Apple’s iPhone was introduced fifteen years ago in 2007. Many would say that it changed the game forever. Fifteen years later, the song remains the same. When Steve Jobs first introduced the iPhone, he described it as – “widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough internet communications device.”

However, the iPhone was not as feature-rich in the beginning. It lacked many of the features it is majorly known for in the modern era. Apple worked on the device – introduced several features in every new iPhone– leading into what would eventually become an important piece of history.

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As Apple gears to launch the next iPhone, iPhone 14, on September 7, we take a trip down the memory lane to bring you up-to-speed with every iPhone model ever launched.

The first iPhone – launched as a “game-changer” in 2007 – laying the foundation of a future smartphone. The first iPhone dropped the physical keyboard – which was quite uncommon at its time and rather brought a multitouch display. The iPhone introduced a classic grid of icons and a single home button on the bottom of its multitouch display. However, it still lacked some of the key features like 3G connectivity and the App Store. 

As the name suggests, this was the first iPhone to feature 3G connectivity. Along with 3G, it also brought along the App Store – featuring a bunch of useful apps and games. This move by Apple also encouraged developers to build their apps and features specifically for the iPhone. iPhone 3G also supported push email and GPS navigation. 

The first “S” device from Apple where they claimed that the S in iPhones stands for Speed. Apple claimed it was twice as fast as its predecessor – iPhone 3G. It followed the same and basic shape as its predecessors, with a 3.5-inch display. iPhone 3Gs rather brought along improvements than many new features.

When Apple launched iPhone 4 in 2010, Cupertino-based company claimed this to be the “thinnest smartphone” in the world and it was also the first Apple device to use a Retina display. It featured a front camera – for the first time ever in iPhones – for making Facetime video calls. As it was shipped with iOS 4, it was also capable of multi-tasking apps. 

iPhone 4s was unveiled on October 4, 2011, and the following day; Steve Jobs breathed his last. It looked identical to its predecessor – though it shipped with Apple’s virtual assistant – Siri. The phone shipped with an 8 megapixel primary camera and redesigned antenna to fix the connectivity issues which troubled its predecessor.

iPhone 5 followed the smartphone market trend towards large-screened devices and launched a redesigned 4-inch iPhone. It brought along the all-new lightning connector – which the iPhones still use – replacing the old 30-pin port.

It became the first iPhone to support and feature a fingerprint sensor – Touch ID – placed on the home button. By that time, Apple’s iPhones were influential enough to make fingerprint sensors, a smartphone standard in the market. It became the first smartphone to feature a 64-bit processor with A7 chip.

It carried simple specifications to the predecessor – iPhone 5 – but came with a polycarbonate shell. The designer Jony Ive described iPhone 5c as “unapologetically plastic”.

Apple finally ditched the 4-inch iPhones and introduced a 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus in 2014. iPhone 6 and 6 Plus featured improved design with curved edges and introduced several new features like NFC support for mobile payments as well as improved cameras – which began an Apple standard ever since then.

This year’s S meant Similar-looking iPhone. These two iPhones were overall an improvement to their predecessors – therefore – they didn’t bring any new features except for a tough glass on the front as well as 3D touch that would allow users to quickly access menus and preview by long-tapping on the screen.

iPhone SE was launched in the beginning of 2016. It was the perfect option for people who wanted a smaller iPhone. In terms of look, it was similar to two-and-a-half-year-old, iPhone 5s but with hardware similar to the iPhone 6s – both sported dual-core Apple’s A9 Processor.

iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are known to be refined iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. iPhone 7 and 7 Plus – both the iPhones offered better camera and water resistance. The Plus model offered a Portrait mode for the first time in an Apple device which worked like a charm. Both the iPhones dropped down the physical home button and rather installed a digital lookalike. In addition, they also removed the headphone jack from their iPhones – which can be seen today as well.

iPhone 8 and 8 Plus could be called as an “S” update to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus – because they were not as revolutionary as iPhones would be on marking a decade in the industry. Both the iPhones featured an all-glass rear to house new wireless charging coils.

Apple’s iconic iPhone model which set an industry example at its time. It was Cupertino-based company’s revolutionary device to mark 10 years of iPhone. It’s pronounced as iPhone 10 – it removed the Home Button and rather installed an edge-to-edge OLED display. It also replaced the fingerprint sensor with Face ID – along with Animoji in iMessage that could replicate your facial expressions. 

The iPhone XS resembled the previous year’s iPhone X with minimal improvements, but this time Apple introduced a plus-sized “Max” model with a gigantic 6.5-inch display. The company was earlier hesitant to introduce bigger iPhones, but with XS Max, it keenly embraced them.

Apple introduced the iPhone XR as a lower-end model which traded the premium stainless-steel chassis of the iPhone XS for colourful aluminium. iPhone XR dropped the telephoto camera and 3D Touch and downgraded the screen to LCD instead of OLED – however, iPhone XR still offered a big screen, Face ID, latest processor and great battery life.

iPhone 11 resembled the iPhone XR – but this time Apple launched it as the mainline device. An all-new ultrawide camera was added that let you capture more into a single picture. It also came in several colours like XR.

Apple introduced Pro models for the first time in the history of iPhones in 2019. iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max installed three cameras on the matte-glass finish rear. 

The second-generation iPhone SE followed the same size segment as the iPhone 8 – with glossy glass back – and also supported wireless charging. iPhone SE also included a slightly better camera which included the Portrait Mode.

iPhone 12 brought back the flat-edged, glass design which was first used in the iPhone 4, ten years earlier in 2010. iPhone 12 had a wide and ultrawide camera like its predecessor – iPhone 11 – however, it housed an LCD screen instead of OLED. iPhone 12 and 12 Mini also supported 5G connectivity and MagSafe charging which offered fast wireless charging. iPhone 12 Mini became a go-to choice for those who wanted a smaller version of iPhone 12.

With iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max, users got a stainless-steel frame, a telephoto camera, a matte glass finish on the rear-side. They could also shoot pictures in ProRes RAW format. The Pro Models also featured a LiDar sensor for 3D mapping applications and to be of use to Portrait mode as well.

iPhone 13 and 13 Mini dropped down the vertical alignment and rearranged the camera lenses in a diagonal alignment. iPhone 13 and 13 Mini resembled 12 and 12 Mini in many ways – as in – both have a 6.1-inch OLED Super Retina XDR display with HDR, True Tone, P3 wide colour, as well as ‌Haptic Touch. However, there are differences – an improved camera with Cinematic Mode, comparatively a smaller notch, etc.‌

At first sight, the iPhone 13 Pro appears to be the same as the 12 Pro, but when compared, the camera lenses are larger, hinting at the array of camera changes in both models. The 13 Pro has 3x optical zoom, macro photography capability, and improved low-light performance on the wide and ultrawide cameras. Video was better than ever, with the ability to shoot ProRes footage and a new Cinematic Mode that gave the illusion of depth-of-field between subjects while recording. Apple finally integrated ProMotion high refresh rate screens to the iPhone 13 Pro series, which had been a standard on most flagship Android handsets.

The third generation iPhone SE is almost identical to the iPhone SE’s 2020 model – however the 2022’s iPhone SE has received a processor upgrade along with support for 5G connectivity. 

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