The iPhone was invented by a team at Apple Inc., with the key driving force being Steve Jobs, the co-founder and then CEO of Apple. The development began in the early 2000s under a secret project known as "Project Purple," and involved hardware engineer Tony Fadell, software engineer Scott Forstall, and design engineer Jony Ive. Steve Jobs famously announced the first iPhone at Macworld 2007, and it was released later that year. While many credit Steve Jobs as the visionary behind the iPhone, the creation was a collaborative effort by a talented group of engineers and designers within Apple.
To summarize:
- The iPhone project started around 2004 within Apple.
- Steve Jobs played a pivotal leadership role.
- Key contributors were Tony Fadell (hardware), Scott Forstall (software), and Jony Ive (design).
- The first iPhone was unveiled by Jobs in January 2007 and released in June 2007.
- The creation was part of a secretive project called "Project Purple".
Thus, Steve Jobs is widely recognized as the main figurehead who led and popularized the invention, but the actual invention was the result of a collaborative effort by Apple's internal teams.
