Top 5 Facts About iPhones
Chances are yours is within arms reach at this very moment! Welcome to WatchMojo's Top 5 Facts. In this installment, we're counting down the Top 5 Facts About iPhones. Come along as we dial-in to some of the lesser-knowns details and fun tidbits about the world's most recognizable smartphone.
Special thanks to our users Funtime Ennard, Drew Boxall and farmersmith for submitting the idea on our interactive suggestion tool: WatchMojo.comsuggest
#5: It Started Out as a Tablet Project
It’s hard to fathom all these years later that the world might have been deprived of the now iconic iPhone. However, Steve Jobs had originally commissioned Apple engineers to research tablet designs. It was only after they presented their research to him that he realized a device with a multi-touch screen would be perfectly suited for a mobile phone. Based on what the Apple engineers showed him, Jobs decided to shelve his tablet idea and begin work immediately on what would eventually become the first iPhone. All things considered, even if he’d stuck with his original project, it seems safe to assume that he would’ve eventually delivered the iPhone regardless.
#4: The Device Has Led to Hundreds of Patents
The iPhone is an extraordinary device. It allows for constant communication and constant connectivity, two things that are extremely difficult to achieve. As such, it should come as no surprise that since it was released in 2007, the technology related to the iPhone has caused Apple to file over 200 patents. Patents that the company owns includes the swipe-to-scroll motion, Force Touch – the pressure sensitive technology that can distinguish between different levels of force – as well as patents related to wraparound display. The iPhone has allowed the company to lock up hundreds of key technologies, ensuring their product remains the most sought after mobile phone in the world.
#3: Apple's Smartphone Wasn't the 1st “iPhone”
On June 29th, 2007 the very first iPhone was released… or at least that’s what Apple wants you to believe. The truth is that a different iPhone was launched just 22 days before Steve Jobs’ brainchild was announced. That iPhone was developed by Cisco, a multinational technology conglomerate. However, the two devices couldn’t have been more different. The Cisco iPhone was a mobile device that was developed so that people could use Skype without having to sit in front of a computer. Ultimately the two companies came to an agreement, with both maintaining the rights to the iPhone name. Speaking of different names for the iPhone…
#2: The iPhone Was Originally Called “Purple”
Seeing as how we’ve been living in an iPhone world since 2007, it’s hard to imagine the groundbreaking device going by a different name. However, according to Scott Forstall, one of the men responsible for creating the iPhone’s iOS software, it originally went by the codename “purple”. This wasn’t some rarely used nickname though - when the team of designers and engineers responsible for creating the iPhone took over a wing of Apple headquarters, they called it the “purple dorm”, in reference to the name of their new project. Hmmmm, if you ask us, asking someone if they’ve seen your “purple” lying around sounds a little weird.
#1: Apple Has Sold Over 1 Billion iPhones
When Steve Jobs first introduced the iPhone he said that the company’s goals was to attain 1% of the global cell phone market within a year. In retrospect, that number was a shockingly humble objective. The current reality is that Apple is earning somewhere between 70% and 90% of the profit created by global smartphone sales each quarter. This number makes sense when you consider that as of 2016 Apple has sold over 1 billion iPhones; and you can bet your bottom dollar that number will continue to rise. Unfortunately, Apple rarely releases exact sales numbers, so we may not hear the new figure until they hit another major milestone.
