“I Don't Know What This Is”: How Carrie Bradshaw Saw the iPhone in 2008 — and Why It Became a Technological Time Capsule

Today, the iPhone is an unremarkable part of everyday life: the touchscreen is so commonplace that even small children can easily figure out the basic functions of a smartphone. But in the 2008 film Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw still didn't know how to use one. The amusing scene looks especially interesting against the backdrop of Apple's new September event, where the company unveiled not only its familiar device formats but also its first foldable smartphone. That is why this episode reads today as a genuine technological time capsule.

A Scene That Looks Retro Today

One of the film's key scenes takes place right before Carrie's wedding to Mr. Big. The friends arrive at the New York Public Library, where the ceremony is to be held. Carrie is already in her wedding dress, but the groom is nowhere to be found. The character begins to panic and asks whether anyone has called him — in response, she hears only silence. At that moment, Samantha hands her the first iPhone. Carrie looks at the device, tries to work out how to use it, then hands it back and picks up her own phone to call Big. The scene is captured verbatim in the film's script, and contemporary publications specifically drew attention to this moment.

Why Carrie Couldn't Use an iPhone

The character's reaction may seem strange to a viewer in 2026, but the film was released in 2008, and Apple's first iPhone had been unveiled only a year earlier — in January 2007. The technology was new, and phones with physical buttons were still the standard for millions of people. That is precisely why the scene with Carrie so well captures the atmosphere of that period: the iPhone was already a fashionable and coveted gadget, but it had not yet become the universal phone that everyone knows how to use. Bradshaw herself was never a character eager to be the first to try every new technological gadget: her image in the film is built around fashion, relationships, New York, writing, and her own lifestyle.

The Heroines' Phones as Personalities

The film itself underscores this through the other characters' phones. Samantha uses an iPhone, Miranda has a BlackBerry 8700, and Carrie sticks with her pink Samsung 510, decorated with rhinestones. The heroine's phone case had to be held together with tape, and against Samantha's brand-new iPhone it looked maximally personalized and old-fashioned — which perfectly matches Carrie's character, for whom style and self-expression matter more than technological novelty.

The iPhone in 2008: A Phenomenon, Not a Standard

The timeline confirms that by the time of the film's premiere, the iPhone was already a notable cultural phenomenon. The first iPhone was unveiled on January 9, 2007, and on June 29 of that same year it went on sale in the United States. In September 2007, Apple announced the sale of its millionth unit. So by May 2008, when Sex and the City was released, the smartphone had already become a symbol of the era, even if it was not as familiar as it is today. In the film, it is Samantha who gets the iPhone — a character who, per the plot, lives in Los Angeles, works in public relations, and is constantly in the midst of fashion, entertainment, and new trends.

September 2026: From a Pink Samsung to the Foldable iPhone Duo

At its September event, Apple unveiled a new generation of its devices. Among the headline novelties are the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max with a new chip and a claimed battery life of up to 45 hours, as well as the company's first foldable smartphone, the iPhone Duo. Apple also refreshed its watch lineup, introducing the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4, and showed the new AirPods 5. In Ukraine, pre-orders for the novelties begin on September 18, with official sales starting on September 25; the iPhone Duo will appear later, at the end of October or in early November. Top-tier configurations of the new iPhones in Ukraine may cost up to 188,000 hryvnias. Thus, over two decades, the journey from the scene where Carrie doesn't understand what is in front of her to a foldable smartphone has become a vivid example of how quickly a technological novelty turns into an everyday norm.