Tag: original

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Apple TV (original, 2007)

When Apple released the first Apple TV on March 21, 2007, it was described as “an easy to use and fun way to wirelessly play all your favorite iTunes content from your PC or Mac on your widescreen TV, including movies, TV shows, music, photos and podcasts.”

Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing at the time, described Apple TV as “a DVD player for the Internet age—providing an easy and fun way to play all your favorite iTunes content from your PC or Mac on your widescreen TV…using your existing WiFi network.”

This original Apple TV used an Intel processor and included 256 MB DDR2 SDRAM and a 40 or 160 GB hard drive. Apple reported that 40 GB Apple TV could hold up to 50 hours of movies and TV shows (H.264, 1.5-Mbps video, 128-Kbps audio). The 160 GB version quadrupled the storage. The video output was limited to a maximum of 720p.

Connectivity included HDMI, component video and audio, optical audio, 10/100Base-T Ethernet, and a USB 2.0 port (for service and diagnostics). It included 802.11n wireless networking.

This Apple TV originally required a Mac to access content. However, on January 15, 2008, “Apple unveiled a software update that made it possible to rent movies directly from the Apple TV without using a separate computer.”

This Apple TV used a design unique among later iterations. It was white with silver edges and had a light gray base. It measured 7.7 x 7.7 inches square with rounded corners, it was 1.1 inches high, and weighed 2.4 pounds.

Sources: Apple (newsroom, technical specifications), EveryMac

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iPod shuffle (original, 1 GB, 2005)

The iPod shuffle was introduced on January 11, 2005, as the “First iPod Under $100” (the 512 MB version sold for $99 and this 1 GB version sold for $149). Apple described the device in a press release as a “breakthrough digital music player based on iPod’s legendary shuffle feature which lets users experience their music in a million different ways. Smaller and lighter than a pack of gum, iPod shuffle comes with its own lanyard so it’s ready to wear right out of the box.”

The original iPod shuffle featured 512 MB or 1 GB of flash memory in a 3.3 x 0.98 x 0.33-inch case with an integrated USB connector. Like all iPod shuffle models that would come after it, it lacked a display. The name “shuffle” refers to its ability to shuffle—play in a random order—among the 120 or 240 songs it is capable of storing.

Like other iPod models, the iPod shuffle could be used to store files other than music files, a feature that worked particularly well on this device with its integrated USB plug.

The original iPod shuffle shipped with a white lanyard, a cap, and earbuds.

Source: EveryMac, Apple

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iPhone (original, 8 GB, 2007)

The original iPhone was officially announced on January 9, 2007, and was released on June 29, 2007. The original iPhone was available in 4, and 8 GB capacities, with a 16 GB capacity released on February 5, 2008.

The original iPhone introduced the “multi-touch” display that allowed control by dragging one or more fingers across the glass display, although no interface controls required multiple fingers in the iPhone OS 1.0. This iPhone has sensors including an accelerometer (to detect landscape or portrait orientation), an ambient light sensor (to control screen brightness), and a proximity sensor (to turn off the display when held to the ear).

Other features included Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), EDGE, Bluetooth 2.0, and a 2.0 megapixel camera. The case is 2.4 inches by 4.5 inches, is 0.46-inch thick, and weighs 4.8 ounces.

This example is in somewhat rough shape cosmetically, but still functions perfectly. It includes the charging base station that shipped with the original iPhone.

Sources: EveryMac

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Magic Trackpad (original, 2010)

Apple’s Magic Trackpad was made of glass and aluminum and was announced on July 27, 2010. It used a matching design and angle to the Apple Wireless Keyboard, and the two devices could sit side by side and function well together. The Magic Trackpad release corresponded to an update of the iMac line of desktop computers and could be ordered along with a new iMac as a Mouse replacement.

Apple described the Magic Trackpad:

“The Magic Trackpad brings the intuitive Multi-Touch gestures of Mac notebook trackpads to the desktop. With its glass surface, the wireless Magic Trackpad enables users to scroll smoothly up and down a page with inertial scrolling, pinch to zoom in and out, rotate an image with their fingertips and swipe three fingers to flip through a collection of web pages or photos. The Magic Trackpad can be configured to support single button or two button commands and supports tap-to-click as well as a physical click.”

The Magic Trackpad used a Bluetooth connection and was powered by two AA batteries.

This version of the Magic Trackpad was replaced with the Magic Trackpad 2, released on October 13, 2015.

Sources: Apple, Wikipedia

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iPad Air (original, Wi-Fi, 32 GB, space gray, 2013)

The original iPad Air used a 9.7-inch Retina display. According to Apple’s press release at the time, the iPad Air was “20 percent thinner and 28 percent lighter than the fourth generation iPad, and with a narrower bezel the borders of iPad Air are dramatically thinner.”

The original iPad Air’s display was 2048×1536 (at 264 ppi). Internally, it used a dual-core 1.4 GHz A7 processor, 1 GB of RAM, and was available with 16, 32, 64, or 128 GB of internal storage. Wireless connectivity included 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0.

Its rear 5-megapixel iSight camera recorded video at 1080p, and its front 1.2-megapixel FaceTime HD camera recorded video at 720p.

The original iPad Air was available in silver (silver back with white front) and space gray (dark gray back with black front). This is a 16GB space gray example that includes the original box.

Sources: Everymac, Apple

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Original iPod headphones (Generation 2, 2002)

The Original iPod headphones were the earbuds that shipped with the original iPod. They sounded quite good, shipped with two sets of black foam ear covers, were sometimes panned for not fitting some people’s ears, and came with the iPod at no additional cost so most iPod users used them.

Perhaps the most important, and in my opinion overlooked, feature of these headphones was not the specs, but the color. Soon after the iPod was introduced in 2001, an iconic ad campaign was released in 2003 referred to as “silhouettes,” created by the company Chiat\Day. In each commercial, poster, print ad, or billboard, the all-black silhouette of a dancer moved over a brightly colored background (hot pink, lime green, yellow, or bright blue) while the highly-contrasted bright white headphone wire and iPod moved along with the dancer. The effect was striking and the white cord color effectively called attention to the product nearly screaming, “I’m using an iPod!”

The white earbud design not only became permanently associated with “cool” Apple gear, but 20 years later is still being used as the only color choice for Apple-branded headphones, EarPods, AirPods, and likely future Apple headphone iterations. (Apple-owned brand Beats, however, does produce many headphone styles in multiple colors.)

According to my research, this particular example of the original iPod headphone design is a Generation 2 release, identified as such due to the addition of a plastic slider to adjust the gap between the headphone wires.

Sources: GQ, Wikipedia