What was the internal code name for the original iPhone?

The internal code name for the original iPhone was Purple. Apple also referred to the effort as Project Purple 2 during development.

The project began in 2005 after Steve Jobs redirected an experimental touchscreen project toward creating a mobile phone. Apple worked with Cingular Wireless, later AT&T, in unusually strict secrecy; the collaboration was estimated to cost $150 million over 30 months.

The first-generation iPhone was unveiled by Jobs on January 9, 2007, and released in the United States on June 29. Its design replaced the physical keyboard common on smartphones with a finger-operated multitouch display. The original model included Safari, an iPod music player, visual voicemail, and Google Maps, but no App Store or GPS.

A common mix-up is confusing Purple with later Apple codenames. Purple refers to the original iPhone project, while the product was publicly presented simply as “iPhone.”