The iPhone’s Inaugural Price Tag: How Much Did It Cost in 2007?

To say that Apple’s first iPhone laid the foundations of the modern smartphone is not bold or far-fetched: it is the reality. It was not the first touchscreen cell phone, nor was it the first with a camera or Internet browser, but it did know how to combine all these features to make a perfect mix that is now used as the basis. How much did it cost to launch all this?

We have pulled out of Softonic’s newspaper archive to remember other times, to go back to the year 2007. To be exact, on June 29 of that year the first generation iPhone was marketed, a phone that came with a 3.5-inch LCD screen, with a resolution of 480×320 pixels and a single central button. Added to this was a 127 MB RAM, a 412 MHz Samsung ARM 1176 processor, a PowerVR MBX Lite graphics processor and a 2-megapixel camera (1600×1200), all weighing only 135 grams.

Despite all these specifications, its price was high in that market and for that time: $499 for its 4 GB capacity version, while the 8 GB model went up to $599. Now this price seems quite commonplace, but we were not used to paying this for a cell phone in 2007. Moreover, the value began to standardize and go up and up with each new generation.

A collector’s item

Apple sold 6.1 million iPhones during the year or so it was on the market. That was a high figure for a product that wasn’t exactly cheap. However, despite such a high number of sales, finding an iPhone these days is neither easy nor cheap.

Second hand they are usually found at prices very similar to the initial price, especially if they are well cared for. However, the big jump comes with models that are sealed or almost intact. Here, the value goes to four figures, although they have even been sold for five digits if the iPhone was perfect.

If you have one at home, take good care of it. You have a treasure.