Biography | Steve Jobs — He Held Up a Glass-and-Steel Phone and Made a Video Call from This Stage

On 7 June 2010 Steve Jobs opened WWDC in Moscone West with a phone he called the biggest leap since the original iPhone.

iPhone 4 was glass front and back, with a stainless-steel band that doubled as the antenna.

It was 24 percent thinner than the 3GS.

The 3.5-inch screen packed 960 by 640 pixels, 326 per inch.

Apple named that density a Retina display and said a normal viewing distance could not resolve the dots.

The rear camera was 5 megapixels with an LED flash and could record HD video.

A second camera faced the user.

Near the end of the keynote Jobs sat down and placed a video call to Jony Ive.

The feature was FaceTime.

In 2010 it ran only on Wi-Fi, between two iPhone 4 handsets.

The 16 GB model would sell for $199 on a two-year AT&T contract; 32 GB for $299.

Stores in five countries opened on 24 June.

The steel band that framed the glass later became a reception problem when a hand covered the gap.

Apple issued a free bumper case that autumn.

That fight is not this morning.

This morning was the thinner phone, the denser screen, and a live call across the stage.

Moscone West at 800 Howard Street still runs other conferences.

Cover: Moscone West dressed for WWDC in June 2011.

The banner year is later; the glass box is the one Jobs used on 7 June 2010.

Photo: Anton Zelenov, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.