To be fair, Apple released their iPhone after building iPods for 6 years. So, it's not like they had zero experience with handheld devices at the time.
Also, while Apple did create their first chip (at least of their current families) in 2007, they did acquire 150 or so engineers when they bought PA Semi in 2008. So, that gave them a leg up compared to building a chip team completely from scratch.
Right, the fact they have a habit of releasing industry redefining first products in a category is they do the hard work to make it happen. It’s not by accident.
Also, while Apple did create their first chip (at least of their current families) in 2007, they did acquire 150 or so engineers when they bought PA Semi in 2008. So, that gave them a leg up compared to building a chip team completely from scratch.