It was January 9, 2007. Steve Jobs walked onto a stage in San Francisco and did something kind of mean to the competition. He didn't just announce a new phone. He basically told BlackBerry, Motorola, and Palm that their entire business model was dead. The iPhone 1 first generation wasn't just a gadget; it was a total gamble that paid off so well it changed how you breathe, eat, and sleep today.
Most people remember the "three devices in one" line. A widescreen iPod with touch controls. A revolutionary mobile phone. A breakthrough internet communications device. But if you look back at it now, the thing was honestly kind of a brick. It didn't even have 3G. It had a 2-megapixel camera that couldn't record video. You couldn't even send a picture over a text message. Yet, collectors are now paying over $100,000 for sealed boxes of this specific model. Why? Because it’s the "Patient Zero" of the modern world.
What everyone gets wrong about the iPhone 1 first generation
There’s this weird myth that the iPhone was an instant, perfect hit. It wasn't. In fact, many tech experts at the time thought it would fail spectacularly. Steve Ballmer, then the CEO of Microsoft, famously laughed at it. He pointed out the price—$499 for a 4GB model on a two-year contract—and the lack of a physical keyboard. He thought business users would hate it.
He was wrong. But he wasn't crazy.
The original iPhone was missing features that "dumb" phones had enjoyed for years. There was no App Store. Think about that for a second. You were stuck with whatever Apple gave you: Weather, Stocks, Mail, Safari, and a few others. No Instagram. No Uber. No Candy Crush. It didn't have GPS. If you wanted to see where you were on the Google Maps app, it used cell tower triangulation, which was... let's just say "approximate."
The real magic of the iPhone 1 first generation was the screen. Capacitive touch. Before 2007, if you had a touch screen, it was probably "resistive." You had to mash your fingernail or a plastic stylus into the display to make it register a click. Apple brought us multi-touch. Pinch-to-zoom was the "killer app" that nobody talks about anymore because we do it subconsciously now. Seeing a photo expand as you moved your fingers apart felt like sorcery in 2007.
The hardware was a beautiful mess
If you hold one today, it feels tiny. The 3.5-inch display is smaller than the lock screen on a modern Pro Max. The back was mostly silver aluminum with a black plastic strip at the bottom. That plastic wasn't just a design choice; it was there because radio waves can't travel through metal easily. They needed that "window" for the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals to actually work.
One of the most annoying things about the first iPhone? The headphone jack. It was recessed so deeply into the casing that most third-party headphones wouldn't fit. You had to use the white Apple buds or buy a stupid little adapter. It was a classic "Apple" move before we even knew what "Apple moves" were.
- Processor: Samsung 32-bit RISC ARM (running at 412MHz).
- RAM: A whopping 128MB.
- Storage: 4GB, 8GB, or later, a 16GB version.
- Battery: 1400 mAh (and no, you couldn't swap it out).
The battery was a huge controversy. People were used to carrying spare batteries for their Nokias. Apple told everyone "Trust us," and soldered the battery inside. It changed the industry's approach to hardware longevity forever, for better or worse.
The "Purple" Project
Inside Apple, the development was a nightmare. Code-named "Project Purple," it was so secret that even the engineers working on the hardware weren't allowed to see the software. They worked on "clunky" prototypes. Software guys worked on "simulators." When they finally brought the two together, it barely worked.
The demo Steve Jobs gave in 2007 was a total "golden path" fluke. The phone had so little memory that it would often crash if you did too many things. Jobs had to follow a specific sequence of apps to keep the thing from rebooting on stage. If he had checked his email before playing music instead of after, the whole presentation might have crashed.
Why the iPhone 1 first generation is the ultimate collectible
In the last few years, the market for the original iPhone has gone absolutely nuts. We're seeing auctions hit six figures. But not all iPhones are equal.
The "Holy Grail" is the 4GB model.
Why? Because it was a flop. Apple released the 4GB and 8GB models simultaneously, but for only $100 more, everyone just bought the 8GB. Apple realized this pretty fast and discontinued the 4GB model after only two months. This makes it incredibly rare. If you find a factory-sealed 4GB iPhone 1 first generation, you’re basically holding a winning lottery ticket.
Spotting a fake or a refurb
If you're looking to buy one for nostalgia, be careful. The market is flooded with "re-sealed" boxes.
- Check the font: Fake boxes often have slightly off-center text or the wrong weight on the "iPhone" logo.
- The Seal: Original Apple shrink-wrap had a very specific "breathable" feel with tiny pinholes.
- The Icons: The original box should show the icons exactly as they were in 2007. If you see an App Store icon on the box of an "original" iPhone, it’s a fake. The App Store didn't exist until the iPhone 3G.
Impact on the world (The serious stuff)
We talk about the iPhone like it's just a tech product, but it fundamentally rewired human behavior. Before the iPhone 1 first generation, the "mobile web" was a joke. It was WAP (Wireless Application Protocol). It looked like text-only versions of sites.
Apple insisted on the "real" internet. They put a full desktop-class browser (Safari) in your pocket. This forced every website on earth to redesign themselves. It gave birth to the "mobile-first" era of business. Without this phone, there is no Instagram. There is no TikTok. There is no "checking the news while waiting in line for coffee."
It also killed the dedicated camera market. Sure, the 2MP camera sucked by today's standards, but it was there. It was the camera you always had with you. It started the "death of the point-and-shoot" that would eventually wipe out giants like Kodak and cripple the lower-end sales of Nikon and Canon.
Does an iPhone 1 still work?
Sorta. But mostly no.
If you turn one on today, you can't really use it for much. It uses the old 2G (EDGE) network. In the US, AT&T (the original exclusive carrier) shut down its 2G network years ago. T-Mobile has been phasing it out too. You can connect it to Wi-Fi, but most modern websites won't load. The security certificates are too old, and the browser doesn't support modern web standards.
You can't log into the App Store because, again, there wasn't one for this model. You can't sync it easily with modern versions of macOS or Windows. It’s a literal brick of nostalgia. But it’s a beautiful brick. The "slide to unlock" sound still hits that dopamine button in your brain.
How to handle an original iPhone today
If you actually own one of these, you have two choices: preserve it or play with it.
If it's sealed: Do not open it. Do not even think about it. Put it in a UV-protected case and keep it in a temperature-controlled environment. The value is in the plastic wrap.
If it's used:
👉 See also: Using a Compound Light Microscope: Why Your View Is Probably Blurry
- Battery care: If you're going to keep it as a display piece, don't leave it plugged in 24/7. These old lithium-ion batteries can "pillow" or swell, which will crack the screen and ruin the frame.
- Software: Don't try to "update" it to the latest possible OS (which was iPhone OS 3.1.3). Sometimes keeping it on an older version of the software makes it more valuable to enthusiasts.
- Cleaning: Use a microfiber cloth. Avoid harsh chemicals on the screen; the oleophobic coating (if there's any left) is very fragile.
The iPhone 1 first generation reminds us of a time when technology felt like a leap forward rather than an incremental nudge. It wasn't about more megapixels or faster charging; it was about a completely new way of touching data. We didn't know we needed it until Steve Jobs showed it to us, and now, we can't imagine life without it.
If you want to experience the history, look for a "Launch Day" unit with the original version of iPhone OS. It’s the closest thing we have to a time machine back to 2007.