What is a word for "first of it's kind" or "unlike anything that came before it"?

I have a recollection of a word that means something like "first of it's kind", or "unlike anything that came before it".

As in, "the original iPhone had a unique design that was unlike anything else in the industry - no fixed buttons, and an interface that was nothing but a sheet of glass..."

I think the word connotes new, radical, revolutionary, and significant.

I have a very vague recollection that the word was latin, like "de novo", but I'm pretty sure that wasn't it.

Solution 1:

There is a Latin expression used at least by academics and which used to be in more common use. It is the Latin from which one of a kind is derived.

sui generis

This literally means that it is the only member of its type. There is nothing like it.

Solution 2:

Unprecedented is close to what you are looking for.