Steve Jobs stood on that stage at Moscone Center and told a lie. Well, it was a marketing lie, at least. He told the world Apple was releasing three revolutionary products: a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough internet communications device.
The crowd went wild.
But it wasn't three things. It was one thing. And if you’re asking when was first iphone officially introduced to the world, the date you're looking for is January 9, 2007. It didn't actually go on sale until June 29 of that year, which created a six-month fever dream of hype that the tech industry has been trying to replicate ever since. Honestly, it's hard to explain to someone who wasn't there how "broken" phones felt back then. We had BlackBerries with tiny plastic clicky keys and Motorola RAZRs that were sleek but had menus that felt like navigating a tax audit.
Then came the iPhone. It changed everything. Seriously.
The Day the World Changed: January 9, 2007
The keynote is legendary now. If you watch the footage, Jobs looks almost giddy. He knew he had the "golden ticket." The development of the iPhone—codenamed Project Purple—had been so secretive that even the engineers working on different parts of the hardware weren't allowed to talk to each other. Some rooms were locked down with badge readers and cameras.
Apple was terrified of a leak.
When the first iPhone finally appeared, it didn't even have an App Store. Think about that for a second. You were stuck with what Apple gave you: Maps, Weather, Notes, and a very rudimentary version of Safari. No Instagram. No Uber. No TikTok. It was basically a very fancy glass brick that could play U2 songs and browse a version of the internet that mostly didn't work on mobile yet.
The "Jesus Phone" Hype
The media started calling it the "Jesus Phone." People thought the name was sacrilegious, but it reflected the genuine fervor of the time. When June 29, 2007, finally rolled around, people camped out for days. Not hours. Days. This was the birth of the "Apple Line" culture.
Retailers like AT&T (then Cingular) were totally overwhelmed. You have to remember that back then, Apple wasn't the trillion-dollar titan it is today. They were the "computer guys" trying to pick a fight with Nokia and Motorola, who were the undisputed kings of the hill. Most industry experts, like Steve Ballmer at Microsoft, actually laughed at the device. He famously scoffed in an interview, saying there was "no chance" the iPhone would get any significant market share because it cost $500 and didn't have a keyboard.
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Boy, was he wrong.
What Made the Original iPhone So Weird?
Looking back at the specs of the 2007 model is like looking at a steam engine. It’s charming but incredibly limited.
- No 3G: It ran on "EDGE" (2G). It was painfully slow. Loading a single webpage felt like waiting for a pot to boil.
- The Headphone Jack: It was recessed. You couldn't use most third-party headphones without an adapter because the hole was too deep in the casing.
- The Camera: 2.0 megapixels. No flash. No video recording. You literally could only take still photos, and they looked grainy the moment the sun went down.
- Storage: You had a choice of 4GB or 8GB. That’s it. Most modern photos take up more space than a song did back then.
The hardware itself was a sandwich of aluminum and black plastic at the bottom (to let the radio signals out). It felt heavy. It felt expensive. Compared to the cheap, creaky plastic of a Nokia N95, the iPhone felt like it was from the future.
Why the Multi-Touch Screen Was the Real Hero
Before the iPhone, "touch screens" were mostly resistive. You had to use a stylus or press really hard with your fingernail. It was frustrating. Apple introduced capacitive touch, which responded to the natural electrical charge in your skin.
Pinching to zoom? That was magic in 2007. People in the Apple Store would just stand there for thirty minutes pinching and unpinching a photo of a fish. It sounds silly now, but it was the first time humans interacted with data in a tactile, fluid way.
The Competitive Fallout
When the first iPhone arrived, the rest of the industry panicked. Google was already working on Android, but it looked a lot more like a BlackBerry clone at the time. When Google’s engineers saw the iPhone keynote, they reportedly realized they had to start over.
BlackBerry (Research in Motion) didn't believe the iPhone was possible. Their engineers tore one apart and were convinced Apple was "faking" the battery life or the processor power because the hardware inside was so much more advanced than what they were using. They stayed the course with physical keyboards for too long, and well, we know how that ended.
Why 2007 Still Matters Today
We talk about when was first iphone released not just because of the date, but because of the shift in human behavior it triggered. Before this, "the internet" was a place you went to—you sat at a desk and turned on a monitor. After January 2007, the internet became something that lived in your pocket.
It changed how we date (Tinder), how we eat (DoorDash), and how we argue (Twitter/X). It created the "attention economy."
The price was also a huge deal. That $499 starting price (with a two-year contract!) was considered insane. People thought nobody would ever pay that for a phone. Today, we casually drop $1,200 on a Pro Max model and don't blink. Apple proved that the phone wasn't a utility; it was a status symbol and a primary computer.
The Forgotten 4GB Model
Here is a fun bit of trivia: Apple actually killed the 4GB model just two months after launch because everyone just bought the 8GB one. If you have an original, sealed 4GB iPhone in your attic, you're sitting on a gold mine. Those things sell at auction for over $100,000 now. It’s the ultimate tech collectible because it was so unpopular at the time that very few were kept in their boxes.
How to Identify an Original iPhone (Gen 1)
If you find an old device in a drawer, you can tell it's the 2007 original by a few key markers. First, the back is silver aluminum with a large black plastic band at the bottom. No other iPhone looks like that. Second, it lacks any "iPhone" branding on the front—just the screen and the single home button.
Also, look at the charging port. It uses the old, wide 30-pin dock connector, not Lightning or USB-C. It’s a chunky piece of history.
Actionable Steps for Tech History Buffs
If you're fascinated by this era of technology, there are a few things you can do to see the impact yourself.
Watch the Keynote: Go to YouTube and search for "iPhone 2007 Keynote." It is a masterclass in presentation. Even if you aren't an Apple fan, seeing the "three products" reveal is a genuine piece of cultural history.
Check Your Drawers: Seriously. Because the first iPhone didn't have a user-replaceable battery, many were just tossed in junk drawers when they stopped holding a charge. Even broken ones can fetch $200-$500 on eBay from collectors looking for parts or display pieces.
Study the Evolution: Compare the original iPhone's 3.5-inch screen to the modern 6.7-inch displays. It’s a hilarious contrast. The original looks like a toy, yet it had more computing power than the systems used to send astronauts to the moon.
The launch of the iPhone wasn't just a product release. It was the end of one era of human communication and the beginning of another. We stopped looking up, and we started looking down. Whether that's a good thing is still up for debate, but the date January 9, 2007, remains the "Year Zero" of the modern world.