I still remember the day the first iPhone was announced. January 9, 2007. Steve Jobs walked onto that stage in his black turtleneck, jeans, and sneakers, and made every other phone on the market look like a dinosaur. No buttons. No stylus. Just a slab of glass that responded to your fingers like magic.
Back then, every new iPhone felt like a leap forward.
The 3G gave us speed. The 4 was a glass-and-steel beauty that felt like holding the future. The 5 slimmed it down, stretched it taller, and made it lighter without feeling cheap. The 6 brought curves back. The X ripped out the home button and went all-screen.
It wasn’t just about specs—it was about feel. You could pick up any iPhone from that era and instantly tell that Apple obsessed over every millimeter, every bevel, every animation.
But somewhere along the way, the evolution started to feel… incremental. We got used to the same rounded rectangles, the same minimalist aesthetic, just with shinier materials and more camera bumps. Each keynote became a game of spot-the-difference. The bezels shrank, the cameras multiplied, but the excitement faded.
Don’t get me wrong—the newer iPhones are engineering marvels. The iPhone 15 Pro is lighter than it has any right to be. The screens are brighter, the cameras are basically pro-grade, and the processors are so fast you could edit a movie on them. But when I hold one, I don’t get the same goosebumps I got with the iPhone 4 or X.
Part of it is that the smartphone industry matured. There’s only so much you can do with a slab of glass before you start repeating yourself. But part of it, I think, is that Apple has become more cautious. They perfect, they refine, but they rarely surprise anymore.
The design evolution of the iPhone is a bit like watching your favorite band go from raw, experimental albums to safe, polished hits. They’re still good—sometimes great—but you miss the unpredictability.
Will Apple ever bring back that “holy shit” moment? Maybe. Maybe not. But until then, I’ll keep upgrading, keep admiring the craft, and keep hoping that one day, they’ll shock us again.
Because that’s what made the iPhone special in the first place—it wasn’t just a phone. It was a glimpse of the future you didn’t know you wanted.