If you’re an Apple fan, the annual iPhone launch event is one of the best days of the year. It’s when we finally get to see what Apple has been working on for the previous 12 months and decide if it’s worth upgrading. From the day the invitation arrives until the keynote begins, Apple gets an enormous amount of scrutiny and over-analysis as fans eagerly investigate what clues Apple has (or, just as often, hasn’t) hidden inside its show posters.

In the run-up to Apple’s iPhone 17 launch event, we’ve taken a look back at every one of the company’s past iPhone shows, casting our beady eye over the slogans, invites, and products that defined the shows.

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On January 1, 2007, this image appeared on the homepage of Apple.com.

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Apple

2007: Just the beginning (original iPhone)

The Macworld San Francisco Expo took place in January 2007, and it was here that the first-ever iPhone made its appearance. After introducing the iPhone as three devices in one (a “widescreen iPod with touch controls,” a “revolutionary mobile phone,” and a “breakthrough internet communicator”), Apple went on to launch the device that would upend the entire cell phone industry.

Launching what may be fairly described as the most important product in Apple’s history required a suitably momentous invite, and that’s just what we got. Depicting the sun dawning over a huge Apple logo, the invite was clear that this was the start of a new era. If that wasn’t explicit enough, the slogan truly rammed it home: “The first 30 years were just the beginning. Welcome to 2007.”

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The 2008 WWDC invite features twin Golden Gate Bridges.

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Apple

2008: A landmark event (iPhone 3G)

Apple switched the iPhone stage from Macworld to WWDC with the arrival of the iPhone 3G. Apple tagged it as “A landmark event. In more ways than one,” with a photo of not one but two Golden Gate Bridges adorning the invites.

This was perhaps a reference to the iPhone 3G, which brought with it much faster internet connectivity than its predecessor, and the introduction of the iPhone SDK at the show, which included the Core Location API. Or perhaps it was a signal that the iPhone was changing the way we see the world. Or maybe it was something else entirely–this is far from the only time people have scratched their heads and wondered what Apple’s invites were all about. But it was definitely a landmark event.

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</button><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The 2009 WWDC invite emphasized the new App Store.</figcaption></figure>

Apple

2009: Make your mark here (iPhone 3GS)

At WWDC 2009, Apple announced the iPhone 3GS, the first in a long line of “S” devices. Its invite showed an iPhone with a four-by-four grid of squares spelling out various phrases (“Make your mark here,” “Don’t lose your spot,” “Make this your year”), with the implicit idea being that these squares represented apps.

Accordingly, Apple announced the iPhone 3GS by saying it could access over 50,000 apps in the company’s App Store. While that number might seem quaint today, it was a big deal back then, prompting Apple to design its event invite around the concept.

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Apple

2010: Center of the app universe (iPhone 4)

The next year, Apple returned to the app theme with WWDC 2010’s tagline of “The center of the app universe.” By this point, over 225,000 apps were available on the iPhone, and more than five billion of them had been downloaded by users.

The iPhone 4 that launched at WWDC 2010 came with a new design, the first-ever Retina display, a 5MP camera, and more, cementing its reputation as the place to go for a top-tier smartphone experience.

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</button><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The 2011 iPhone event was the first for Tim Cook.</figcaption></figure>

Apple

2011: Let’s talk iPhone (iPhone 4s)

By 2011, Apple had moved its iPhone event to September, settling into the routine that it has stuck to ever since. This time, Apple didn’t leave much to the imagination with its invite: This show was going to be all about the iPhone, without the peripheral distractions of a Macworld Expo or WWDC.

The iPhone 4s that arrived at this event brought Siri, and it may have been this new feature that the event’s “Let’s talk iPhone” slogan referred to. This was also the first iPhone introduced by Tim Cook, after Steve Jobs’s resignation from the Apple leadership earlier in the year. Jobs sadly passed away just one day after the iPhone 4s was unveiled.