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Apple iPhone 4
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Specifications
The Verge
12/14/2025
The Verge
12/14/2025
Was the iPhone 4 Apple’s best phone? | Version History
Pros
- It introduced the groundbreaking Retina display, significantly improving visual quality.
- The camera saw major improvements, including a 5MP rear camera and the addition of a front-facing camera for FaceTime.
- Battery life was significantly enhanced, offering 40% more talk time than its predecessor.
- It featured the A4 chip, marking the first custom Apple silicon in an iPhone.
- It was the first iPhone to work on CDMA networks, expanding its availability.
Cons
- The 'Antennagate' issue caused signal loss when the phone was held in a specific way.
The Apple iPhone 4 was a highly transformative device that set new industry standards, establishing a design template for future smartphones. It introduced pioneering features such as the Retina display, which dramatically enhanced visual quality, and a significantly improved camera system with a new front-facing camera for FaceTime.
Performance was boosted by the custom A4 chip, and battery life saw substantial improvements. Despite the notable 'Antennagate' issue, which caused signal loss with certain grips, Apple addressed it with solutions, and the phone's availability on CDMA networks further cemented its success and widespread adoption.
“the iPhone 4 set in terms of designs and in some some respects features set the template, I think, for the rest of not only uh iPhones, but Android phones and and so forth. It was it it introduced the kind of shape and thinness.”
“it introduced the retina display. Yep. which is maybe the single biggest innovation in in display technology”
“if you hold the phone in your hand with your hand covering the bottom left corner of it [...] your reception starts to die and it like you can sort of watch it tick down. bar by bar by bar.”