QuickTake 200 Digital Camera (1997)

The QuickTake 200 was the third and final digital camera by Apple. It was released in 1997 and was built by Fuji. The QuickTake 200 was a major step ahead compared to the QuickTake 100 and 150 cameras that came before it, due to its 1.8-inch color LCD preview screen, removable memory cards, and additional controls. Further, the QuickTake 200 looked and functioned more like a traditional camera than its predecessors.

The QuickTake 200 shipped with a 2 MB SmartMedia card that allowed up to 20 high-quality or 40 standard-quality photos. The camera used four AA batteries and had controls for aperture and focus with three different modes: close-up (3.5–5 inch), portrait (17–35 inch), and standard (3 feet–infinity). It also shipped with a snap-on optical viewfinder to save battery. Unlike the previous QuickTake 100 and 150, the QuickTake 200 did not have a flash.

I used the QuickTake 200 digital camera extensively both as an educator and personally. In fact, I took my QuickTake 200 on my most memorable vacation to date on a trip to London in 1998. At the time, digital cameras were not well known and it allowed me capture many more photos than I’d taken in the past on film because of the removable SmartMedia cards. By no means was the experience similar to today’s virtually unlimited mobile phone camera photography, but it was my first indication of what was coming, years before everyone had a camera all the time.

As a fan of vintage Apple, I was intrigued to notice that Apple brought back the “QuickTake” name for a camera feature in the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro cameras in 2019. The Apple Support website states, “Grab a video with QuickTake. iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro have QuickTake, a new feature that lets you record videos without switching out of photo mode.”

Sources: Wikipedia, Apple Support

iPhone 7 (128 GB, silver, 2016)

The iPhone 7 has a 4.7-inch screen at 1334×750, also known by Apple as a Retina HD display. The iPhone has a front and back camera: the rear camera is 12-megapixel and the front camera is a 7-megapixel FaceTime HD camera with 1080p video. 

The iPhone 7 was the first iPhone (along with the iPhone 7 Plus) to remove the 3.5 mm headphone jack and only include a Lightning port for audio. Like the iPhone 6 and 6s before it, the iPhone 7 uses a “clickless” Home button that clicks using an internal Taptic-engine-powered solid state component. Although the iPhone 7 is not water-proof, it is splash, water, and dust-resistant. 

The iPhone 7 came in several colors: silver (white glass front, silver back); gold (white glass front, gold back); rose gold (white glass front, pink-tinted gold back); black (black glass front, matte black back); jet black (black glass front, a high-gloss black anodized and polished black aluminum back); and later added a (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition (white glass front, red aluminum back). 

The iPhone 7 uses the Apple A10 Fusion  processor, 2 GB of RAM, and was available with 32 GB, 128 GB, or 256 GB of flash storage.

While I opted for the iPhone 7 Plus as my personal phone in the iPhone 7 era, I chose the then-new (and not offered since) jet black color. I immediately covered the glossy finish with a case to heed Apple’s warning that jet black “may show fine micro-abrasions with use.” (It did scratch easily!)

Source: EveryMac

iPhone 6s (16 GB, silver, 2015)

The iPhone 6s had a 4.7-inch “3D Touch” screen at 1334×750 (326 ppi, Retina HD). The iPhone 6s cameras were vastly improved over the iPhone 6 that preceded it: a rear 12-megapixel 4K iSight camera and a front 5-megapixel FaceTime camera in 720p (the iPhone 6 used a, 8-megapixel back camera and 1.2-megapixel front camera).

The iPhone 6s was available in four colors: silver (white glass front, silver back); gold (white glass front, gold back); space gray (black glass front, medium-gray back); and rose gold (white glass front, pink-tinted gold back). 

The iPhone 6s did not use a physical Home button, but used its Taptic engine to simulate the click. It also used a Touch ID fingerprint sensor in the Home button. 

Inside, the iPhone 6s used the Apple A9 processor with 2 GB of RAM and was available in 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB, or 128 GB of flash storage. The iPhone 6s was the last iPhone to include a headphone jack (located on the bottom) and used  the Lightning port to connect to computer, dock, or power adapter.

This iPhone 6s example is an entry-level 16 GB model in silver with a white front. Unfortunately, this particular iPhone has a slight crack in the lower-left front screen glass (although it functions perfectly).

Source: EveryMac

iPad mini (original, Wi-Fi, 16 GB, silver, unopened, 2012)

The original iPad mini featured a 7.9-inch screen at 1024×768 (163 ppi). Internally, it had a dual core 1 GHz Apple A5 processor; 512 MB of RAM; and 16, 32, or 64 GB of storage. It had two cameras: a rear-mounted 5 megapixel iSight camera (1080p) and a front-mounted 1.2 megapixel FaceTime HD camera (720p). The original iPad mini used a Lightning port.

I kept my original iPad mini in my daily backpack for a very long time due to its near perfect size and weight as a truly mobile device with the same 1024×768 screen as a standard iPad of the time (just with smaller pixels). I purchased this additional iPad mini as an example for my collection and never unboxed it. This version has a silver back and white front. 

Source: EveryMac 

QuickTake 100 (1994)

The QuickTake 100 is considered one of the first consumer digital cameras and was only available for about one year, from 1994 to 1995. The QuickTake 100 model was replaced by the QuickTake 150 in 1995 (using the same design) and then the QuickTake 200 in 1996 (a new design manufactured by Fuji).

The camera had 5 button controls: one to control the shutter, and four surrounding a small black/gray LCD panel on the back to control flash, resolution, self-timer, and a recessed button to delete all photos.

The camera sold for $749 and could take eight photos at 640×480 resolution, 32 photos at 320×240 resolution, or a combination of the sizes in 24-bit color. Although the QuickTake 100 had a built-in flash, it had no zoom or focus controls, nor could it preview or delete individual photos from the internal memory. Photos were downloaded to a computer using a serial cable and included QuickTake software. The QuickTake software also included functions such as rotate, resize, crop, and export.

After the Macintosh version of the QuickTake 100 was released, a Windows version followed six months later.

QuickTake cameras also included several accessories, such as a leather cover with a hand strap, a neck strap, a leather case, a battery booster pack (shown here), and a snap-on close-up lens.

Source: Wikipedia

iSight Camera (original, 2003)

The original iSight camera was an external webcam that connected to a Mac via FireWire cable. The iSight camera supported 640×480 resolution at 30 frames per second with autoexposure and autofocus. It includes its own microphones with noise suppression features. The camera used a single FireWire port for audio, video, and power. It weighed 2.3 ounces.

The iSight included five camera mounts (four clear acrylic mounts and one magnetic base) and a clear plastic tube for transporting the camera. 

Apple stopped selling this external iSight camera in 2008 when all Mac laptops and iMac computers began including a built-in iSight camera.

Reference: Wikipedia.com

iPhone 6 (64 GB, space gray, 2014)

This particular iPhone 6 model was used an AT&T network (and functioned throughout North America). All iPhone 6 models had a 4.7-inch multi-touch screen at 1334×750 (326 ppi, Retina HD display). It had two cameras: a rear 8 megapixel iSight camera (1080p) and a front 1.2 megapixel FaceTime camera (720p).

The iPhone 6 was originally available in three color options: silver (white glass front and a silver aluminum back), gold (white glass front and a gold aluminum back), and space gray (black glass front and a medium-gray aluminum back). The iPhone used a unibody design with rounded sides (similar to the iPod touch Generation 5). The glass screen curved slightly at the edges. It also included a Touch ID fingerprint sensor.

The iPhone 6 used a 1.4 GHz 64-bit Apple A8 processor with 1 GB of RAM and 16, 32, 64, or 128 GB of storage. In addition to 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0/4.2, and LTE (4G), it included NFC for Apple Pay transactions. It had both a bottom-mounted headphone jack and a Lightning port.

Source: EveryMac.com

iPhone 4 (2010)

The iPhone 4 represented a major design leap from the previous models with an all stainless steel body, a 3.5-inch Retina display at 960×640 (326 ppi), a chemically hardened “aluminosilcate” over the front display, and the chemically hardened black glass back. A white option was announced, but did not ship for over a year after the announcement.

The iPhone 4 was the first iPhone with dual front and back cameras: a 5 megapixel HD video/still camera (720p at 30 FPS), a 5X digital zoom, and an LED flash on the rear; and a VGA-quality video/still camera on the front designed for video conferencing over Wi-Fi using FaceTime. Both cameras used noise-cancelling microphones.

The iPhone 4 was powered by an A4 processor and added additional mobile network support. It included a digital compass, GPS, an accelerometer, and a new 3-axis gyroscope.

Source: EveryMac.com

iPhone 3G (16 GB, 2008)

The iPhone 3G is similar to the original iPhone in functionality, but adds 3G cellular support and GPS. Although it features the same 320×480 resolution screen, the case is slightly thicker (0.02-inch) than the original, and had a plastic (rather than aluminum) back available in black or white. Both models were available in 8 GB or 16 GB, but the white iPhone 3G was only available in 8 GB.

The GPS functionality allowed the 2.0 megapixel camera to support geotagging. The iPhone 3G uses the same multi-touch interface, accelerometer, ambient light sensor, and proximity sensor capabilities as the original iPhone, except it has two proximity sensors compared to one in the original.

The back of the iPhone 3G has the most curved shape of any iPhone design to date, and has been the only “flagship” iPhone model to ship with a plastic back.

Source: EveryMac.com