The iPhone at 15: Steve Jobs revealed his greatest product 15 years ago

Fifteen years ago today, Steve Jobs in perhaps his most iconic Apple keynote introduced the original iPhone: “An iPod, a phone and internet communicator. An iPod, a phone, are you getting it?”

It was 2007 and Night at the Museum was the No. 1 film in theaters. The week prior, there were funeral and memorial services for President Gerald Ford. Days earlier, in a wildcard playoff game for the NFL, the Indianapolis Colts (who eventually went on to win the Super Bowl) defeated the Kansas City Chiefs. And Nokia was the big name when it came to phones.

“iPhone is a revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone,” Jobs said during his Jan. 9, 2007 keynote.

As notable as Jobs’ introduction was, the iPhone did immediately change the world. But 15 years later, it would be hard to argue that the iPhone wasn’t revolutionary. Granted it’s not magical, aside from the behind-the-scenes happenings needed to keep the iPhone from crashing while Jobs demonstrated it during the keynote. Whether you are a loyal iPhone owner or have never owned one, the impact the iPhone has made in our daily lives is indisputable.

Read: What it was like attending the very first iPhone event

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the iPhone’s unveiling, here are 15 facts about the iPhone and Apple.

1. In 2007, Apple’s market capitalization (the total value of all the shares of Apple stock) was $174.03 billion. On Jan. 3, 2022, it hit $3 trillion dollars, the highest market capitalization for any company ever.

2. The original iPhone came with a silver brushed aluminum finish. The current iPhone 13 has an aluminum frame, glass front and back, and comes in five colors. The iPhone 13 Pro is available in three finishes.

3. The original iPhone cost $499 and came with 4GB of storage. For $100 more you could get one with 8GB of storage. The iPhone 13 Pro Max costs $1,099 for 256GB of storage and tops out at 1TB of storage for $1,599.

4. The following companies didn’t exist in 2007: Instagram, Uber, TikTok, Twitch, Snap, Lyft, DoorDash, Tinder, Slack, Lime, Postmates, Venmo and Pinterest.

5. The original iPhone had a single camera and it was located on the back. The iPhone 13 Pro has four cameras (three on the back and one on the front).

   
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6. You couldn’t copy and paste text with the original iPhone. In fact, copy and paste wasn’t added until 2009 with the release of iPhone OS 3.

7. The original iPhone had 15 apps: Calendar, Camera, Clock, Contacts, iPod, Maps (Google Maps), Messages, Notes, Phone, Photos, Safari, Stocks, Voice Memos, Weather and YouTube.

8. There have been 33 iPhone models, and Apple currently sells eight.

9. You couldn’t record videos with the original iPhone. Now the iPhone 13 Pro can record 4K 60fps video and can even record in ProRes at 4K 30fps.

10. The following movies were filmed with an iPhone: Unsane, Tangerine, Detour, High Flying Bird, Snow Steam Iron and Lady Gaga: Stupid Love (which is technically a music video). 

11. The original iPhone didn’t support MMS for sending things like photos and videos via text messages. It was added as a part of iPhone OS 3.

12. The original iPhone had a 3.5-inch screen. The iPhone 13 Mini has a 5.4-inch screen, the iPhone 13 comes with a 6.1-inch screen and the 13 Pro Max has a giant 6.7-inch screen.

    
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13. FaceTime was released in 2010 and iMessage in 2011.

14. The App Store opened on July 10, 2008 with 500 apps. According to Apple’s website, there are currently 1.8 million apps in the App Store.

15. On Sept. 10, 2007 (74 days after the launch of the original iPhone) Apple sold its millionth iPhone. In 2018, Apple sold 216.7 million iPhones which is roughly a million iPhones sold every 1.5 days. Apple stopped sharing the number of iPhones sold after 2018.