Development of an Apple smartphone began in 2004, when the company started to gather a team of 1,000 employees led by hardware engineer Tony Fadell, software engineer See more

Operating system
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. … See more

Tracking prevention
Apple introduced App Tracking Transparency (ATT) with iOS 14.5 in April 2021. ATT requires apps to ask for explicit permission before … See more

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 … See more

Apple directly sub contracts hardware production to external OEM companies, maintaining a high degree of control over the end product. The iPhone contains most of the hardware parts of a typical modern smartphone. Some hardware elements, such as See more

The original iPhone was heavily promoted before its official announcement, creating buzz and anticipation. Upon its release, it was marketed … See more

SIM unlocking
Many iPhones bought through a monthly carrier contract are SIM locked, restricting their use to one … See more