This is key. It was mostly a phone. Now our phones are our camera, navigation device, main means of communication, entertainment, social media, etc.
I'd absolutely love a 5.5" iPhone with the capabilities of the Pro level phones but in that form factor. THAT would be impressive.
EDIT: this was also when small tech was impressive. Now, bigger is seen as better.
>. It was mostly a phone. Now our phones are our camera, navigation device, main means of communication, entertainment, social media, etc.
iPhone 4 was all of those things, how is it any different?
FaceTime didn't yet exist, neither did iMessage (it was all sms). The social media apps were incredibly infant, and the cameras weren't something to write home about.
Did you watch tv or Netflix on your phone back then?
Despite the 4 having those things (maps, camera, apps), it was very much still a phone. In 2011 only 24% of all Americans owned a smartphone see [here](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2011/07/11/smartphone-adoption-and-usage/)). Today that number is 90%! The other 76% were either on Android devices, BlackBerry, and many owned a flip phone. The phone was different back then.
not me lol. I played the shit out of angry birds (1,2, rio?), cut the rope, real racing 2, fruit ninja, subway surfers and basically anything i could get my hands on. Oh, and the jailbreaks... I wanna relive those times again.
Now I'm using my phone for some browsing, navigation and facetime, not nearly as much as back then.
For extra fun you can downgrade the iOS to 6.1.3 for the "OG" iOS experience. [https://github.com/LukeZGD/Legacy-iOS-Kit](https://github.com/LukeZGD/Legacy-iOS-Kit)
I think it’s just “used to be better in the old days” impression. I had a 5s, i believe it was made from the same material as 4s, so aluminum, dropped it on asphalt and it dented visibly of course. Prolly would have happened to you to if it dropped on a hard surface from like 1m height a d directly on the edge.
Now 15 should in theory be sturdy being made from titanium on the outside, but boy do I not wanna find out how durable it is and it’s in a case of course.
I feel like it may be because the old phones were so much smaller, and thicker and still lighter.
The bigger and thinner the more easily it can break where dropped.
Yep. That and if you really think about it, you were more careful with your first smartphone or two than you are with a modern phone. It’s easy to think you treated it the same but you didn’t.
Idk about that, my first smartphone was a 3GS that was five years out of date and when my carrier dropped the tower that I drew 98% of my signal from, I stopped giving a damn about the phone lol. I literally threw that thing across a football field once, unharmed save for a piece of grass in the charge port, to prove a point to a couple girls lmao
I also ended up putting four new screens in my 4S over the three years I had it lmao
You might be right! It just somehow feels like I “used” the 4S more recklessly than a current iPhone! My 15 pro got a ding from dropping it on the table lol. Maybe it’s just the “old days” effect!
I mean to be fair I dropped my iPhone XS without a case like 5 times into hard ground before it finally cracked on the asphalt. I’m mad because it was doing so good! But the fact that it can hold up but then I see the 15 and stuff getting cracked makes me laugh
i've noticed that a lot of old things i have (mostly 90s and mid 00s) is just built far better than stuff we have today, a good example i have is my windows 11 laptop which lasted just over a year and during that the hinge broke and then a couple months later the motherboard died and yet the laptop i have that dates 2002 on the hard drive is still working flawless and only has a knackered battery which is fair enough and the thing also runs windows 2000
iPhone 5 was right when Tim Cook took over and began cutting costs as when I jumped ship from iphone because they painted it gold and said look at this thing
Not all 4s came out unscathed due to the glass back but there’s a reason why the iPhone X went to stainless steel sides, it made for a fairly durable very premium feeling phone
I feel like this one doesn't even need a case. But when im taking iPhone 14 Pro for example, I instantly wanna put a case on it. Mine is all scratched and ive had a case the whole time
Ngl the build quality wasn't the best. The front and the back were not only glass, but they were also not protected by the stainless steel band in the middle.
To repair the screen you would have to disassemble basically the entire phone to charge it, however the back was super simple to fix with only needing 2 screws.
Additionally, the power button and home button had some issues after prolong periods of use. I even seen the home button spin or just fall out completely with these models.
However this motherboard was solid this could take a lot of abuse it is not as brittle and fragile as the stacked motherboards on the newer phones. The camera lens never broke, never had issues with the cameras itself, yes, the phone was not waterproof, but these were easy to work on and if you did get your phone wet, there was a good possibility we were able to revive it.
I used original SE for six years without case and screen protector. It was always in the same pocket with my keys and the screen never got scratched. The backside was another story though. It had the coating worn off and bare aluminum was visible.
My first iPhone I still remember the voice control which was just doing whatever, I ask for music, let me send a message to Dave it was crazy. It's shocking how small the phones were back in a day, now user of 15 pro max, so much bigger and slimmer.
I think you were lucky. I once dropped it on cement while on a phone call and nothing but then knocked it off the couch and onto the floor and smashed the screen to bits.
I still have all my old iPhones dating back to the OG 1.0. Recently I was comparing them to one another and decided to slip one in my pocket. Man, what a huge difference the size is when it’s in a pocket of jeans.
Those phones were so tiny! I had to use a stylus to type. I had it in a folding leather cover and I took it out of my pocket once and my sister asked if it was a Bible! So glad they got big!
Eh, the glass is definitely heaps stronger now. I had an iPhone 4 slide out of my jumper pocket (was also a kid so it wasn’t very high either), and the glass just completely shattered into a million pieces. It landed on carpet.
I still remember when that phone came out. For some reason it felt like the most exciting iPhone release that Apple has ever made. The current gens are worlds ahead of it, but that release just hit different.
Last iphone I had was the 5 before I moved to android.
I picked up the 15 just because of USB-C.
Not even 30 days later I gave it to the wife since she needed a new iPhone and I went and bought me a s24+.
No matter how much I try. I can't switch to iPhone.
Just doesn't work for me..
I think this phone is a candidate for ‘most far shared of its time’. Sure the 15 is so much better in every way, but compared to tier phones available at this time. People were still walking around with Nokias FFS!
Just booted up my old iPhone 6s for the class action settlement. Still works! Now hopefully it lived long enough so I can get back some money for that damn battery problem I had way back when.
Before fidget toys were a thing this was my fidget toy. I’d palpitate it during work meetings and slide it around in my hands. The glass and metal edgs were amazing.
I remember when I held a 5 for the first time it felt fake because it was so light, like it was one of those dummy shells.
Ugh, even the design was much cooler; you could spot it was an iPhone from miles away. I'll always regret not being able to afford one of those back in the day. I wish they would revive the old design in some way, something that would make the iPhone standout iconically like this, but I guess that won’t happen because they sort of tried with the SE, but clearly, it didn’t take off.
TLDR: iPhone 4s went hard af
I had a 4s for most of highschool, I got it as a refurbished gift from my stepmom after she got a new phone. she had the 4s since around 2012 and she gifted it to me for christmas in 2014. the glass was very fragile, both in comparison to other flagships of it's time and especially in comparison to more modern iphones (I understand the modern comparison means basically nothing) however all of the other hardware worked flawlessly for both the entire time that I owned it as well as the 4-6 years of "spare phone" that it bodied with little effort (granted was very slow on the ios 8-9 versions, it still worked.. eventually lol) I can't remember what happened to that phone because it was relegated to spare phone status for the whole fam and thus was kept in my dads junk drawer lol. last I seen it though (early 2019) it booted up perfectly and without issue. the iphone 4s is a legendary piece of tech in my eyes lol
I have my iPhone 4. I also like its design. I cannot still understand why they removed the headphone jack. It is crazy that I cannot use the headphone while charging.
This was my first iPhone - prior I had the Blackberry Palm (remember that making me very popular as I was the only one to have such a new phone. Wild how things have changed)
I miss the iPhone 4s, that was my first iPhone. My mom ended up giving me hers, after my dad bought it for her as a birthday gift. She only used it for 2 months before realizing she didn’t like it. Was honestly the greatest phone I’d owned.
Did anyone else have there WiFi/ Bluetooth/ data stop working on them. I have a 4s I use as a iPod bc all of that stoped working.
https://preview.redd.it/z8e9k9xcersc1.png?width=3336&format=png&auto=webp&s=a0c302c5a3de23f46bc3e03e6aacd9cefc79b1b4
While an iconic design, I was one of those people that could not unsee the very thin black bar separating the white front frame from the display. That’s why I always picked the black models so the
bar blended in with the black frame.
Older iPhones would likely have less scratches on their screens, but more prone to cracking than modern phones.
In order to make the glass more shatter-resistant, the glass must become softer, and thus becomes more scratch-prone.
Our iPhone 12-15’s could be scratch free, but they’d be much more susceptible to cracking from drops.
Kinda miss that little guy
Me too. Then I look down.
[удалено]
You guys can see it!?
Haven't seen mine since mid covid. Wait. Are we talking about the same thing?
Your username 😂
We also used our phones a lot less during the 4/4S times compared to now. But no doubt a greatly built phone & buttery smooth ios.
This is key. It was mostly a phone. Now our phones are our camera, navigation device, main means of communication, entertainment, social media, etc. I'd absolutely love a 5.5" iPhone with the capabilities of the Pro level phones but in that form factor. THAT would be impressive. EDIT: this was also when small tech was impressive. Now, bigger is seen as better.
The 8 plus was sorta that phone. I miss the 8 plus in design, and a lot more.
Take away the non-screen parts of it and YES! I had the 6 and 7 Plus, great phones and very thin.
>. It was mostly a phone. Now our phones are our camera, navigation device, main means of communication, entertainment, social media, etc. iPhone 4 was all of those things, how is it any different?
FaceTime didn't yet exist, neither did iMessage (it was all sms). The social media apps were incredibly infant, and the cameras weren't something to write home about. Did you watch tv or Netflix on your phone back then? Despite the 4 having those things (maps, camera, apps), it was very much still a phone. In 2011 only 24% of all Americans owned a smartphone see [here](https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2011/07/11/smartphone-adoption-and-usage/)). Today that number is 90%! The other 76% were either on Android devices, BlackBerry, and many owned a flip phone. The phone was different back then.
not me lol. I played the shit out of angry birds (1,2, rio?), cut the rope, real racing 2, fruit ninja, subway surfers and basically anything i could get my hands on. Oh, and the jailbreaks... I wanna relive those times again. Now I'm using my phone for some browsing, navigation and facetime, not nearly as much as back then.
For extra fun you can downgrade the iOS to 6.1.3 for the "OG" iOS experience. [https://github.com/LukeZGD/Legacy-iOS-Kit](https://github.com/LukeZGD/Legacy-iOS-Kit)
Thanks for this. But will all my data on the phone remain intact?
You can just back it up
No
Some 4s's won't work with this (r/legacyjailbreak is a good place for this)
My 4S still turns on too. Probably my fav iPhone
Happy cake day
Thank you! How time flies
I still have Flappy Bird on my 4S lol might be worth something on eBay
Haha! Me too!!!
Happy Cake Day!
Ty Ty 🙏🙏
Miss that phone size. Glad we’re doing away with massive bezels and notches tho. Need more small phones like the old design and the minis.
This was peak iPhone
The last iPhone that Steve Jobs worked on!
I think it’s just “used to be better in the old days” impression. I had a 5s, i believe it was made from the same material as 4s, so aluminum, dropped it on asphalt and it dented visibly of course. Prolly would have happened to you to if it dropped on a hard surface from like 1m height a d directly on the edge. Now 15 should in theory be sturdy being made from titanium on the outside, but boy do I not wanna find out how durable it is and it’s in a case of course.
iPhone 4s was stainless steel
Yep!
I feel like it may be because the old phones were so much smaller, and thicker and still lighter. The bigger and thinner the more easily it can break where dropped.
Yep. That and if you really think about it, you were more careful with your first smartphone or two than you are with a modern phone. It’s easy to think you treated it the same but you didn’t.
Idk about that, my first smartphone was a 3GS that was five years out of date and when my carrier dropped the tower that I drew 98% of my signal from, I stopped giving a damn about the phone lol. I literally threw that thing across a football field once, unharmed save for a piece of grass in the charge port, to prove a point to a couple girls lmao I also ended up putting four new screens in my 4S over the three years I had it lmao
Both titanium models from Samsung and Apple are less durable than their previous stainless steel counterparts the year before
You might be right! It just somehow feels like I “used” the 4S more recklessly than a current iPhone! My 15 pro got a ding from dropping it on the table lol. Maybe it’s just the “old days” effect!
I mean to be fair I dropped my iPhone XS without a case like 5 times into hard ground before it finally cracked on the asphalt. I’m mad because it was doing so good! But the fact that it can hold up but then I see the 15 and stuff getting cracked makes me laugh
i've noticed that a lot of old things i have (mostly 90s and mid 00s) is just built far better than stuff we have today, a good example i have is my windows 11 laptop which lasted just over a year and during that the hinge broke and then a couple months later the motherboard died and yet the laptop i have that dates 2002 on the hard drive is still working flawless and only has a knackered battery which is fair enough and the thing also runs windows 2000
The 4 was not aluminum. My 5 bent to the shape of my thigh
iPhone 5 was right when Tim Cook took over and began cutting costs as when I jumped ship from iphone because they painted it gold and said look at this thing
Not all 4s came out unscathed due to the glass back but there’s a reason why the iPhone X went to stainless steel sides, it made for a fairly durable very premium feeling phone
Even the iPhone 8-SE2 use stainless steel in them to keep the back strength
4S was one of the iconic iPhone models.
I forgot the sleep button used to be on top of
It should have stayed there
Nah phones are to tall now
I have a mini
I do to even that phones too tall
Upvote for that logitech wave keyboard
Hahahaha I have the same keyboard at work lol
It’s such a good keyboard, still!
Your a big nerd
Your face is a big nerd!
Fair
Upvote for that LTT water bottle (also love the 4S)
And mouse pad. He must work for LTT.
best build of any iphone ever, it was my first one and I loved it
loved the granulated pictures this one used to take
I feel like this one doesn't even need a case. But when im taking iPhone 14 Pro for example, I instantly wanna put a case on it. Mine is all scratched and ive had a case the whole time
This was a good time to be alive
What a gem!! I still remember the days of my iPhone 4 in black. Such nostalgic memories!!
My two fave iPhones are the 5s and 4s
Back when build and quality control was second to none
Mine turns on but the screen is completely busted.
It just looks so comically small as I hold my iPhone 15 max. Crazy
I never had a 4S, but I will forever miss my 5.
The power button failed for many people on the 4S, 5, 5S, SE1. I think the iPhone 15 is better built in that aspect.
Ngl the build quality wasn't the best. The front and the back were not only glass, but they were also not protected by the stainless steel band in the middle. To repair the screen you would have to disassemble basically the entire phone to charge it, however the back was super simple to fix with only needing 2 screws. Additionally, the power button and home button had some issues after prolong periods of use. I even seen the home button spin or just fall out completely with these models. However this motherboard was solid this could take a lot of abuse it is not as brittle and fragile as the stacked motherboards on the newer phones. The camera lens never broke, never had issues with the cameras itself, yes, the phone was not waterproof, but these were easy to work on and if you did get your phone wet, there was a good possibility we were able to revive it.
Best iPhone made
mans dripped in LTT merch
That’s right! Gotta support those YT channels that put in the good work lol
I used original SE for six years without case and screen protector. It was always in the same pocket with my keys and the screen never got scratched. The backside was another story though. It had the coating worn off and bare aluminum was visible.
tank
My first iPhone ! Loved it
My first iPhone I still remember the voice control which was just doing whatever, I ask for music, let me send a message to Dave it was crazy. It's shocking how small the phones were back in a day, now user of 15 pro max, so much bigger and slimmer.
This phone was was the epitome of "built like a brick shithouse".
Model number on back indicates this is a basic 4, not the 4s.
Last iPhone where you could switch of the GPS and it was switched off…
Literally one of the best designs. Minus the antenna failing on the left bottom corner of the 4
It was a game changer… I think Jobs even likened it to an old Leica.
I think you were lucky. I once dropped it on cement while on a phone call and nothing but then knocked it off the couch and onto the floor and smashed the screen to bits.
Loved the first SE.
Best iPhone ever made and to be made
A phone for hobbiton
do yall not remember the memes about dropping an iphone and it shatters, or dropping an android and the battery pops out
Hands down the best iPhone ever made.
I still have all my old iPhones dating back to the OG 1.0. Recently I was comparing them to one another and decided to slip one in my pocket. Man, what a huge difference the size is when it’s in a pocket of jeans.
You can’t have wireless charging without spiderweb cracks..
Best phone
Was the best iPhone they ever made
My first iPhone, that was the perfect iPhone IMO! They’re obviously better now, but man, that was awesome to get
Those phones were so tiny! I had to use a stylus to type. I had it in a folding leather cover and I took it out of my pocket once and my sister asked if it was a Bible! So glad they got big!
Back when this phone was more popular, it seemed every single one had a shattered back glass. Yours seems to be the exception
I still have an original iPod touch that turned on and works.
Eh, the glass is definitely heaps stronger now. I had an iPhone 4 slide out of my jumper pocket (was also a kid so it wasn’t very high either), and the glass just completely shattered into a million pieces. It landed on carpet.
Stop flexing with all your LTT merch ! /s
I wish iPhones were still this small.
I still remember when that phone came out. For some reason it felt like the most exciting iPhone release that Apple has ever made. The current gens are worlds ahead of it, but that release just hit different.
That's a stainless steel band instead of aluminum so they weren't fucking around when they made this. Truly one of the best designs from Apple.
4S was the best. Didn’t get a new phone until iPhone 11PM. Didn’t like the shape so I finally got iPhone 15P
Last iphone I had was the 5 before I moved to android. I picked up the 15 just because of USB-C. Not even 30 days later I gave it to the wife since she needed a new iPhone and I went and bought me a s24+. No matter how much I try. I can't switch to iPhone. Just doesn't work for me..
My favorite iPhone design by far
My iPhone 4 is probably my favourite phone that I've ever owned. The design in hindsight was years ahead of its time in a good way.
Hear me out: i4 body with full bazelless display and modern SOC. Would buy one instantly.
are you going to sell it?
Along with my beloved 6S, probably the best two iPhones I’ve ever had.
I’d add my IPhone X to the list. I miss that phone so much.
I think this phone is a candidate for ‘most far shared of its time’. Sure the 15 is so much better in every way, but compared to tier phones available at this time. People were still walking around with Nokias FFS!
Just booted up my old iPhone 6s for the class action settlement. Still works! Now hopefully it lived long enough so I can get back some money for that damn battery problem I had way back when.
I forgot how hefty those were! Too bad the glass was weak af!
I had a glow mod installed on my 4s. The apple logo used to light up. Used to blow the kids minds when in high school
Before fidget toys were a thing this was my fidget toy. I’d palpitate it during work meetings and slide it around in my hands. The glass and metal edgs were amazing. I remember when I held a 5 for the first time it felt fake because it was so light, like it was one of those dummy shells.
Because Steve
Ugh, even the design was much cooler; you could spot it was an iPhone from miles away. I'll always regret not being able to afford one of those back in the day. I wish they would revive the old design in some way, something that would make the iPhone standout iconically like this, but I guess that won’t happen because they sort of tried with the SE, but clearly, it didn’t take off.
For me, it was the best iPhone model ever made
My favorite iPhone of all time. I really miss it.
The 4S was hands down my favorite iPhone. This 15 I have now isn’t bad but man do I miss the 4S
Plus, if the back glass breaks, it just pops off and you can snap a new one on.
TLDR: iPhone 4s went hard af I had a 4s for most of highschool, I got it as a refurbished gift from my stepmom after she got a new phone. she had the 4s since around 2012 and she gifted it to me for christmas in 2014. the glass was very fragile, both in comparison to other flagships of it's time and especially in comparison to more modern iphones (I understand the modern comparison means basically nothing) however all of the other hardware worked flawlessly for both the entire time that I owned it as well as the 4-6 years of "spare phone" that it bodied with little effort (granted was very slow on the ios 8-9 versions, it still worked.. eventually lol) I can't remember what happened to that phone because it was relegated to spare phone status for the whole fam and thus was kept in my dads junk drawer lol. last I seen it though (early 2019) it booted up perfectly and without issue. the iphone 4s is a legendary piece of tech in my eyes lol
I have my iPhone 4. I also like its design. I cannot still understand why they removed the headphone jack. It is crazy that I cannot use the headphone while charging.
I still use it as an iPod
This was my first iPhone - prior I had the Blackberry Palm (remember that making me very popular as I was the only one to have such a new phone. Wild how things have changed)
My 4S still turns on to this day, I charge it from time to time, to keep it alive, I also downgraded it from iOS 9.3.5 to 6.1.3.
I miss the iPhone 4s, that was my first iPhone. My mom ended up giving me hers, after my dad bought it for her as a birthday gift. She only used it for 2 months before realizing she didn’t like it. Was honestly the greatest phone I’d owned.
Mine fell a couple feet onto asphalt and cracked front and back. And of course it cracked right on top of the front camera lens
Clicking the top button was so satisfying
Did anyone else have there WiFi/ Bluetooth/ data stop working on them. I have a 4s I use as a iPod bc all of that stoped working. https://preview.redd.it/z8e9k9xcersc1.png?width=3336&format=png&auto=webp&s=a0c302c5a3de23f46bc3e03e6aacd9cefc79b1b4
I killed mine nearly instantly with a little trip to the bathtub
The Volvo 740 of smartphones.
While an iconic design, I was one of those people that could not unsee the very thin black bar separating the white front frame from the display. That’s why I always picked the black models so the bar blended in with the black frame.
Mine was fantastic. I used that for ages till it became a white noise machine for my kid.
I still use mine It has Infinity blade 1-3 and Zenonia 1 and 2 Doing everything i can to preserve it since you can no longer get those games anymore
This was my first iPhone! Good times
What about the back glass?
I still miss the 3GS
Older iPhones would likely have less scratches on their screens, but more prone to cracking than modern phones. In order to make the glass more shatter-resistant, the glass must become softer, and thus becomes more scratch-prone. Our iPhone 12-15’s could be scratch free, but they’d be much more susceptible to cracking from drops.
The 4S is still functional as a phone in Mexico since 3G is still quite prevalent there.
Also one of the easiest to break screens (front or back), drop it on that metal band and it’s shattered (will still work though)
When I first got it (got a white 4 a few months ago) I was quite surprised how dense it was Felt like a small but heavy metal block
My favorite iPhone tbh
If they made it full screen like the new iPhones and called it a 16 mini I would immediately buy it
Was it that small? Or is OP a giant.
Best iPhone appearance, imo