October 7, 2011: Two days after the death of Steve Jobs, Apple opens preorders for the iPhone 4s.
The last iPhone that Jobs worked on directly, the 4s boasts a speedier A5 chip, an improved 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD video recording, and — most significantly — Apple’s new AI virtual assistant, Siri.
iPhone 4s preorders show Apple’s got an instant hit
The iPhone 4s arrived at one of the most emotional moments in Apple’s history. With Apple co-founder Steve Jobs no longer around, the world was watching to see what came next. But the phone had something more important than a faster chip or better camera: Siri, an idea that hinted at a radically different way of interacting with computers.
When preorders opened on October 7, 2011, Apple wasn’t just peddling another iPhone. It was selling the beginning of the voice-assistant era.
The iPhone 4s was destined to sell well. For the first time in Apple history, sales of the device’s predecessor were still building when Apple released the updated model. This means that every quarter, iPhone 4 sales grew, rather than the usual burst of sales at launch followed by a gradual decline over the rest of the year.
In fact, the iPhone 4s arrived at a time when the public was truly going iPhone crazy. Add to that the massive news coverage about Steve Jobs’ untimely passing, and it was clear this device was a big one for Apple.
Ultimately, the iPhone 4s sold 4 million units in its opening weekend. That’s a fraction of the number Apple sells on opening weekends today (the last publicly released figures, for the iPhone 6s, were 13 million in its first days). However, the iPhone 4s’ weekend sales represented two-thirds the number Apple sold in the original iPhone’s entire first year.
Its price started at $649. Adjusted for inflation, that’s more than $960.
iPhone 4s specs and Siri debut
In terms of specs, the iPhone 4s set the template for future incremental “s” releases. It offered no major form factor redesign. However, it brought plenty of internal improvements, including a big feature that hinted at Apple’s future ambitions.
In this case, that feature was Siri. The chatty virtual helper’s launch marked the culmination of a long-term dream for Apple. Impressively, the company predicted the arrival of a Siri-like AI assistant as far back as the 1980s. (Actually, the company nailed the date to within a month.)
While limited at first, Siri gave iPhone 4s users the ability to control their devices simply by speaking to them. Siri could answer basic questions, perform tasks like setting alarms and more, all through simple voice commands. Putting Siri on a device as popular as the iPhone 4s took the concept mainstream.
These days, chatbots like the new, improved Siri AI make this kind of human-machine interaction commonplace. But back then, it was a whole new way to control a computer.
Closing the door on Antennagate
The iPhone 4s also put an end to the previous year’s “Antennagate” controversy by changing the dual-antenna design encapsulated in the stainless steel band around the device’s edge. This tweak eliminated dropped calls that iPhone 4 users experienced if they “held it wrong.”
On balance, the iPhone 4s did not totally blow my mind (as the original iPhone and the iPhone 4 did). Still, I certainly look back fondly on the iPhone 4s.
Do you remember the iPhone 4s? Leave your comments, recollections and — if you can — your choice for favorite iPhone below.