9 basic features the first iPhone didn’t have

The iPhone is 15 years old this year and with the iPhone 13 you can do so much these days. Yet it was not always so. So let yourself be surprised with the 9 basic functions that the first iPhone didn’t have!

The first iPhone didn’t have these 7 basic functions

You quickly get used to all the things you can do with the iPhone these days. However, that was not always the case, because the first iPhone could do a lot, but secretly also not. We’ll show you 7 basic functions that your first iPhone didn’t have!

1. Apple Apps Only

The App Store is full of cool apps, but that wasn’t the case in the past. In fact, you couldn’t use any third-party apps at all. Only the apps that Apple made itself were available on the first iPhone.

2. Making videos was not possible

You wouldn’t think it, but with the first iPhone it was only possible to take photos. There was no option to shoot a video, that option only came on the iPhone 3GS in 2009.

3. Copy and paste text

Actually, it’s one of the basic functions you’d expect, but the first iPhone didn’t allow you to copy and paste text. It then took another two years before iOS got an update that made that possible.

4. Only 2G on the first iPhone

Nowadays you have 4G, or even 5G if you want to use the internet very fast. The first iPhone only had internet via 2G from AT&T: it was very slow and not reliable. You can compare 2G a bit with EDGE (recognizable by the letter ‘E’ if your iPhone has a very bad connection). In fact, 2G was even a bit slower than EDGE.

5. Siri didn’t exist yet

Siri was nowhere to be seen on the first iPhone. When the first iPhone appeared, a voice assistant was still a thing of the future. Talking to your iPhone was only one thing when you were on a call.

6. No control panel

The control panel nowadays has several options to quickly adjust a number of settings. But the first iPhone didn’t have that option. In fact, many of the functions you find in the control panel today were not even there. For example, the first iPhone did not have a flashlight or LED light.

7. First iPhone Didn’t Have Touch ID or Face ID

The first iPhone did not yet have basic functions such as Touch ID or Face ID. You only had one way to secure your iPhone and that was with a number code.

8. The selfie camera didn’t exist yet

The first iPhones only had a rear camera. A front camera (or selfie camera) was not present. That only came on the iPhone 4 in 2010. You should not expect much from this, because the first selfie camera had a resolution of 0.3 megapixels.

9. Wallpaper customization was not possible

When you had one of the first iPhones, you were always looking at a black background. It was not possible to set a background on your home screen (where all your apps are located). This feature was also only available from the iPhone 3GS.

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