Here in the UK it took over 3 years, after the initial release of the iPhone, for it to even support MMS messaging. Most people around me had Blackberries until Apple actually gave reason for them to consider switching, which took years. It was largely considered to be like the iPods before it: focused on the fashion/'cool' aspect of it.

I would not say they brought technology forward, and I'd go as far as to say the strive to bring forward functionalities of the iPhones improved after Jobs (I understand this is a hot take and may result in downvotes, just my opinion based on local experience).

While apple did improve the design, they mostly made it “cool”. Before that they were “nerd” phones. The Motorola V3 was a “cooler “phone at the time until the iPhone came out.