The 4GB iPhone 1 was $499, with contract. The 8GB iPhone 1 was $599, with contact. A few months after launch they lowered the price by $200 and gave store credit to the people that paid the higher price.

It was £99 iirc in the UK but you had to get it activated in-store for a seriously pricy contract. Until somebody worked out how to jailbreak it, at which point it was the bargain of the year.

I think that's when I bought it, which still felt like shortly after launch even though I wasn't in line on day one.

I only started paying more for iphones later (off contract, unlocked, from China, etc...).

I bought mine in october 2007 for $300 with the unlockable AT&T sim card.

My understanding is the top-end model was $600 at launch. The price was cut by $200 to $400 two months after launch; after a backlash Apple compensated early purchasers with $100 of store credit. Two years later, an iPhone with comparable specs to the $600 launch model was $200.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/technology/07apple.html

I wasn’t living in the states, and just bought one on a trip back.