The iPad Generation 4 was referred to by Apple officially as the “iPad with Retina Display.” Similar in many ways to the iPad Generation 3 before it, the iPad Generation 4 replaced the 30-pin dock connector with the Lightning port, and also offered incremental upgrades.
The Retina Display increased the touchscreen resolution to 2048×1536 (at 264 ppi). Internally, the iPad Generation 4 used a dual-core 1.4 GHz A6X processor, 1 GB of RAM, and was offered with 16, 32, 64, or 128 GB of storage. Its back 5-megapixel iSight camera could record video at 1080p, and its front FaceTime HD camera could record video at 720p. Wireless connectivity included 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0.
The iPad Generation 4 was available in black and white (both options had a silver aluminum back). This example is black.
The iPad Generation 4 was referred to by Apple officially as the “iPad with Retina Display.” Similar in many ways to the iPad Generation 3 before it, the iPad Generation 4 replaced the 30-pin dock connector with the Lightning port, and also offered incremental upgrades.
The Retina Display increased the touchscreen resolution to 2048×1536 (at 264 ppi). Internally, the iPad Generation 4 used a dual-core 1.4 GHz A6X processor, 1 GB of RAM, and was offered with 16, 32, 64, or 128 GB of storage. Its back 5-megapixel iSight camera could record video at 1080p, and its front FaceTime HD camera could record video at 720p. Wireless connectivity included 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0.
The iPad Generation 4 was available in black and white (both options had a silver aluminum back). This Wi-Fi example is in white.
In 2020 Apple made a major change to its iPhone 12 packaging when they stopped including Lightning headphones and a wall power “brick” charger in the box at the time of an iPhone purchase. With these items removed, Apple was able to reduce the size of the iPhone box and reduce the extra packaging associated with the headphones and charger. It was announced that the iPhone 12 would ship only with the phone and a USB-C-to-Lightning charging cable.
Lisa Jackson, Apple’s Vice President of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives, announced at an October 2020 Apple event, “Customers already have over 700 million Lightning headphones, and many customers have moved to a wireless experience with AirPods, Beats, or other wireless headphones. And there are also over 2 billion Apple power adapters out in the world, and that’s not counting the billions of third-party adapters. So we are removing these items from the iPhone box.”
With the iPhone 12 announcement, I was not at all expecting this packaging change to also affect older, but still manufactured iPhone models. At the time of the iPhone 12 release, Apple was still offering the iPhone XR as a lower-end and less expensive iPhone option. Surprisingly, the iPhone XR packaging was also reduced in size and shipped without the headphones and charger. Also, the cable was switched to a USB-C-to-Lightning, replacing the former USB-to-Lightning option.
While the change may contribute to some environmental benefits, the situation was not universally accepted as positive. Some critics noted that, “The move saves the company money, but some of the environmental benefits could be offset by people buying earbuds and chargers separately” (The Verge). From a practical standpoint, some users—namely enterprise, government, and school districts like mine—had not switched to USB-C when this decision was made. As Apple indicated, it is likely that most users likely already have more than one charger and at least one set of Lightning headphones.
The photos here represent my school district’s iPhone XR upgrade affected mid-stream—where iPhone XR models purchased before October 2020 used “classic” packaging, and devices purchased in late-October/November 2020 unexpectedly used the new packaging without an announcement or warning.
Apple has sold and included their Lightning to USB Cable in various formats and packaging options. This version of packaging is part number MD818ZM/A. It specifies that the Lightning to USB Cable is “Compatible with all models with a Lightning connector.”
The original Apple Pencil was released along with the original iPad Pro in September 2015. The Apple Pencil can be used by the iPad Air (Generation 3), iPad mini (Generation 5), iPad Pro 10.5-inch, iPad (Generation 6 and 7), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (Generation 1 and 2), and iPad Pro 9.7-inch. It pairs to an iPad device using Bluetooth, and has a removable magnetically attached cap hiding a Lightning connector.
The original Apple Pencil somewhat awkwardly charges by plugging it into the lightning port of an Apple device; however, it also includes a female-to-female adapter that allows charging with a Lightning cable. While a full charge can last up to 12 hours, a 15-second charge provides about 30 minutes of use.
The Apple Pencil can be used for writing, drawing, or annotating in a wide variety of apps. Apple describes its features as having “pixel-perfect precision, tilt and pressure sensitivity, and imperceptible lag.”
The iPhone Lightning Dock was a minimalist charging dock with a heavy base, protruding angled Lightning connector, and two ports on the back—a Lightning port and an audio jack to allow music to be played on a speaker or headphones.
The iPhone Lightning Dock was available in several colors during its lifetime, including white, black, silver, space gray, rose gold, gold, and “new” gold (to match an updated gold iPhone color). This example is black.
Apple described the Dock: “You can use it to charge and sync any iPhone that has a Lightning connector. Your iPhone sits upright in the dock as it syncs or charges, so it’s ideal for a desk or countertop. Even when your iPhone is in an Apple-designed case, it’s easy to dock. And you can unlock iPhone or use Touch ID without having to remove it from the dock.”
Although this Dock will also charge an iPad, its size and weight make it too unstable for everyday use. However, I sometimes use this Dock to photograph some of the iPad devices in my collection since its minimal design and slight angle works well for temporary use.
The Generation 7 iPad differs from previous base iPad models with its larger 10.2-inch screen at 2160×1620 (264 ppi) (the Generation 6 iPad had a 9.7-inch screen) and the addition of the Smart Connector. The Smart Connector allows this iPad to use an Apple Smart Keyboard. This iPad was available in three colors: white front with a gold back, white front with silver back, and black front with a Space Gray back. This example is Space Gray.
The Generation 7 iPad uses the Apple A10 Fusion processor with 3 GB of RAM, and has 32 GB or 128 GB of internal storage. It also has an 8 Megapixel iSight camera on the back (1080p) and a 1.2 Megapixel FaceTime camera (720p) on the front. Wireless connectivity includes 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2,. Its two wired ports are the Lightning port and a 3.5mm audio port. Internal sensors include accelerometer, gyroscope, ambient light sensor, compass, and barometer.
Aside from this Wi-Fi model, three Wi-Fi/Cellular models are available (US/CA, Global, and China).
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!)
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).
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.
