[note 3] The iPhone, which operates using Apple's proprietary iOS software, is one of the two major smartphone platforms in the world, alongside Android.

[4] 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 thirty months.

[23] The iPhone 4 was announced on June 7, 2010, at WWDC 2010, and introduced a redesigned body incorporating a stainless steel frame and a rear glass panel.

[26][27] The iPhone 4s was announced on October 4, 2011, and introduced the Siri virtual assistant, a dual-core A5 processor, and an 8 megapixel camera with 1080p video recording functionality.

[33] The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus were introduced on September 9, 2015, and included a more bend-resistant frame made of a stronger aluminum alloy, as well as a higher resolution 12 megapixel main camera capable of 4K video recording.

[35] The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus were announced on September 7, 2016, which introduced larger camera sensors, IP67-certified water and dust resistance, and a quad-core A10 Fusion processor utilizing big.LITTLE technology;[36] the 3.5 mm headphone jack was removed, and was followed by the introduction of the AirPods wireless earbuds.

A second telephoto camera lens was added on the 7 Plus, enabling two-times optical zoom, and "Portrait" photography mode which simulates bokeh in photos.

All models featured rear glass panel designs akin to the iPhone 4, wireless charging, and a hexa-core A11 Bionic chip with "Neural Engine" AI accelerator hardware.

[54] The 15 and 15 plus now feature the Dynamic Island, which debuted with the iPhone 14 Pro (effectively retiring the "notch" display cutout), a 48-megapixel main camera, slightly curved edges, and a color-infused frosted glass back.

[64] 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.

[81] Developers earning less than $1 million in annual sales qualify for the App Store Small Business Program, with Apple only taking a 15% fee.

Sound Recognition can recognize surrounding noises, including door bells, kettles, water running, and babies crying, and notify the user with an onscreen alert.

The program received a degree of praise by iFixit and repair advocates, who also critically noted that Apple maintains control over the parts supply.

[141][142] In July 2010, Apple claimed that it collected iPhone users' GPS coordinates and nearby Wi-Fi networks twice a day; a Wall Street Journal investigation found that Google's Android sent this data "several times an hour".

[143][144] In September 2010, forensic expert Christopher Vance discovered a hidden unencrypted file named "consolidated.db" that contained a record of iPhone users' locations.

[147] On April 20, 2011, The Guardian publicized research by Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden, who found that anyone with physical access to an iPhone could obtain a detailed record of its owner's location and movements over the past year.

[151] Apple responded on April 27, 2011, claiming that the data was used to cache nearby Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers in order to improve location speed and accuracy.

[151] Apple issued an update for iOS (version 4.3.3, or 4.2.8 for the CDMA iPhone 4) which reduced the size of the cache, encrypted it, stopped it being backed up to iTunes, and erased it entirely whenever location services were turned off.

[153] Currently, iPhones contain a "Frequent Locations" database which records where users have been, along with exact times they arrived and left, raising concerns that the data could be used in court.

[155] In August 2021, Apple announced plans to scan iCloud Photos for child abuse imagery (through an algorithm called "NeuralHash"), and filter explicit images sent and received by children using iPhones (dubbed "Conversation Safety"), to be rolled out later that year.

[157] Apple's plan to implement NeuralHash on-device rather than in the cloud led the EFF and security experts to call it a "backdoor" that could later be expanded to detect other types of contents, and would decrease users' privacy.

[163] Prior to 2014, the iPhone stored all "messages, pictures and videos, contacts, audio recordings [...] and call history" in unencrypted form, enabling easy access by law enforcement.

The U.S. government attempted to obtain a court order under the All Writs Act compelling Apple to produce a modified version of iOS that would allow investigators to brute force the device passcode.

[168][169] Tim Cook responded on the company's website, outlining a need for encryption, arguing that a backdoor would compromise the privacy of all iPhone users.

[167] In 2016,researchers discovered the Pegasus suite of exploits targeting iOS and Android, which led to significant international media coverage.

[178] Apple announced a new bug bounty for vulnerabilities, and added an optional Lockdown Mode to iOS 16 that reduces the iPhone's attack surface.

[191] Successive iPhone models have generated significant fan enthusiasm, with many customers queuing up in front of Apple Stores on launch day.

[199][200] RIM, Symbian and Microsoft all attempted to develop more modern operating systems to compete with the iPhone, like Maemo, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry 10; all were unsuccessful.

[212] By 2011, Apple sold 100 million iPhones worldwide,[213] and became the largest mobile phone vendor in the world by revenue, surpassing long-time leader Nokia.

[236] Analysts have speculated that this was partly caused by Apple's desire to reduce its dependence on China, and to overcome Indian import duties.