From "an iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator" to a pocket supercomputer powered by AI.
When Steve Jobs stood on stage in 2007 holding a slab of glass and metal, the smartphone barely existed. Seventeen years and over two billion units later, the iPhone has reshaped industries from photography to banking, spawned an app economy worth hundreds of billions, and put a supercomputer in the pocket of every person on Earth. This timeline traces the key inflection points — from the App Store that turned a phone into a platform, through biometric security and computational photography, to the integration of AI that promises to make the device truly intelligent.
A curated dispatch of forgotten moments, pivotal turning points, and the stories behind the dates.