Jackson Cane
Staff Writer
From the dawn of smartphones, Apple has led the industry in ideas and creations that have massly evolved from what they were ten years ago. The design, display, hardware, and memory have all changed by improvements from year to year. As Apple’s start was from computers and not phones, through the 2010’s, iPhones were seen to be their leading contribution to the growing tech around the world. Amongst numerous releases and life changing improvements for the time, this past decade proved Apple to be ahead of the curve.
June 24, 2010, Apple released the iPhone 4. Broadening expansions from the past year of the 3GS, the iPhone four consisted of 512 MB of memory, a retina display, and the first ever front facing camera. This specific feature of Apple’s fourth generation has shifted the world in ways to take pictures that some might say they couldn’t live without today. The first weekend of release had over 1.7 million phones sold.
October 14, 2011, the iPhone 4S was brought out, and also was a stepping stone in technology we see today. Apple upgraded the camera to eight megapixels from five while also offering a 64 GB storage. Along with storage being doubled, the camera would now be capable of filming in 1080p, a huge movement towards pocket filming and videography that has evolved greatly today. Lastly, Siri. Apple’s first introduction of Siri can be seen as a staple in the voice activated technology and software humans experience first hand today with Amazon’s Alexa telling them the weather or to set a timer. As the upgrades striked the human eye, Apple was now gathering way larger attention, selling four million of these the first weekend.
September 21, 2012, Apple’s fifth generation took a different turn in regards to what was new. As the memory had now risen to one GB, this wasn’t what everyone was actually looking at. The iPhone five introduced LTE connectivity instead of 3G. The internet is now being exposed to greater amounts of people. Also for a change, the Iphone five was the first iPhone with the lightning cable, leaving the old charger in the dark and making a sleeker design. Lastly, the iPhone five expanded the screen size to four inches, being the first expansion in screen size from their devices prior, the start to a “growing” idea. There were five million units sold within the weekend of this release.
September 20, 2013, things got colorful for Apple. Both the iPhone 5C and 5S had released both offering different options, something Apple soon adapted to doing. The iPhone 5C was the cheaper option: 32 GB max storage, four inch display, and now 5 colors to choose from in a plastic casing. On the other hand, the 5S was everything the 5C didn't have to offer. Apple's first ever M7 motion coprocessor, helping save battery and eventually introduce new ideas, touch ID, slow motion video, and dual flash. Combined the iPhone 5S and 5C sold over nine million units in the first weekend.
September 19, 2014, Apple released the iPhone sixThe House Impeachment
with their first “plus” model of a phone. Both normal size and plus featured retina HD display with optical image stabilization. Along with that, the first every 128 GB option was available for storage. The iPhone six Plus was .2 mm thicker (7.3mm) and .8 inches larger in display (5.5’’), other than that, they brought the same specs to the table. Plus or regular, Apple sold a combined ten million phones upon the first weekend of the release.
September 19, 2015, just one year after the 6, the iPhone 6S came to life, also with a plus model. With 3D touch, a 12 megapixel camera, and memory of two GB, the 6S absolutely stood on its older sibling from a year ago. Although featuring the same sizes in both versions, now this phone was built with 7000 series aluminum to prevent bending from the past model. This phone clocking in 13 million buys within the first weekend.
March 31, 2016, in comparison to the 5C, the iPhone SE was launched. Having all the same internal specs as the 6S, the SE lacked the same design. It was released to be a more affordable option and did well for Apple.
September 16, 2016, the iPhone seven was released. From this point on, Apple was booming in sales from the SE and this new generation, ultimately taking the lead in the smartphone industry across the globe. The iPhone seven and seven Plus, were Apple’s first phones with a dual camera leading to new possibilities picture wise; improved zoom feature, portrait mode, and even a software update for people with the plus regarding the depth of field in the camera. Also expanding in storage with a max 256 GB option. On the flip side, the seven was the first iPhone without a headphone jack. This created tons of controversy in the tech world and was seen differently from iPhone users who loved the ability to charge and have headphones in.
iPhone user Dan Flavin said, “It was beat for a little bit during the transition but now I never even think about it because it is so normal, I think the public panic about it was not called for.”
Included in the purchase of this phone was a pair of EarPods and an adapter to be used with any headphones, yet plugging in to the lighting port, not a jack. Amongst this release, AirPods were announced. The wireless earbuds that have undoubtedly changed the ease of listening to music, speaking on the phone, and dealing with a wire. With this creation, it leads consumers to intreggied in how now they can charge their phone and listen to music at the same time.
As New Hope Solebury student Ian Mendola says, “I think that Airpods have revolutionized the convenience of listening to music by packing such a powerful sound system into a tiny plastic shell. I can just pop them right into my ears wherever and start playing music by tapping and interacting with it. The simplicity of the device changed the way many listen to music, especially our generation ”.
September 22, 2017, the new iPhone eight was dropped with various new design and display features, broadening the ways you can crack your phone. The eight and eight plus featured an all glass back cover, bringing front the creation of wireless charging. While this feature may seem out of reach and a luxury to iPhone users, the phone’s exterior design did look largely more clean and proper than from previous phones. Along with the outer design, the iPhone eight offered a “true-tone display,” a feature that automatically reduces blue-light exposure and improves the viewing experience. Like almost every other new generation, the eight saw some improvements photo wise and brought upgraded tools for editing and manipulating photos.
November 3, 2017, the iPhone remarkably switched its appearance both size wise and given display. The original iPhone X came in one screen size of 5.8 inches and with no home button, leaving users to swipe around to navigate efficiently. The iPhone X also featured a glass back, but this time with a vertical dual camera, and an extra front-facing camera for detailed portrait selfies. The phone also featured an empowering 21 hour battery life, almost doubling what the eight had to offer at around 13. With this being just the start to an untraditional look for iPhones, it has shifted the look amongst all smartphones today in comparison.
September 21, 2018, the upgraded iPhone X came to life, the XS and XS Max. With subtle, yet great features both on the exterior and interior of it, the iPhone XS included Super Retina HD Display and included the A12 bionic processing chip. This chip increased the rate at which things could be done while at the same time decreasing battery drain. The XS was the same 5.8 inches as the X, however the Max grew to a whopping 6.5 inches. These phones set intentions high for what was next on Apples agenda, and what possibly they could do more.
October 26, 2018, while being announced in September with the XS, the XR didn’t release until a month later. The XR was the cheaper version of the new models releasing due to what it lacked in comparison. They were smaller than the XS and XS Max, featured a single rear camera, and lacked in detail with a Liquid Retina HD Display instead of Super. All in all it was something people waiting on upon the release of the XS knowing it was just a tad worse, a lot cheaper, and featured six colors to choose from.
September 20, 2019, the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max released, debatably being the top smartphone release of 2019. Being the least expensive of the mix was the 11. The 11 included a 6.1 inch Liquid Retina display with six palette colors to choose from. The most noticeable and shocking addition being the camera. Two 12 megapixel lenses offering a wide and ultra wide angle option for taking photos or videos. The iPhone 11 Pro on the other hand is to this day, Apple highest quality iPhone. With a 5.8 inch Super Retina XDR Display and three 12 megapixel HDR camera lenses, offering what most see in a DSLR camera; a wide, ultra wide, and telephoto lenses. With mostly the exact same features as the 11 Pro is the Max version. Offering a 6.5 inch display, same lenses, and Retina display.
With a decade of history in the past for Apple, only some know what’s to come for the next one. Looking back on Apples creations with how they revolutionized the world we live in today, it can only make sense for it to look brighter in the future and see more progression for generations to come. From something less than four inches to ultimately building a 512 GB pocket computer or professional camera, Apple has evolved in time at the same rate digitally as the rest of the world.
