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Cupertino Today
By the People, for the People
Apple's Biggest Product Surprise: The iPhone
The engineers behind the iPod's success were challenged to create an even more revolutionary device.
Apr. 1, 2026 at 12:53pm
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Apple had never built anything as complex as the iPhone, which required the company to essentially start from scratch, working with new suppliers and manufacturers while building new teams. The transition from the iPod to the iPhone was a daunting task, but it ultimately reshaped culture and became one of the world's most popular smartphones.
Why it matters
The iPhone's success has spawned an entire ecosystem of products like the Apple Watch and AirPods, all hinging on the iPhone's popularity. It's the device that will likely define Apple's legacy in the long term, as the company faces another 'existential moment' with the rise of AI.
The details
Apple got to work making its biggest success, the iPod, obsolete. The first iteration of the iPhone looked like an iPod that could make phone calls, even having the iPod's click wheel. But hardware was just one side of the story, as every app had to be rewritten from scratch to work with the new touch screen interface. The transition required Apple to work with new suppliers and manufacturers while building new teams, as the company simply didn't have the technology to build a device like the iPod.
- In April 2004, the iPod was outselling the Mac and growing by more than 900% from the year before.
- The first iPhone was launched in roughly two and a half years after Apple started working on it.
The players
Tony Fadell
The former Apple executive who co-created the iPod and helped lead the iPhone's early development.
Rubén Caballero
Apple's vice president of engineering from 2005 until 2019.
Andy Grignon
A former Apple senior manager who worked on the first iPhone.
What they’re saying
“We were like, people are only going to carry one device. They're going to have a cell phone with music, or they're going to have an Apple product with music and communications. And it was like, 'Okay, what are we going to make?'”
— Tony Fadell, Former Apple Executive
“I slept, many times, under my desk.”
— Rubén Caballero, Apple's VP of Engineering
“Every app had to be rewritten from scratch. You had now introduced a new way to interact with these apps with your fingers. Nothing was stable from the ground up, and so when it crashed, you're like, 'What, how?'”
— Andy Grignon, Former Apple Senior Manager
What’s next
Apple has been perceived to be behind companies like Google and OpenAI in AI, and the company's future could depend on how it adapts to the rise of AI technology.
The takeaway
The iPhone's success has fundamentally reshaped culture, spawning an entire ecosystem of products. However, Apple now faces another 'existential moment' with the rise of AI, and the company must think differently to revolutionize again.
