iPhone 8 leaks reveal the X factor of Apple's 10th anniversary device

dubai - 10 of what we feel are the most interesting trivia about Apple's wunder-gizmo

Ten years ago, some company named Apple declared "this is only the beginning".

And at the same time, some dude named Steve Jobs doubled down on that, saying that they would "reinvent the phone".

What a difference a decade makes. As a matter of fact, what a difference each year makes.

And here's some really fresh news: Apple may not have a 7s and 7s Plus, because a wild rumour that's making the rounds says that it'll be the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, and, of course, its 10th-anniversary offering, the iPhone X.

With tens of things (pun intended) said, here are 10 of what we feel are the most interesting trivia about Apple's wunder-gizmo. Seriously, if we list each and every tidbit here, we may be here for another decade.

First call was a... prank
And this was made by no else but Jobs. On that day, he whipped out the iPhone a called a nearby Starbucks in San Francisco.

"Good morning, how may I help you?", the employee, Hannah Zhang, said.

"Yes, I'd like to order 4,000 lattes to go, please," Jobs shot back. "No, just kidding. Wrong number. Goodbye."

To this day, Starbucks outlets still get orders for 4,000 lattes. Jobs really knows how to cement his legacy in different ways.

It was supposed to be a tablet
This isn't exactly a secret: the seeds of the iPhone were planted when Jobs instructed his engineers to take a look at tablet designs that have a virtual keyboard. However, they came back with a gizmo that had multi-touch functionality.

Sensing a great opportunity to put this tech into a phone, he abandoned the tablet thing and focused on what was to be the iPhone. Of course, the iPad followed soon after, so it's all about coming full circle.

By the way, the iPhone's original codename was 'Purple', a nod to the 'Purple Dorm' used by its original development team.

Over a billion
On July 27, 2016, Apple sold its one-billionth iPhone. As at the end of March, Statista pegs that figure to be at 1.16 billion. Though no official figures are there, it's a foregone conclusion that that number is definitely higher.

Apple's best iPhone year was in 2015 - the year the bridges the iPhone 6 and 6s models - when it sold 231.22 million units.

Ever noticed that in every iPhone advert, the time is always 9:41? The reason is simple: Jobs introduced the original iPhone at exactly that time back in 2007.

Former iOS boss Scott Forstall then explained this further in 2010.

"We design the keynotes so that the big reveal of the product happens around 40 minutes into the presentation. When the big image of the product on screen, we want the time shown to be close to the actual time on the audience's watches. But we know we won't hit 40 minutes exactly."

So, that.

With or without you...
In the old Music app, notice the icon of Artists. That silhouette is of Bono, the lead singer of British rock band U2.

Well, with or without Bono (pun intended), the Music app still works well.

Best of frenemies
Apple and Samsung don't like each other - trying to one-up the other in mobiles, the commercial jabs, the lawsuits - but there is at least one area that they actually help each other on.

And that's the processors embedded inside iPhones. Experts who have studied the 'A' chips found out that, apparently, it's being made by the South Korean company. Isn't it ironic?

By the way, the Retina Displays on iPads are made by Samsung, too. Those on the MacBook Pro, iPhone and iPod Touch are from LG Display and Japan Display.

The miracle of 2007
The original iPhone that Jobs showed off in 2007 (the same one he used to "order" 4,000 lattes) was a prototype.

So, naturally, Apple's engineers waited in horror to see what kind of glitch it would run into. In front of a live audience.

Fortunately - and, surprisingly - nothing amiss happened. For the next five months though - between the launch and hitting shelves - these Apple engineers went overdrive in perfecting the device.

Also, the first choice for the original iPhone's display was plastic. But they decided to switch to glass, because Jobs didn't like all those scratches.

You can't build nuclear weapons. No way
End-user licence agreements are a bore to read; the 'Agree' or 'Accept' button is just there as a mere formality to get it out of the way and start using your device or service.

Apple, however, incorporated something interesting. First discovered in 2013, part of iTunes' EULA read like this:

"You also agree that you will not use these products for any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture, or production of nuclear, missile or chemical or biological weapons."

Well, if you were planning some sort of world domination, you can forget about it - if you're an iTunes user.

What's in a worm, er, word?
We all know jailbreaking is basically a no-no. Whoever named one of the most famous jailbreak software apparently thought this was a no-brainer.

Cydia, a software used for this purpose, has an even deeper meaning: cydia pomonella is the binomial name of the codling moth, a pest in apple orchards. Genius.

Never taunt Apple
When the iPhone was released, then-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer famously ridiculed it, saying that it was "the most expensive phone in the world and it doesn't appeal to business customers, because it doesn't have a keyboard, which makes it not a very good e-mail machine".

Five years later, in 2012, here's the final stat line: iPhone sales - $22.7 billion; Microsoft, as an entire corporation - $17.4 billion.

Imagine how's that now.

- alvin@khaleejtimes.com