The Untold History of iPhone

Apple's fight to bring the iPhone to life!
🔥 HOLIDAY SALE! CuriosityStream & Nebula for less than $12 a YEAR! curiositystrea...
January 9, 2007. San Francisco California. Mere minutes before he put sneaker to stage for the biggest keynote in history, Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder, called his team together and told them to remember this moment. This one, last moment… before the iPhone. Because everything was about to change.
This is the secret origin of the iPhone, the sometimes painful decisions Steve Jobs and Apple had to make to bring the most important product in consumer history to life!
👀 2022 Apple Product Previews: • iPhone 14 MEGA Leaks -...
🔔 SUBSCRIBE www.youtube.co...
🔗 LINKS
🙏 PATREON THANK YOU!
Get access to exclusive Discord, previews, even your name in this description or credits! / reneritchie
Jacob Uribe, John Malkin, Ryan Parman, Roy Burns, Henk van Ess, Paco Arango, Rich Stakounis, Chad Potts, Daniel Pinto, Rod Gray, Daniel Z Wilkerson, Daniel Pasco, Jeffrey David Marraccini, Steven Kaplan, Mark Lussier, Martin Perry, Christopher Wiggins, Dude, Jon Wheeler, Josef, Frederick Lakes Jr., Steven Perry, Michael Dreves, Sam Fingold, Sven Jasper, Kyle Giglio
🚨 DISCLAIMER
This channel does not produce sponsored or paid reviews. Companies occasionally loan sample products to facilitate reviews but provide no payment and get no editorial input, content approval, or advanced previews. They see them for the first time when you do.
Links may contain referrals for affiliate programs that provide this channel with a tiny commission should you make a purchase. They likewise receive zero editorial input or consideration.
🍎 Some video and images courtesy of Apple Inc.
📷 Some video and imagery supplied by Getty Images and/or AP Archives
🎸 Some music supplied by Epidemic
MORE
⭐️ Nebula: watchnebula.co...
🐦 Twitter: / reneritchie
📸 Instagram: / reneritchie
🌎 Web: www.reneritchi...
🍎 Podcasts: apple.co/reneri...
🌥 Overcast: overcast.fm/p1...
👖 Pocket Cast: pca.st/renerit...
Thanks for watching, see you next video!

[@ReneRitchie]

🔥 HOLIDAY SALE! CuriosityStream & Nebula for less than $12 a YEAR! curiositystream.com/reneritchie/ 👀 2022 Apple Product Previews: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5vUfJirpNCqmdE 🤔 What was your first iPhone?

[@justsomeguyonyoutube6508]

iOS vs Android evolution over the years covered by you would be nice.

[@frappuccino68]

Yes to the Eric Schmidt story. Very interesting and informative, René. Thanks!

[@ReneRitchie]

Thanks so much for watching, I'll work on it. Anything else?

[@mad_circuits]

@Rene Ritchie Yes, René. Thank you! I‘ll watch it! And yes, there is one more thing… please make a video to the Scott Forstall ”drop off“… I‘ve read a bit about it and know that he felt like becoming the the new Steve Jobs, but could not elaborate the pace to build the needed sympathy around him. Is that a thing to cover in a further video, maybe?

[@PolishMoon2]

These are the types of videos where you shine the most, Rene. I knew most of this and still thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it. Happy holidays and merry Christmas!

[@tdrg_]

Man that’s what I call quality content! Keep it up!

[@ReneRitchie]

Thanks so much, what would you like to see next?

[@tdrg_]

How about the history of the MacBook Air?

[@davemeise2192]

I remember I had a couple of Palms before my first iPhone (3a). The last one I had was the Palm Tungsten. They were good for their time.

[@ReneRitchie]

I had a bunch of Handsprings and Palms! Loved them! Did you try the Treo or Pre phones?

[@jSyndeoMusic]

The Tungsten T was so friggen cool back in its day. The slide-out Graffiti area was rad, and I remember how much faster it was at running all my apps compared to the m505 I had before it. Not to mention how much faster Bluetooth file transfers were compared to Beam, in addition to not having to point the devices at each other! I also remember the Zire 71 with its slide-out camera and RealPlayer built in for playing music tracks. And playing the SMS Sonic 1 on its stubby “joystick”. And who can forget the venerable Kinoma Player? Or the PopCap games? Gosh… Palm really was something special back in those days.

[@davemeise2192]

@@ReneRitchie I don't accurately remember but I think I had the Palm Treo too.

[@kevingil1760]

@@ReneRitchie the Palm Pre Plus was uber amazing even when IPhone was skyrocketing in popularity. WebOS was great for the time and had great multitasking which most other phones at the time could not do… or do well.

[@davemeise2192]

@@Funintherain13 Oops, yes 3G

[@Tristin471]

Wow, I never knew that Verizon was offered the iPhone first. Just imagine how they felt in the 2-3 years when the iPhone market was locked down by AT&T!

[@Markrspooner]

Great Video Rene, really fascinating story, would love to have more of this type of stuff. It really shows how many decisions and a bit of luck goes into a great product

[@droningharry]

I really enjoy it Rene when you deep dive into a subject of Apple History. I remember so well and had my iPhone by Nov. 2007 the next week I showed it off at my Breakfast group, the following week 4 of the other 10 guys had iPhones. All of us are still big tech geeks, great video and thanks.

[@DaryleHamel]

Great info- especially liked the insight as to why some features, like the ability to send pics via SMS, were absent from such an evolutionary tech product.

[@yankeexpress]

Schmidt definitely double-crossed Steve and Apple with assdroid.

[@brucemckay6615]

I had a Palm bollocks…then iPhone… and I’ve never looked back… that Jan 2007 presentation is the best ever…. The best for any company ever!!!!

[@PointWithin]

This was awesome. Love nerding out on Apple history

[@360MIX]

Rene, you outdid yourself with this history.. thank you for educating us on the iPhone histroy...

[@ReneRitchie]

Thanks so much for watching, please tell some friends! 🙏

[@voscorash]

Amazing work as always, Rene. Thank you for the love and care that you put into your stories and videos.

[@Queldonus]

A physical home button being an anchor point to less tech savvy customers is still important to this day. I work for Apple with our retail partners. The comment I hear most from customers not wanting to upgrade a very old phone is “I don’t want to loose the home button.” The 2nd generation SE having not just the physical home button, but the exact shape and feel of the 6,7,&8 makes it so much easier for someone to transition to a new phone. But it’s the home button that matters most.

[@joseld03e]

Yes yes yes make the video on the apple/google partnership at the inception of the iPhone, please. The lawsuits, the fall out and the good times too.

[@stevenchristensen2660]

Great video! I would love to hear the full story of google making android behind apple’s back.

[@EDITS_SC]

They didn't make it though. They bought it from Andy Rubin. Whom from what I heard presented it to Steve Jobs but they were already well advanced with iOS. Android was initially supposed to be camera software also from memory. But Eric Schmidt has a lot to answer for I believe.

[@forneverarrow]

A very special video Rene! Thank you very much!!

[@mchief40]

This was an awesome video!! I’d love to see a video about Eric Schmidt and google double crossing apple

[@ReneRitchie]

Thanks so much, I'll work on it!

[@clintmiller88]

This is absolutely the 🔥 of narration. Your voice man is made for this!

[@agenericaccount3935]

Watching this on the 13 Mini. Rest well, Steve.

[@shivamkrishn]

I wish the original team was still here including Steve Forstall and Tony Fadell

[@ReneRitchie]

iOS would likely not have any of the more nerd-friendly features it does now. Scott passed on AirDrop twice. Only got approved when Craig took over. How much do you really wish they were still there?

[@jeffhale1189]

Thanks for sharing this history. I enjoyed your video very much. Blessings on your day.

[@jamesr.9239]

I don't know if it's true , but I heard/read somewhere that Jobs had multiple iPhones behind that little podium on stage because the phone was so buggy that he didn't trust it not to fail during the presentation. He supposedly had each phone running a different app and grabbed each in turn so as not to have to risk a failure when switching apps. Is that an accurate historical accounting?

[@OreoChief117]

BEST VIDEO EVER. thank you. I reminisced soo much and brought so many amazing memories of me sitting as a 15 year old with my original iPhone. Those were great times! Thank you for creating this.

[@jeffrey3205]

Waiting for the android vs apple video🙂

[@sergiogarcia1652]

I love this video, watching it again so that hopefully you’ll make more videos in the line of insight/history/story telling hahahaha

[@hakanyucel1639]

I was Working in retail from 1991 to 2010 My first phone was Motorola from 1991 to 2010 I hade use over 50 different model and brand but 2007 everything changed Steve Jobs I will never forget you!

[@anthonycraig274]

I didn’t realise how genius the home button was. It allowed you to resets everything and allows you to start again, perfect for learning a new system.

[@Tech-geeky]

People became smarter though..no Home button now on new iphones.

[@Andrew-zx9wx]

Signed up for CuriosityStream, pretty stoked!

[@crtzmo]

What a day that was!!

[@ReneRitchie]

So good, did you watch live?

[@nobody9706]

Yeah, it really was a great day. But I wasn't even born yet

[@justincosta89]

Rene, I know about the story Google/Android and iOS, but I would love to hear you break it down and story tell it in your way!

[@jeff2tc99]

Great video Rene. Please please do the iOS-android story.

[@RafaelVre]

Your content is just incredibly good!

[@MaxPowers1245]

I remember this keynote..change the phone change the world more like who knows if it was for the better or not

[@bobbyray8457]

Great video. I’d love to see one about the early iPhone / Android legal battles.

[@PwnzTube]

Did you ever make that order video? I wanna see it

[@PatrickJWenzel]

That moment old mate from Google strides onto the stage, like Santa’s little helper. Steeeeeeeeve, buddy, pal, how you dooooing big guy?

[@Tame.Nation]

Facebook to civilisation 😂😂😂😂. Rene’s punchlines are the best

[@derekg5674]

As someone who had the original iPhone on day one. I can tell you that I didn’t give a crap about not being able to copy paste or send pictures. I had the coolest phone on the market and it didn’t matter.

[@beartoven6116]

Steve jobs was a man ahead of his time, pure genious…

[@964cuplove]

The Microsoft courier concept looked quite brilliant , a product worth apple’s attention to detail and iPad perfectionism …

[@dualnon6643]

What do you mean at 2:00 when you say it was a “radiating field”?

[@ngargs]

Great video fascinating how things evolve to where we are today

[@alexmacgregor]

Great video!

[@akashsarda9689]

You’re a legend Rene!

[@YatesLemhaj]

This….. this is a video. This is what we want Rene!

[@atomicorang]

Thank you for telling an up to date story of the iPhone. That’s one of the reasons I downgraded to the iPhone SE from my iPhone 12 mini. FOR THAT HOMEBUTTON!!!!You told the story that had to be told. You are the best . I wanted the home button as that identifies with the original iPhone heritage. Merry Christmas ReneYou are the best sir.

[@adhprakash]

Bruh the se has terrible battery life compared to 12s and 13s that was a dumb move

[@adhprakash]

Plus gestures took far more effort to make

[@daa5014]

Cool video 😎

[@jojomon5]

Thanks for content like this Rene! When I read rumors of an upcoming smartphone by Apple I was so ready to throw away my Samsung BlackJack running Windows Mobile. LOL

[@jammin4jonathan]

Apple guru René Ritchie, your right my iPhone can be a google phone… lol just got a iPhone 13 pro Max from a pixel 6 pro! I love the experience so far. Thanks you

[@sosguy1893]

Great video, you should be very proud of it.

[@marcopfeiffer3032]

hmm, what exactly was the "untold" part of it?

[@wongles]

Been waiting for this one! Apple Talk podcast crew!

[@wongles]

Also, your shirt looks nice

[@ReneRitchie]

Niiiiice! What would you like to see next?

[@anthonycraig274]

I remember the original iPhone was a very beta item when released but the concept was fantastic.

[@RealLYS]

Can  do it again now?

[@nobody9706]

Ehhh Seeing the rumours I think Apple will release their AR/VR headset, and that will be the next big thing

[@joyboy6535]

Anyone know when the next 27+inch iMacs will be revealed??

[@PointWithin]

Just signed up for Curiosity Stream and Nebula. Where do I find the vid where you and other content creators are talking about impact of original iPhone?

[@ReneRitchie]

Thank you! Right here! nebula.app/videos/impact-iphone

[@itsfonk]

Maaaan a retro rotary dial iPod styled phone would be super sick

[@ReneRitchie]

Think they should still make it?

[@itsfonk]

@@ReneRitchie it would be absolutely insane, but a not-so-smart clunky throwback seems like something the world needs this coming year 😊

[@BinarySmurf]

The Eric Schmidt Apple story? Yes please!

[@raymondwiik6311]

imagine a world without iPhone... I mean, good/bad... All of it. I really do believe information technology has made the world a better place because it certainly made me better.

[@FrankRomerophoto]

$499 was expensive at the time. Over priced. If you remember, Steve even gave a discount in the end. I remember my friends were blown away by how expensive it was. Then again, first adopters will alway pay the piper.

[@stev6963]

I wonder how many of Steve’s employees secretly despised him lol. He sounds like a nightmare to work with haha. 😂

[@nicholaslinthicum2871]

Would love to see the Steve Jobs/Eric Schmidt rivalry video. Sounds like a bad a** Hot video with a whole lot of drama.

[@tracephoto1823]

Great vid, but you might want to rename it "little known history" as opposed to "Untold". It's been told. Anybody that watched the recent-ish Scott Forstall interview will have heard this history along with lots more.

[@ReneRitchie]

Scott didn't get into all of these stories... but obviously he knows where every single one of them was buried!

[@tracephoto1823]

@@ReneRitchie lol fair point.

[@DalvinXD]

Waiting for the iPad video now :)

[@ReneRitchie]

Want that next?

[@nobody9706]

@@ReneRitchie YES

[@MichaelBennett1]

The world is so much better thanks to Purple 2 winning.

[@noraindrop7955]

One of the bests

[@sportsvideos5034]

Ahh man good old days 🥲

[@nobody9706]

HAHAHAHAH

[@gamedeleter06]

Love your videos ❤️‍🔥

[@ReneRitchie]

Thanks for watching, what would you like to see next?

[@shaurya3745]

@@ReneRitchie can apple grab the vr and ar market

[@Tech-geeky]

... that's when Steve and Bill hit the ceiling,, What a fued.. How times have changed... No longer its "1000 songs on a phone' Now its "in the cloud"

[@park171]

Would like to hear the google android conflict.

[@charminbaer2323]

you should make a video of all the iPhone naysayers, starting with Steve Ballmer

[@Liquidmuse3]

So “photorealistic” was truly a love of Steve’s in terms of a software look, & then Jony in his very first attempt at software gave us stick-figure candy pieces as icons. I thought Apple was generally about keeping Steve’s “DNA” in their decisions: why are they going against it in the entire inside look of their products, especially since out of the 3 guys (Jobs, Forstall, and Jony), Ive was the only one who chose to leave?

[@caleb.bryant]

I can’t wait to see their next life changing product.

[@rizz45yui]

Good video

[@ReneRitchie]

Thanks! What would you like to see next?

[@northernflyer5311]

Yes Eric Schmidt story!

[@ivanbb1070]

Apple Explained has a good video on Google and Apple

[@ggioja]

Yes on the iOS m/android piece.

[@realkevintaylor]

In my opinion the greatest invention of all time Apple products I made someone like me with low vision more independent than I could ever imagine.

[@jasmineaoun2816]

I pictured the word “eye-rolling” being spelt as “iRolling” lol

[@allcupo2]

Did anyone else see "San Fransico" at 0:04 and question yourself and how to spell "San Francisco"?

[@Niki-me5gv]

Yes on covering Apple+android

[@sharonb.9128]

Great history lesson. When you say iPhone started with 4 carriers you mean worldwide right, because in America, there was only AT&T.

[@ReneRitchie]

By the end of the first iPhone, it had gone to France and the UK. Four in total.

[@sharonb.9128]

@@ReneRitchie ok, got it.

[@broderick7932]

please make that video about the Android Betrayal lol

[@djp1234]

Autocorrect used to be better in the beginning. Somehow it got worse over time.

[@ReneRitchie]

Fun Fact: The first version of autocorrect was created by the same person who ran the Internet Explorer team at Micorosft. The world makes way more sense when you know that, right?

[@tpf4292]

I read this in Issacson’s book

[@brilliantthings7245]

Google double betrayal video please!

[@MingGongcoolmango71]

"Or Facebook to civilization" 💀💀💀 Good thing they changed their name to Meta!

[@user-gx9wt7dn3t]

Looking forward to Eric Shmidt story

[@CAMTechChris]

Yes to double betrayal. Thank you Rene.

[@jeremyb66]

I miss the headphones jack and the home button. I also miss Touch ID too!! I have a iPhone 12 I hate Face ID!!!

[@jmp622]

Oh boy nebula

[@Liquidmuse3]

It’s annoying how they threw away Forstall essentially for late-period Jony, who started making decisions they’ve since gone back on (except for the awful-looking and incredibly dated software).

[@aiden.m4a]

Still says "no views"

[@ReneRitchie]

KZbin bug! Better now?

[@DamianLewd]

Facebook to Civilization 💀

[@noraindrop7955]

Nearing 300k subs

[@holitinne]

Microsoft stole Apples OS. Apple steals Microsofts Tablet. It comes full circle.

[@MaiKai_Makena_Property_Advisor]

The GOAT 🐐

[@JarradShaw]

I want to see it

[@ReneRitchie]

Which one? Eric Schmidt?

[@JarradShaw]

Yes, please.

[@dcmsr5141]

Epic betrayal of Schmidt, I want to see this history!!!!!