iPhone

Development of an Apple smartphone began in 2004, when the company began assembling a team of 1,000 employees led by hardware engineer Tony Fadell, software engineer Scott Forstall, and design officer Jony Ive, to work on the highly confidential "Project Purple".

Then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs steered the original focus away from a tablet (which was later revisited in the form of the iPad) toward a phone. Apple created the device during a secretive collaboration with Cingular Wireless (later renamed AT&T Mobility) at an estimated development cost of US$150 million over 30 months. According to Jobs in 1998, the "i" in "iMac" (and later "iPod", "iPhone", and "iPad") stands for internet, individual, instruct, inform, and inspire.

Apple rejected the "design by committee" approach that had yielded the Motorola ROKR E1, a largely unsuccessful "iTunes phone" made in collaboration with Motorola. Among other deficiencies, the ROKR E1's firmware limited storage to only 100 iTunes songs to avoid competing with Apple's iPod nano. Cingular gave Apple the freedom to develop the iPhone's hardware and software in-house, a rare practice at the time, and paid Apple a fraction of its monthly service revenue (until the iPhone 3G), in exchange for four years of exclusive U.S. sales, until 2011.

Jobs unveiled the first-generation iPhone to the public on January 9, 2007, at the Macworld 2007 convention at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The iPhone incorporated a 3.5 in (89 mm) multi-touch display with only four total buttons and a ringer/silent switch, and ran the iPhone OS operating system with a touch-friendly interface, then marketed as a version of Mac OS X. It was the first mobile phone to use multi-touch technology. The device launched on June 29, 2007, at a starting price of US$499 in the United States, and required a two-year contract with AT&T. The price was reduced by a third after two months. The resulting complaints forced Jobs to issue an apology and offer a partial rebate to early purchasers of the iPhone.

On July 11, 2008, at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2008, Apple announced the iPhone 3G, and expanded its launch-day availability to 22 countries; it was eventually released in 70 countries and territories. The iPhone 3G introduced faster 3G connectivity, and a lower starting price of US$199 (with a two-year AT&T contract). …

Up to the iPhone 4, all iPhones and other devices, such as iPod Touch models and iPads, were manufactured by Foxconn, based in Taiwan. In 2011, new CEO Tim Cook changed Apple's manufacturing strategy to diversify its supply base. The iPhone 4s in 2012 was the first model to be manufactured simultaneously by two standalone companies: Foxconn and Pegatron, the latter also based in Taiwan. Although Foxconn still produced more iPhones, Pegatron's orders gradually increased: the company made part of the iPhone 5c line in 2013, and 30% of iPhone 6 devices in 2014. The 6 Plus model was produced solely by Foxconn. In 2019, Apple investigated reports that some Foxconn managers had used rejected parts to build iPhones. In India, Apple pays Wistron, a Taiwan-based manufacturer with a plant near Bangalore, to assemble iPhones to sell in the region.

In 2022, Apple announced that a portion of the iPhone 14 would be manufactured in Tamil Nadu, India, as a response to China's "zero-COVID" policy that has negatively affected global supply chains for many industries. Apple also stated that it planned to shift 25% of iPhone production to India by 2025.

Apple directly subcontracts hardware production to external OEM companies, maintaining a high degree of control over the end product. The iPhone contains most of the hardware components of a typical modern smartphone. Some hardware elements, such as 3D Touch and the Taptic Engine, are unique to the iPhone. The main hardware of the iPhone is the touchscreen, with current models offering screens measuring 4.7 inches or larger. All iPhones include a rear-facing camera; the front-facing camera dates back to the iPhone 4. The iPhone 7 Plus introduced multiple lenses to the rear-facing camera. The device also includes a range of sensors, such as a proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, accelerometer, gyroscopic sensor, magnetometer, facial recognition sensor or fingerprint sensor (depending on the model), and barometer. In 2022, Apple added satellite communications to the iPhone, with the release of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro.

The iPhone runs iOS. It is based on macOS's Darwin and many of its userland APIs, with Cocoa replaced by Cocoa Touch, and AppKit replaced by UIKit. The graphics stack runs on Metal, Apple's low-level graphics API. The iPhone comes with a set of bundled applications developed by Apple, and supports downloading third-party applications through the App Store.

Apple provides free updates to iOS over the air or through Finder and iTunes on a computer. Major iOS releases have historically accompanied new iPhone models. As of September 2026, the most recent iOS version is iOS 27.

At WWDC 2007 on June 11, 2007, Apple announced that the iPhone would support third-party Ajax web applications that share the look and feel of the iPhone interface. On October 17, 2007, Steve Jobs, in an open letter posted to Apple's "Hot News" weblog, announced that a software development kit (SDK) would be made available to third-party developers in February 2008. The iPhone SDK was officially announced and released on March 6, 2008. The App Store was launched with the release of iPhone OS 2.0, on July 11, 2008.

Apple requires all third-party apps to be downloaded from the App Store, with exceptions for ad-hoc apps used within enterprises. Developers must pay a yearly $99 fee as part of Apple's Developer Program. If their membership expires, their apps are removed from the App Store, though existing users retain the ability to redownload the app. Developers can release free apps, or paid apps for which Apple takes a 30% cut of proceeds. Developers earning less than $1 million in annual sales qualify for the App Store Small Business Program, with Apple only taking a 15% fee.

Although iOS has a far lower market share than Android, its app ecosystem has been described as superior, with higher-quality apps and more iOS-exclusive releases. Android's version fragmentation, less uniform hardware, and lower app revenues have been cited as key factors.

All apps must pass Apple's app review process before being distributed in the App Store. Apple may also stop distributing apps it deems inappropriate. For example, in 2009, Apple rejected the Newspapers app due to The Sun's "obscene" topless Page 3 girls. In 2018, Apple removed Tumblr from the App Store, citing illegal content, causing Tumblr to ban all adult content from their platform. …

The original iPhone was heavily promoted before its official announcement, creating buzz and anticipation. Upon its release, it was marketed heavily in television, web and print ads created in partnership with TBWA\Chiat\Day.

Apple's premium market positioning has led the iPhone to be seen as a status symbol.

The Apple ecosystem has been described as a key moat that increases iPhone brand loyalty. iMessage has especially been singled out for its "green bubbles" phenomenon. In iMessage, SMS messages from Android users appear as green bubbles, rather than the blue bubbles used for texts from other iPhone users. Until the introduction of Rich Communication Services (RCS) support in iOS 18 in 2024, group chats between iOS and Android were poorly supported, with reactions displayed as text rather than bubbles, and images sent through MMS, which degraded image quality. Some teens described being "ostracized" after switching to Android, which Google labeled "bullying". This has been described by critics as a key factor leading 88% of U.S. teenagers to use iPhones.