Take a trip down memory lane with classic Apple hardware

Release date 29 June 2007

• S5L8900 System-on-chip • CPU: Samsung 32-bit RISC ARM 1176JZ(F)-S • Memory 128MB LPDDR RAM (137MHZ) • Display: 3.5” 3:2 aspect ratio, 262,144-colour • Graphics: Powervr MBX Lite 3D GPU (103MHZ) Original price (base model)

£299/$499

Price now

£150/$199

Back in 2004, a clandestine project involving a crew of 1,000 Apple employees and including the artistic brains behind the imac and ipod, Jonathan Ive, convened to work on ‘Project Purple’. Around 30 months later, and with an estimated development cost of $150 million, Apple’s first iphone was unveiled to an eager public, rabidly foaming at the mouth in anticipation and willing to camp for days outside the outlets to snap one up. Two initial models were released – 4GB and 8GB – and the passionate reaction to the launch resulted in certain sections of the media labelling it the ‘Jesus phone’ (seemingly the only thing it couldn’t do though was turn water into wine). The user interface (IOS 1.0), built around the device’s multi-touch screen, included a virtual keyboard to make easy work of emailing and messaging and other bolt-on apps allowed users to take photos, play music, browse the web and utilise GPS navigation. At 4.5x2.4x0.46in, the dimensions of the first-generation iphone were considerably smaller than today’s standards, but the sales were huge. Around 6.1 million units were shifted in the first five quarters which then doubled in the sixth – not bad for a relative rookie in a mobile telecommunications world already dominated by the likes of Nokia and Samsung.