The iPhone 2G was developed by Apple Inc. in 2005 and launched in 2007, it is the first generation of iPhone which has quickly become one of the most recognised brands in the world.

It was conceived under the name Project Purple 2 from an idea that Steve Jobs had of interacting a computer with a multi-touch screen, removing the need for a keyboard and a mouse. Apple had previously collaborated unsuccessfully with Motorola on the Motorola RORK E1 and decided to collaborate instead with AT&T (formerly Cingular Wireless) which gave Apple the freedom to develop the hardware and software in-house. The development cost of the collaboration was estimated to have been $150 million over a 30 month period. The phone was introduced by Jobs on January 9, 2007 with the tagline “today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.”
Although by no means the first smartphone, the original iPhone nonetheless captured the public imagination into what a mobile phone could be. It was responsible for popularising the smartphone as a touchscreen device that had internet connectivity. The design revolutionised the phone industry as well as the way we go about our daily lives.

This iPhone 2G was acquired as part of the Shekou Project, an international partnership be-tween the V&A and China Merchant Shekou Holdings (CMSK) to open a new cultural plat-form called Design Society in Shekou. The iPhone was included in the inaugural exhibition, ‘Values of Design’, in the V&A Gallery at Design Society as an example of how design can instill a sense of awe and expand our imagination as to what the material world can be.