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Check out this old news report of when Apple released the first iPhone

The first iPhone 15 customers are already heading to Apple Stores in Australia and Asia to pick up the new device, or are having it delivered to their door.

Apple’s new handset range comprises the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Pricing starts at $799 and tops out at $1,599 — but it’ll cost even more if you opt for a case, a screen cover, and AppleCare.

We’re all very familiar with smartphones now, with many folks having owned numerous devices over the years, but there was a time when it was all so new.

And so today — with Apple launching the latest iteration of its handset — it seems like a good time to share this wonderful CBS News report filmed at about the time the very first iPhone went on sale way back in 2007.

From the archives: Apple releases first iPhone in 2007

It’s a remarkable piece of footage, showing not only how the iPhone has evolved over the past 16 years, but also how the tech really was something very special at the time.

As a reminder, the original iPhone featured a tiny 3.5-inch display and a basic 2-megapixel camera and went on sale for $499 (4GB) and $599 (8GB).

The main guest in the CBS News report, tech writer David Pogue, enthusiastically describes the ability to zoom in or out of an image by pinching with your fingers as “spectacular,” before going on to offer helpful instructions on how to make a phone call: “You have to turn the thing on, then you hit the home button, then you hit the phone button, then you hit the address book, and then you tap the name.”

Watch carefully and you’ll also catch a glimpse of the New York Times website squeezed into that miniature 3.5-inch display.

With BlackBerry phones popular at the time, partly due to the presence of a physical QWERTY keyboard, the reporter understandably makes a big deal out of the iPhone’s virtual keyboard, commenting:  “And that means a learning curve. Especially for those of us with fat thumbs.”

Pogue sums everything up nicely, commenting: “Unless you’re some emotion-free Vulcan, this phone brings pleasure, and that should count.”

And in the coming days, hopefully, those forking out for the iPhone 15 will be experiencing a similar feeling all these years on.

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Trevor Mogg
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