iPhone history

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Photos: iPhone through the years

The iPhone is now 9 years old. Take a look back at the history of the popular cellphone.

It has been nine years since the iPhone made its debut. Apple CEO Steve Jobs holds up an Apple iPhone at the MacWorld Conference in San Francisco, in this Jan. 9, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

Apple faithful now have new gadgets to look forward to as the company announced it's new iPhone. It's thinner, but larger than the older models. Take a look at where Apple was and where it is going.

Before it developed its smartphone Apple dabbled with the Newton MessagePad 2000, a handheld device manufactured in the mid-1990s. Some of its concepts and functions have been incorporated into the iPhone.

In their first attempt at a smartphone, Apple collaborated with Motorola in 2005 to deliver the Motorola ROKR E1. The first phone to be integrated with Apple's popular iTunes music player. The phone failed to develop a following and the partnership fizzled.

The iPhone revolutionized how people used their phones. The capacitive touchscreen was designed for a bare finger - first of its kind. Apple has filed more than 200 patent applications related to the technology behind the iPhone.

Apple released its second generation (and faster) iPhone 3G in 2008. It's third generation 3GS, released in 2009, advanced its predecessors with allowing for video capability and voice control.

The fourth generation of the iPhone was released in 2010. The most noticeable difference between the iPhone 4 and its predecessors is the new design, which incorporates an uninsulated stainless steel frame that acts as the device's antenna and was marketed for video calling -- Apple's FaceTime feature.

In January 2011, Verizon introduced the iPhone4 CDMA.

More than 100 million iPhones have been sold since 2007. Apple is now the largest mobile handset vendor in the world, surpassing longtime leader Nokia.

Apple introduced the iPhone 4S in October 2011. Among the new features are a better camera and Siri, the new virtual assistant.

An Apple iPhone 5 is held at an Apple store in San Francisco in 2012. This model expanded the screen for more technology real estate.

Apple released the iphone 5c in 2013. It is their mid-range handset.

FILE - The Sept. 20, 2013 file photo shows a customer configuring the fingerprint scanner technology built into iPhone 5S at an Apple store in Wangfujing shopping district in Beijing. The fingerprint-based security system used to unlock Apple's latest iPhone can be bypassed using a household printer and some wood glue, a German hacking group has claimed. A spokesman for the Chaos Computer Club said Monday, Sept. 23, 2013 the group managed to fool the biometric sensor in the iPhone 5S over the weekend by creating an artificial copy of a genuine fingerprint. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

iPhone 6 has a 4.7-inch display. iPhone 6 Plus has a 5.5-inch display.

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It has been nine years since the iPhone made its debut. Apple CEO Steve Jobs holds up an Apple iPhone at the MacWorld Conference in San Francisco, in this Jan. 9, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

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