Apple Introduces the iPhone 4

Apple introduced the iPhone 4 in June 2010 with a new industrial design, a high-density “Retina” display, front-facing camera, and Apple’s A4 processor. The 960×640 screen packed about 326 pixels per inch, making individual pixels difficult to distinguish at normal viewing distance.

The phone also introduced FaceTime video calling and used a stainless-steel frame as part of the antenna system. That design created the device’s most famous problem: holding certain areas of the frame could reduce signal strength, an issue that became known as “Antennagate.”

The iPhone 4 nevertheless set several long-term design trends. High-density screens quickly became standard across smartphones, mobile SoCs became a major area of competition, and front cameras made video communication a normal phone feature rather than a specialized service.