iPhone Launch (2007)
"Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone." Steve Jobs said it on January 9, 2007, and by June 29 thousands were camped outside stores to find out if he meant it. The lines, the keynote, the $599 price tag — the moment phones changed overnight.
Steve Jobs took the stage at Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco on January 9, 2007 and announced the iPhone with a promise — "today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone." On June 29, 2007 it went on sale in the United States, exclusively on AT&T: $499 for the 4GB model, $599 for the 8GB, two-year contract required. Thousands camped outside Apple and AT&T stores for days; stores reported shortages within an hour of opening, and 270,000 units sold in the first week.
Viewed from today, the first iPhone was almost austere — no App Store (that arrived in 2008), no 3G, no GPS. It didn't matter: the multi-touch screen made every other phone feel old by lunchtime, and Time magazine named it 2007's Invention of the Year. The millionth unit sold in 74 days. September brought the launch's one sour note: Apple cut the 8GB price from $599 to $399 and dropped the 4GB model, and early adopters revolted loudly enough that Apple handed them a $100 store credit.
About 6.1 million originals sold before the iPhone 3G replaced it in July 2008, and the launch-line ritual became an annual tradition. But 2007 was the once-only version — the summer people queued around the block to touch the future.
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