Template talk:Timeline of iPhone models

Color
At the time of writing (July 2010), this timeline appears to be seriously flawed. The colour key indicates that the darkest blue shade refers to "iPhone 4", but on my display the darkest blue shade in the timeline begins in mid 2009 and is labelled "iPhone 3GS". The use of colour to denote handsets *and* availability is confusing: decide what colour means and use it for just that. -- 128.240.229.67 (talk) 08:14, 1 July 2010 (UTC)
 * This is still a problem several months later, and this timeline is used in several articles. I am not sure how to fix it. Can anybody help? –Cwenger (talk) 12:38, 24 December 2010 (UTC)

2016

 * This is a good template and is useful in the articles. I suggest though that because the colors are very similar between models near each other, and they are used in the timeline on the same line, it can be difficult at first glance to see the break point. For example, currently (September 2016) the original iPhone and iPhone 3 are on the same lines and are nearly the same pink/rose shade. Thanks Group29 (talk) 14:01, 14 September 2016 (UTC)

AT&T and Verizon
Should we distinguish between the AT&T and Verizon versions of iPhone 4 on this timeline? Democraticmacguitarist (talk) 17:57, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

CB failure
The current timeline image fails for red-green colorblindness (Deuteranomaly (6% of males, 0.4% of females). All the greens appear to be the same hue. (20040302 (talk))


 * It failed even normal color vision.. I changed colors, not sure how they are for color blind. --Harriv (talk) 12:20, 1 November 2012 (UTC)


 * Harriv, thanks for that. The new scheme works better - though the iPhone 5 line is too similar to the blue text. (20040302 (talk) 14:32, 1 November 2012 (UTC))


 * Any better? The Anonymouse (talk &#124; contribs) 07:21, 11 January 2013 (UTC)


 * It works for me! Thanks youse (20040302 (talk) 10:37, 11 January 2013 (UTC))

The new Green used for the 2016 models (edit: and 2015 models - I didn't check last year) is a bit too close to the yellow for red-green colorblindness. Can we amend the template once more to choose a more distinct hue please? (20040302 (talk) 13:22, 16 February 2016 (UTC)) value:rgb(0.5, 1, 0.4) would work - but I am not a designer.. (20040302 (talk) 13:27, 16 February 2016 (UTC))

Organize by capacity?
The current way of organizing models by capacity make me unable to read out all info from this template when I am using a monochrome screen to browse it. I guess that is also same for color blind people. Should it be reversed back?C933103 (talk) 08:13, 22 October 2014 (UTC)
 * I preferred the organization by model instead of the current organization by capacity. --IngenieroLoco (talk) 18:05, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

Clarification of Timeline
Shouldn't there be some clarification of what this timeline actually incorporates? As far as I've seen, the iPhone 4S has been available in India until Feb 2016, but it shows last availability as end of 2014. Is this chart really "availability of models in the U.S."? If so, then we should just label it that way. Chuck (talk) 22:22, 22 March 2016 (UTC)

Readability, color blindness and how we solved it at Czech wiki
After new models has been added recently (iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X), it become very hard to read this timeline, because it's 1000px max size and it's using 6px font-size when rendered at 120 dpi and less. Font size is problem, because it does not comply with MOS:FONTSIZE, here's screen where you can check that's unreadable at such screen density. At Czech wiki version we were trying many possible solutions that would not increase whole image size because even at 2017 there's 40 % online users with screen 1366px in width and smaller, where vertical scrolling becomes annoying.

Our best solution came up with 9,5% font size instead of S or M (courtesy of cs:Wikipedista:RiniX) and with different color scheme and repeating shorthands of iPhone versions. Feel free to reuse this version as you like.

→ Here's a demo: cs:%C5%A0ablona:%C4%8Casov%C3%A1_osa_model%C5%AF_iPhone

Color scheme has been tested for colorvision deficiencies:

 * Protanopia
 * Deutanopia
 * Tritanopia
 * Achromatopsia (no color vision → grayscale)

Colors for future iPhone models
If you want to use the same color scheme, here's guidelines for future iPhone models. It has to be converted to rgb form (using hex just for easier readability)


 * Colors for future iPhone SE models: #90CAF9, #64B5F6, #42A5F5
 * In case if next model X will be just updated (such as XS, XGS...): #A5D6A7, #81C784
 * Future models with different name (use colors gradually):
 * light green: #DCEDC8, #C5E1A5, #AED581
 * lime: #F0F4C3, #E6EE9C, #DCE775
 * yellow: #FFF9C4, #FFF59D, #FFF176
 * amber: #FFECB3, #FFE082, #FFD54F
 * orange: #FFE0B2, #FFCC80, #FFB74D
 * dark orange: #FFCCBC, #FFAB91, #FF8A65
 * brown: #D7CCC8, #BCAAA4, #A1887F

H0n24 (talk) 20:55, 13 September 2017 (UTC)


 * A problem is that I believe the original iPhone were not called iPhone 2G?
 * How about a layout like this? User:C933103/Template:Timeline of iPhone models 2 C933103
 * (Design rationale: 4GB model of original iPhone, every 8GB model after, 5C and SE, 16/32GB version of 6/6S/7 (Plus) are treated as lowest end, 8GB original iPhone, 16GB up till 5S, 64GB of 6/8 (Plus) are treated as lower end, 16GB original iPhone and 32GB of every models thereafter till 5S are treated as higher end, remaining are the top end)
 * (talk) 04:55, 20 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Your condensed version looks nice, but it sadly does not depict reality. For example Apple is currently officially (via eshop) selling 16 models by generation and size (not counting country specific models, that would be more than 60 models). Your version says it's only 11 models. Same issue goes for previous models, just compare total counts at the end of the year. H0n24 (talk) 00:07, 24 September 2017 (UTC)
 * the condensed version combines the 7 and 7 Plus models into 7 (Plus), so count them as two. Then you get 17 for the end of 2017, but that's because there's a potentially non existant "iPhone 6 32 GB" on the condensed version. I can't find it on the website but I found it on Amazon. I don't know if that's also the case with other models. Wumbolo (talk) 08:12, 24 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Oh yea, I missed that. Thanks. I suggest using "7, 7+" instead of "7 (Plus)", comma is usually considered less confusing with greater adoption UX speaking. Also next suggestion for condensed version - get rid of that gray part and cut table by current years (eg. in 2017 cut it at 2018, next year cut it at 2019 etc.). At czwiki we use larger font, cuz 6 px is hard to read and it could technically replace current layout. Check this example. H0n24 (talk) 10:00, 24 September 2017 (UTC)
 * For iPhone 6 32 GB, it is currently selling only via carriers and third party partners in countries including China, India, US, UK instead of on Apple official online shop, you can see further detail about it by searching "iphone 6 32gb" online or see iphone 6's article. C933103 (talk) 14:33, 24 September 2017 (UTC)
 * You do realize that you can currently buy any iPhone ever made, if you "don't count Apple official online shop", right? Like for example iPhone 2G from 2007 officially discontinued at 2008 is being sold new today for $15 300 at Amazon therefore it could be included in graph also. Additionally, there are over 300 different iPhone models based on hardware or software differences and over that there are hundreds of custom made iPhones, such as 24k gold one for example. Using Apple Official shop as source will prevent unnecessary complexity and chaos. H0n24 (talk) 15:37, 24 September 2017 (UTC)
 * The difference is if apple are still supplying the model. And iphone 6 32GB were never offered via official online shop. Those gold iphones and all the other variants are not officially supplied by apples. Using apple official shop as a source would mean missing models from the table. C933103 (talk) 08:54, 28 September 2017 (UTC)
 * 2. Comma is also ok.C933103 (talk) 14:33, 24 September 2017 (UTC)
 * 3. I have another question about that, is that in the current version of the template, there are spaces in between the end of previous model and the start of next model, however in this condensed version it does not exists. Were the spaces intentionally added by modifying start date to give visual distinction? C933103 (talk) 14:33, 24 September 2017 (UTC)
 * It's intentional. Open for suggestions if possible to do programmatically without counting days offset. H0n24 (talk) 15:37, 24 September 2017 (UTC)
 * 4. Grey part is necessary to fit in the text of latest model as well as giving the needed length for recently introduced model, as well as distinguishing between recently discontinued model and still in production model C933103 (talk) 14:33, 24 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Yet it's not helpful due to added complexity and confusion. H0n24 (talk) 15:37, 24 September 2017 (UTC)
 * The dimensions are absolute, not responsive, so it doesn't matter if there is a grey thing. It means the product isn't yet going to be discontinued. As for the Plus models, if they are specifically mentioned in the navboxes they can be here too, as to avoid confusion (it isn't obvious if a generation has a Plus model or not). I'm not sure whether H0n24 agrees or disagrees with me (his sandbox version doesn't mention Plus models), but I'm going to have to go with agree. If by "grey part" you mean the tiny area between two iPhone bars, I think it shouldn't be indiscriminate but determined by the date a product has been discontinued, and the date the next product is launched/whatever (e.g. currently in all versions, the iPhone X has the start date set to Sep 22, 2017, which is the date the product was released to stores; I didn't check the start date for other iPhones so I just want it to be consistent, if you want the date the product was available for preorder, you can go for e.g. Sep 15 for the iPhone X). If two bars overlap, I don't know what would happen to the template, but the overlap should be distinctively visible. Need there be no offset, there shall be no offset. As for the GB variations, they should be as compact as possible, as they are of inferior significance than the regular/Plus shenanigans. I don't see any other issues. H0n24 says it passes color blindness and goodbye. When I say model I refer to iPhone model, when I say version I refer to the timeline template version. Wumbolo (talk) 19:28, 27 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Disclaimer: my sandbox version is just for development/testing purposes. I DID (!) manipulate with selling end dates of previous iPhone models just so there is visible "white space" between two models at second one, so it's not accurate. Dunno how to visually distinguish them better with this graph system. Also, I haven't checked this version for color blindness, only our czech version with old scheme has been tested, so careful with that. Also AFAIK all historical dates in the table are from official selling start and end (so without preorders) that's possible to check with apple.com/eshop, atleast it's consistent with 4-7 models. iPhone X should be an exception because we don't know if it will be delayed at November. H0n24 (talk) 07:26, 28 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Let's say the dates are the availability and discontinued dates which we have on the respective Wikipedia pages of the iPhones. I checked all of the dates and found these errors:
 * I compared all start and end dates in the template with the released and discontinued dates we have at List of iOS devices:
 * The original iPhone was discontinued on July 15, not July 11.
 * List of iOS devices states iPhone SE 32GB and 128GB were released on March 21, 2017, but the current template states they were released on March 24, 2017.
 * List of iOS devices states iPhone SE 16GB and 64GB were discontinued on March 21, 2017, but the current template states they were released on March 24, 2017.
 * What about the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus 32GB version? The article on it says it was first released in (late) February 2017, but List of iOS devices states it was released on March 10.
 * When were the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus 32GB released? This source says September 9, 2016; List of iOS devices states September 7, 2016; the current template says September 16, 2016.
 * I didn't pay attention to infoboxes as they are overwhelmingly incorrect.
 * Wumbolo (talk) 10:48, 28 September 2017 (UTC)
 * , By grey part, I believe it's referring to the grey bar at the end of my sandbox as well as in the current template after the current date until year 2019. As for end date manipulation, I was asking about how it is currently handling in the current template. C933103 (talk) 09:01, 28 September 2017 (UTC)
 * I agree with the new layout. Wumbolo (talk) 09:42, 20 September 2017 (UTC)
 * I agree with the new layout. Wumbolo (talk) 09:42, 20 September 2017 (UTC)

Suggestion to put the capacity increases in the same swimlane
I see that 3G and 3GS models are put in the same swim lane. Again, iPhone 5 to iPhone 5S are paired up in the same swim lane. These models span multiple years.

For 6S, 6S Plus, and SE, there was storage increase. Despite the minor nature of the update, the new capacity models are moved into a new swim lane, which makes the overall timeline look unevenly spread out and less organized.

Moving models into a new swim lane just from a size increase also makes it harder to show a pattern where Apple discontinues the previous year's L sized storage to avoid overlapping with the new model's price points. --Saledomo (talk) 04:28, 6 May 2018 (UTC)

"Please leave this link syntax intentionally."
What's wrong with replacing: iPhone 3G with: iPhone 3G ? Just curious... --Kaledomo (talk) 12:11, 14 September 2018 (UTC)

Great diagram! But what about iOS?
I like this graph very much. But I think it will be helpful if the line of an iPhone contious in a much lighter colour as long it is/was supported with iOS updates. E.g. the 1st iPhone was able to get updates until iOS 3.1.3 which was the last iOS 3 version. So with the release of iOS 4 on June 21, 2010 the support stopps. So a very light pink line should be drawn until the iPhone 4 was released.

The reason for that is, that you easily see the "lifetime" of any iPhone.

Thank you in advance! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.79.216.3 (talk) 12:50, 4 October 2019 (UTC)

iPhone 8/8 Plus 256 GB
iPhone 8/8 Plus 256 GB discontinued on September 10, 2019. The template indicates that it is still in production.--78.7.72.2 (talk) 15:47, 21 October 2019 (UTC)