Ten years after its unveiling, the first-generation iPhone is dead.
AT&T confirmed this week that it shut down its 2G wireless network on January 1. The plan was announced four years ago and according to the company, the move will give AT&T the spectrum and resources it needs to expand into its next-generation 5G wireless network.
For the vast majority of smartphone owners, the change means nothing. But for original iPhone owners who might still fire it up to see how it fares in today’s more-advanced world, it means the device is rendered useless.
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Apple released the iPhone in 2007 exclusively on AT&T’s network. It was designed to work only on 2G networks and not 3G networks, which offer faster speeds than the previous generation. Future iPhones would support 3G—and eventually, 4G networks—but the original iPhone was never offered that opportunity.
AT&T’s move comes nearly 10 years to the day after Apple (AAPL) announced the original iPhone at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. That unveiling, which happened on January 9, 2007, was a groundbreaking event for Apple and catapulted the iPhone to the top of the technology industry.
Of course, the original iPhone has been improved upon over the last 10 years with far more processing power and new features the 2007 handset didn’t offer. And so, the vast majority of original iPhone owners have turned to new handsets, leaving few—if any—customers actually relying on AT&T’s 2G network.
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Still, the 2G shutdown means saying goodbye to an iconic device that is now officially a technology artifact.