Apple iPhone is a series of smartphones based on the company’s proprietary operating system iOS. The first iPhone, announced in 2007, featured a touch screen input-based user interface, camera, and multimedia playback capabilities. The phone was later upgraded to support internet connectivity, which has since become one of the core capabilities of the iPhone.

 

The first-generation iPhone was followed by a 3G-ready iPhone 3G, and then by a 3GS variant with improved hardware and application support. The iPhone 4 got the thin metallic chassis, high-resolution screen and a front-facing camera for video calls. Its upgrade, the iPhone 4S, got improved hardware and Siri voice assistant. The iPhone 5 featured a bigger 4-inch screen and a new charging port. The iPhone 5S had improved hardware and it introduced touchID in iPhone. The iPhone 5c became the most affordable iPhone with a plastic body.

 

Apple entered into the big-screen smartphone category with the launch of the iPhone 6-series, which had a 4.7-inch and a 5.5-inch screen models. The series was later upgraded to 6S-series with hardware improvement and 3D pressure-sensitive touch input. At the same time, Apple also introduced the iPhone SE, which resembled the iPhone 5s but had the hardware of the 6S.

 

In 2016, Apple added water resistance to its iPhone 7-series, which also boasted an improved user experience and graphic performance. It is in this series that Apple removed the 3.5mm audio output port and introduced dual rear cameras to the iPhone. The iPhone 8 series resembled the iPhone 7 series but had glass body and improved hardware. Later, the iPhone X, launched alongside the iPhone 8 series, set the precedent for future iPhones. It had a notch-screen design, a secure face recognition module, and stainless steel chassis — features that would continue in the 2018 flagships, the iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.

 

From multi-touch input support to the secure face recognition ability, the iPhones have always been Apple’s first line of products to get its innovation upgrades. The iPhone 4S was the first product to get Apple’s digital personal assistant Siri, followed by iPad, iPod, Mac, Airpods and Apple TV. Similarly, the touchID fingerprint scanning technology was first introduced in the iPhone 5s before being rolled out to other products. The 5s was also the first smartphone powered by a 64-bit processor and a motion co-processor. The iPhones have not only been the first Apple products to get these revolutionary features but also the industry-firsts in several of them.