of trivia. Six weeks before launch, Steve Jobs was carrying a prototype in his pocket with a plastic screen. He got furious because his keys scratched it. He called up Corning, told them he needed a massive supply of "Gorilla Glass" (which wasn't even a commercial product yet), and forced them to manufacture it in record time.
If you look at early prototype pictures, you can sometimes spot the plastic versions. They look slightly "muddier" than the crystal-clear glass we eventually got on June 29, 2007.
What's actually inside?
If you’ve ever seen a "teardown" photo of the first iPhone, it looks like a nightmare for repair techs. Everything is crammed.
Unlike modern iPhones where everything is modular and held by tiny Pentalobe screws, the original iPhone 1 was largely held together by clips and hidden screws. The battery? It was soldered directly to the logic board. If your battery died in 2007, you didn't just go to a mall kiosk. You basically had to send the whole unit back to Apple.
The "brain" was a Samsung S5L8900 chip. It wasn't an "A-series" chip yet. It ran at a staggering 412 MHz. For context, your Apple Watch is now thousands of times more powerful than the device that "reinvented the phone."
The Headset Jack Drama
One detail you can only see in side-profile pictures of the iphone 1 is the recessed headphone jack. It was one of Apple's most annoying early moves. The 3.5mm port was buried so deep into the aluminum casing that most standard headphones wouldn't fit. You either had to use the white Apple earbuds that came in the box or buy a clunky $10 adapter.
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Talk about being ahead of their time with "user-hostile" audio decisions.
The "No Apps" Era
It’s hard to explain to someone who grew up with an App Store, but the iPhone 1 launched with exactly zero third-party apps.
The home screen had 16 icons. That was it. You had "Stocks," "Weather," "Calculator," and "Notes." There was no Instagram. No Uber. No YouTube app (YouTube was actually a built-in "widget" made by Apple, not Google).
When you look at screenshots of iPhone OS 1.0, the "skeuomorphism" is jarring. The Notes app looked like a legal pad. The Calculator had big, glossy orange buttons. The clock icon didn't even move; it was a static image.
Rare Prototypes and the "Wall" of Development
Before the final design was settled, Apple went through dozens of iterations. Some of these pictures of the iphone 1 prototypes have leaked over the years, and they are wild.
One version, known as the "Wallman," was essentially a giant tablet-sized board with an Ethernet port and a serial port. The engineers were basically trying to shrink a Mac down to a phone. Another prototype had a "click wheel" like an iPod, where you’d scroll through numbers to dial. Thank god that never saw the light of day.
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Is an original iPhone 1 worth anything today?
People are obsessed with these things now. In 2023, an original, factory-sealed 4GB iPhone sold at auction for over $190,000.
Why the 4GB? Because it was a flop. Apple discontinued the 4GB model just two months after launch because everyone wanted the 8GB version for "only" $100 more ($599 vs $499). Because so few were sold, the 4GB version is now the "Holy Grail" for collectors.
Lessons from the first generation
Looking at the iPhone 1 isn't just about nostalgia. It’s a masterclass in "version one" product design. It was missing a lot:
- It didn't have GPS.
- It didn't have 3G (it was stuck on 2G/EDGE).
- The camera was a pathetic 2.0 megapixels with no flash and no video recording.
- You couldn't even change the wallpaper. It was just a black background.
But it had the "pinch-to-zoom." It had the "inertial scrolling" that made the screen feel like it was attached to your finger. Those are the things that captured the world's imagination.
Actionable Insights for Collectors and Tech Historians:
If you are looking to buy an original iPhone for a collection or just want to identify one you found in a drawer, check these three things immediately:
- Check the Model Number: The original iPhone is model A1203. If it says anything else, it's a 3G or later.
- The Headphone Port: Look for that deep, recessed hole. If the jack is flush with the top of the phone, it’s an iPhone 3G or 3GS.
- The Backplate: The original is the ONLY iPhone with a silver aluminum back and a black plastic "butt." Every model after it went to full plastic (3G/3GS) or glass (4/4S).
To preserve an original unit, avoid charging it with high-wattage modern USB-C bricks even if you have an adapter. Stick to an old-school 5W "cube" to protect the aging 1400 mAh battery from swelling. If the screen is flickering or showing "dead pixels," it's likely a failure of the 18-bit LCD, which is notoriously difficult to source today without stripping another working unit.