History by model
These sections detail the most significant changes each model introduced. Full technical specifications are given below.
Original
iPhone 3G
iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4
{{current event}}
The iPhone 4 was announced on June 7, 2010 at the WWDC 2010 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco.[1] Prior to the official unveiling, two prototypes were brought to mainstream media, breaching Apple's normally secretive development process. Many of the speculations regarding technical specifications proved accurate.
The iPhone 4 is structured around a stainless steel frame which acts as the primary structure for the device, and additionally acts as both the antennas. The devices internal components are situated between two panels of aluminosilicate glass, which is chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic.[2] The screen is of higher resolution than previous models, though of the same size; each pixel is 78 micrometers in width. Apple markets it as the "retina display," based on the assertion that at a distance of 12 inches (30 cm) from the eye, the screen exceeds the maximum amount of detail that the human retina can process.[3] The iPhone 4 uses the Apple A4 Processor, previously found only on the iPad. It was designed by Intrinsity and manufactured by Samsung; who have manufactured all the processors used in the previous iPhone models. The clock speed is currently unknown.[4]
The iPhone 4 has a higher resolution camera than previous models, and has an LED flash. A new front-facing camera with no flash is used for video calling, specifically FaceTime, which connects two iPhone 4 units4 over Wi-Fi. The rear-facing camera may also be used for FaceTime.
The iPhone 4 was made available for pre-order on June 15, 2010. Customers attempting to pre-order the iPhone 4 reported problems with the pre-order process on the U.S. and U.K. online Apple Stores which crashed due to the surge in traffic.[5] The same issue was reported with AT&T and SoftBank, who suspended advance sales of the iPhone 4 as demand threatened to exceed supply.[6] Retail stores where also unable to complete pre-order transactions due to the servers crashing.[7] The New York Times reported on June 16, 2010 that Apple and its partner carriers had received 600,000 pre-orders for the iPhone 4, 24 hours after it was made available for pre-order.[8] It is the largest number of pre-orders Apple have received in a single day for any device. Engadget reported that at 8:30 UTC, all iPhone 4 pre-order suppliers had sold out.[9] The iPhone 4 will be available in five countries from its June 24, 2010 launch; the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan.[1]
References
- ^ a b Topolsky, Joshua (2010-06-07). "Steve Jobs live from WWDC 2010". Engadget. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
- ^ "iPhone - Design - The future is in the details". Apple Inc. 2010-06-07. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
- ^ Brandrick, Chris (2010-06-08). "iPhone 4's Retina Display Explained". PC World. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
- ^ "Apple's new iPhone 4". TechAutos. 2010-06-15. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
- ^ Beaumont, Claudine (2010-06-16). "Apple iPhone 4: Pre-orders break records despite technical issues". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
- ^ Patel, Nilay (2010-06-16). "600,000 iPhone 4s pre-ordered, Apple apologizes for issues". Engadget. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
- ^ Murph, Darren (2010-06-15). "iPhone 4 pre-orderers overwhelm servers, world on the brink of ending". Engadget. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
NY Times Pre-order
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Ziegler, Chris (2010-06-15). "AT&T sold out of iPhone 4 pre-orders for launch day". Engadget. Retrieved 2010-06-18.