History of iPhone 3G: Twice as fast, half the price

At WWDC 2008 on June 9,

after finalizing the details of the upcoming App Store, and summing up the original iPhone's achievements, the late Steve Jobs dove into the next challenges Apple had to face, the next mountain they had to climb. On the surface, they were obvious even before Jobs bulleted them on stage — 3G, Enterprise, third-party apps, more countries, and more affordable. The software changes came as part of iPhone OS 2.0. The hardware, iPhone 3G.
 

Just one year after launching the iPhone, we're launching the new iPhone 3G that is twice as fast at half the price. iPhone 3G supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync right out of the box, runs the incredible third party apps created with the iPhone SDK, and will be available in more than 70 countries around the world this year.
The iPhone 3G, codenamed N82

and model number iPhone1,2, had the same 3.5-inch screen at 320x480 and 163ppi as the original. The cellular radio, however, received a significant update to support 3G UMTS/HSPA networks. That allowed for a much faster — theoretical — 3.6 mbps data transfer. Jobs claimed it was faster — 36% faster — than other leading 3G phones of the time, including the Nokia N95

and Palm Treo 750

, even while rendering a better version of the web.
The Dock connector remained, but Apple changed some of the pins so it no longer supported charging over FireWire, which rendered some accessories incompatible. It had the same Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR and 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi as well, but added an aGPS (assisted global positioning system) chip for more precise location services.
As the model number suggested, however, Apple didn't consider the iPhone 3G as full, next generation update. It was the first model, take two. That was probably due to the chipset remaining the same, an ARM-based Samsung 1176JZ(F)-S

processor and PowerVR MBX Lite 3D graphics, with 128MB of RAM that was already showing its age and limitations. So were storage options, at 8 and 16GB for NAND Flash

. Sensors and camera likewise stayed the same. Curiously, the battery dropped to 1150 mAh, though not at the expense of battery life.

History of iPhone 4 

Steve Jobs returned to the WWDC keynote stage on June 7, 2010. He'd introduced the iPad earlier in the year, and kicked things off with an update on how it, and the App Store had been doing (spoiler: Well!). Then he turned his attention to iPhone, and after recapping everything Apple had done to date, he began on what would come next. It had over 100 new features. It has an all-new design, an all-new camera, and an all new screen resolution. It was hot. It was the iPhone 4

iPhone 4 is the biggest leap since the original iPhone. FaceTime video calling sets a new standard for mobile communication, and our new Retina display is the highest resolution display ever in a phone, with text looking like it does on a fine printed page. We have been dreaming about both of these breakthroughs for decades.
The iPhone 4, codenamed N90

N92

and model iPhone3,1, for the first time, offered significant improvements to the display. Apple went with optical lamination and an in-plane switching (ISP) panel with light-emitting diode (LED) backlighting. It made images look as if they were painted just beneath the glass, and greatly improved the viewing angle. Moreover, instead of matching competing display sizes of the time, they leap-frogged over them. To boost pixel count yet maintain compatibility with existing apps, Apple doubled them both horizontally and vertically, but kept the physical size constant at 3.5-inches. That took them from a resolution of 480x320 to 960x640, and the density from 163ppi to 326ppi. Apple made the argument that, at that point, the pixels disappeared. They called it a Retina display.

It was part of a completely new design, although one that had not been kept a complete surprise (see below). Steve Jobs called it beautiful and it was, something akin to Braun and Leica. Those were aesthetics Apple's senior vice president of design, Jony Ive

, held in the highest of esteem. It was flat, chemically-hardened glass (aluminosilicate) front and back, with a stainless steel band running around the sides, and it was 24% thinner than the iPhone 3GS. It would come in black and white, though the former far sooner than the latter (see below).