The iPhone is a line of smartphones
designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It runs Apple's iOS mobile operating
system, originally named "iPhone OS". The first iPhone was released on June 29, 2007; the
most recent iPhone, the sixth-generation iPhone 5, was
released on September 21, 2012. The user
interface is built around the device's multi-touch
screen, including a virtual keyboard rather than a physical one. The
iPhone has Wi-Fi
and cellular connectivity (2G,
3G and 4G (iPhone 5 only)).
An iPhone can shoot
video (though this was not a standard feature until the iPhone 3GS),
take
photos, play music, send and receive email, browse the
web, send texts, and receive visual
voicemail. Other functions—games, reference,
GPS navigation, social networking, etc.—can be enabled by
downloading apps; as of 2012, the App
Store offered more than 700,000 apps by Apple and third parties.
There are six generations of iPhone models, each accompanied
by one of the six major releases of iOS. The original iPhone was a GSM phone, and
established design precedents, such as screen size and button placement, that
have persisted through all models. The iPhone 3G
added 3G cellular
network capabilities and A-GPS location. The iPhone 3GS
added a faster processor and a higher-resolution camera
that could record video at 480p. The iPhone 4 featured a higher-resolution 960 × 640
"retina display", a higher-resolution rear-facing camera and a
lower-resolution front-facing camera for video calling and other apps. The iPhone 4S
added an 8-megapixel
camera with 1080p
video recording, a dual-core processor, and a natural language voice
control system called Siri.
iPhone 5
features the new A6 processor, holds a 4-inch Retina display that is larger
than its predecessor's 3.5-inch display, and replaces the 30-pin connector with
an all-digital Lightning connector.
For some years, Apple and its manufacturing contractor
Foxconn have
received criticism due to poor working conditions at
the assembly plant in China.
History and availability
Development of what was to become the iPhone began in
2004, when Apple started to gather a team of 1000 employees to work on the
highly confidential "Project Purple".Apple CEO Steve Jobs
steered the original focus away from a tablet, like the iPad, and towards a
phone. Apple created the device during a secretive collaboration with AT&T
Mobility—Cingular Wireless at the time—at an estimated development cost of
US$150 million over thirty months.
Apple rejected the "design by committee" approach that had
yielded the Motorola ROKR E1, a largely unsuccessful
collaboration with Motorola. Instead, Cingular gave Apple the liberty to
develop the iPhone's hardware and software in-house and even paid Apple a
fraction of its monthly service revenue (until the iPhone 3G), in exchange for
four years of exclusive U.S. sales, until 2011.
Jobs unveiled the iPhone to the public on January 9,
2007, at the Macworld 2007 convention at the Moscone
Center in San Francisco. The two initial models, a 4 GB model priced at US$
499 and a 8 GB model at US$ 599, went on sale in the United States on June 29,
2007, at 6:00 pm local time, while hundreds of customers lined up outside
the stores nationwide. The passionate reaction to the launch of the iPhone
resulted in sections of the media christening it the 'Jesus phone'. The
original iPhone was made available in the UK, France, and Germany in November
2007, and Ireland and Austria in the spring of 2008.
iPhone was available since its original release
iPhone was available since the release of iPhone
3G
Coming soon
On July 11, 2008, Apple released the iPhone 3G in
twenty-two countries, including the original six. Apple released the iPhone 3G
in upwards of eighty countries and territories. Apple announced the iPhone 3GS
on June 8, 2009, along with plans to release it later in June, July, and
August, starting with the U.S., Canada and major European countries on June 19.
Many would-be users objected to the iPhone's cost, and 40% of users have
household incomes over US$100,000.
Apple sold 6.1 million original iPhone units over
five quarters. Recorded sales have been growing steadily thereafter, and by the
end of fiscal
year 2010, a total of 73.5 million iPhones were sold. By 2010/2011,
the iPhone had a market share of barely 4% of all cellphones, but Apple still
pulls in more than 50% of the total profit that global cellphone sales
generate. Sales in Q4 2008 surpassed temporarily those of Research In Motion's (RIM) BlackBerry
sales of 5.2 million units, which made Apple briefly the third largest
mobile phone manufacturer by revenue, after Nokia and Samsung.
Approximately 6.4 million iPhones are active in the U.S. alone. While
iPhone sales constitute a significant portion of Apple's revenue, some of this
income is deferred.
The back of the original iPhone was made of aluminum
with a black plastic accent. The iPhone 3G and 3GS feature a full plastic back
to increase the strength of the GSM signal. The iPhone 3G was available in an 8 GB black
model, or a black or white option for the 16 GB model. They both are
discontinued. The iPhone 3GS was available in both colors, regardless of
storage capacity.
The iPhone 4 has an aluminosilicate
glass front and back with a stainless
steel edge that serves as the antennas.
It was at first available in black; the white version was announced, but not
released until April 2011, 10 months later.
The iPhone has garnered positive reviews from such
critics as David Pogue[
and Walter Mossberg. The iPhone attracts users of all
ages, and, besides consumer use, the iPhone has also been adopted for business purposes.
Users of the iPhone 4 reported dropped/disconnected
telephone calls when holding their phones in a certain way. This became known
as antennagate.
On January 11, 2011, Verizon
announced during a media event that it had reached an agreement with Apple and would
begin selling a CDMA2000
iPhone 4.
Verizon said it would be available for pre-order on February 3, with a release set
for February 10. In February 2011, the Verizon iPhone accounted for
4.5 percent of all iPhone ad impressions in the U.S. on Millennial Media's
mobile ad network. The Verizon iPhone has the 'Mobile Hotspot" feature,
only for Verizon iPhone since that is a Verizon feature. On March 2, 2011, at
the iPad 2 event, Apple announced that they had sold 100 million iPhones
worldwide.
From 2007 to 2011, Apple spent $647 million on
advertising for the iPhone in the United States.
On Tuesday, September 27, Apple sent invitations for a
press event to be held October 4, 2011 at 10:00 am at the Cupertino
Headquarters to announce details of the next generation iPhone, which turned
out to be iPhone
4S. Over 1 million 4S models were sold in the first 24 hours after its
release in October 2011. Due to large volumes of the iPhone being manufactured
and its high selling price, Apple became the largest mobile handset vendor in
the world by revenue, in 2011, surpassing long-time leader Nokia. American
carrier C Spire Wireless announced that it would be
carrying the iPhone 4S on October 19, 2011.
In January 2012, Apple reported its best quarterly
earnings ever, with 53% of its revenue coming from the sale of 37 million
iPhones, at an average selling price of nearly $660. The
average selling price has remained fairly constant for most of the phones
lifespan, hovering between $622 and $660. The production price of the iPhone 4S
was estimated by IHS iSuppli, in October 2011, to be $188, $207 and $245,
for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, respectively. Labor costs are estimated at
between $12.5 and $30 per unit, with workers on the iPhone assembly line making
$1.78 an hour.
In February 2012, ComScore
reported that 12.4% of US mobile subscribers use an iPhone.
On September 12, 2012, Apple announced the iPhone 5.
It has 4-inch display, up from its predecessors' 3.5-inch screen. The device
comes with the same 326 pixels per inch found in the iPhone 4 and 4S. The
iPhone 5 has the soc A6 processor, the chip is 22 percent smaller
than the iPhone 4S' A5 and is twice as fast, doubling the graphics performance
of its predecessor. The device is 18 percent thinner than the iPhone 4S,
measuring 7.6mm, and is 20 percent lighter at 112 grams.
Hardware
Screen and input
The touchscreen on the first five generations is a 9 cm
(3.5 in) liquid crystal display with scratch-resistant
glass, while the one on the iPhone 5 is 4 inches.[7]
The capacitive touchscreen is designed for a
bare finger, or multiple fingers for multi-touch
sensing. The screens on the first three generations have a resolution of 320 ×
480 (HVGA) at 163 ppi;
those on the iPhone
4 and iPhone
4S have a resolution of 640 × 960 at 326 ppi, and the iPhone 5, 1,136
× 640 at 326 ppi. The iPhone 5 model's screen results in an aspect ratio of
nearly exactly 16:9.
The touch and gesture features of the iPhone are based
on technology originally developed by FingerWorks.
Most gloves and styli prevent the necessary electrical
conductivity; however, capacitive styli can be used with iPhone's
finger-touch screen. The iPhone 3GS and later also feature a fingerprint-resistant
oleophobic
coating.
The top and side of an iPhone 3GS, externally
identical to the iPhone 3G. From left to right, sides: wake/sleep button, SIM
card slot, headphone jack, silence switch, volume controls. The switches were
black plastic on the original iPhone. Top: earpiece, screen.
The iPhone has a minimal hardware user interface,
featuring five buttons. The only physical menu button is situated
directly below the display, and is called the "Home button" because
it closes the active app and navigates to the home screen of the interface. The
home button is denoted not by a house, as on many other similar devices, but a rounded square,
reminiscent of the shape of icons on the home screen.
A multifunction sleep/wake button is located on the
top of the device. It serves as the unit's power button, and also controls phone calls. When a call
is received, pressing the sleep/wake button once silences the ringtone, and
when pressed twice transfers the call to voicemail. Situated on the left spine
are the volume adjustment controls. The iPhone 4 has two separate circular
buttons to increase and decrease the volume; all earlier models house two
switches under a single plastic panel, known as a rocker switch, which could
reasonably be counted as either one or two buttons.
Directly above the volume controls is a ring/silent
switch that when engaged mutes telephone ringing, alert sounds from new &
sent emails, text messages, and other push notifications, camera shutter
sounds, Voice Memo sound effects, phone lock/unlock sounds, keyboard clicks,
and spoken autocorrections. This switch does not mute alarm sounds from the
Clock application, and in some countries or regions it will not mute the camera
shutter or Voice Memo sound effects. All buttons except Home were made of
plastic on the original iPhone and metal on all later models. The touchscreen
furnishes the remainder of the user interface.
The display responds to three sensors (four on the
iPhone 4). A proximity sensor deactivates the display and touchscreen
when the device is brought near the face during a call. This is done to save
battery power and to prevent inadvertent inputs from the user's face and ears.
An ambient light sensor adjusts the display brightness which in turn saves battery
power. A 3-axis accelerometer senses the orientation of the phone and
changes the screen accordingly, allowing the user to easily switch between portrait
and landscape mode. Photo browsing, web browsing, and music playing support
both upright and left or right widescreen orientations.
Unlike the iPad, the iPhone does not rotate the screen when turned
upside-down, with the Home button above the screen, unless the running program
has been specifically designed to do so. The 3.0 update added landscape support
for still other applications, such as email, and introduced shaking the unit as
a form of input. The accelerometer can also be used to control third-party
apps, notably games. The iPhone 4 also includes a gyroscopic sensor, enhancing its
perception of how it is moved.
A software update in January 2008 allowed the
first-generation iPhone to use cell tower and Wi-Fi network locations trilateration,
despite lacking GPS hardware. The iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4
employ A-GPS,
and the iPhone 3GS and 4 also have a digital
compass. iPhone 4S supports GLONASS global positioning system in addition to GPS.
Audio and output
One of two speakers (left) and the microphone (right)
surround the dock connector on the base of the original iPhone.
If a headset is plugged in, sound is played through it instead.
On the bottom of the iPhone there is a speaker to the
left of the dock connector and a microphone to the right. There is an
additional loudspeaker above the screen that serves as an earpiece during phone
calls. The iPhone 4 includes an additional microphone at the top of the unit
for noise cancellation, and switches the
placement of the microphone and speaker on the base on the unit—the speaker is
on the right. Volume controls are located on the left side of all iPhone models
and as a slider in the iPod application.
The 3.5 mm TRRS
connector for the headphones is located on the top left corner of the
device. The headphone socket on the original iPhone is recessed into the
casing, making it incompatible with most headsets without the use of an
adapter. Subsequent generations eliminated the issue by using a flush-mounted
headphone socket. Cars equipped with an auxiliary jack allow for handsfree use of the
iPhone while driving as a substitute for Bluetooth.
While the iPhone is compatible with normal headphones,
Apple provides a headset with additional functionality. A
multipurpose button near the microphone can be used to play or pause music,
skip tracks, and answer or end phone calls without touching the iPhone. A small
number of third-party headsets specifically designed for the iPhone also
include the microphone and control button. The current headsets also provide
volume controls, which are only compatible with more recent models. These
features are achieved by a fourth ring in the audio jack that carries this
extra information.
The built-in Bluetooth 2.x+EDR supports wireless earpieces
and headphones, which requires the HSP profile.
Stereo audio was added in the 3.0 update for hardware that supports A2DP. While
non-sanctioned third-party solutions exist, the iPhone does not officially
support the OBEX file transfer protocol. The lack of these profiles prevents
iPhone users from exchanging multimedia files, such as pictures, music and
videos, with other bluetooth-enabled cell phones.
Composite[
or component video at up to 576i and stereo audio can be output from the dock connector
using an adapter sold by Apple. iPhone 4 also supports 1024 × 768 VGA outputwithout audio,
and HDMI output,
with stereo audio, via dock adapters. The iPhone did not support voice recording until the 3.0
software update.
Battery
Replacing the battery requires
disassembling the iPhone unit and exposing the internal hardware
The iPhone features an internal rechargeable
lithium-ion battery. Like an iPod, but unlike most other mobile phones, the
battery is not user-replaceable. The iPhone can be charged when connected to a
computer for syncing across the included USB to dock connector cable, similar
to charging an iPod. Alternatively, a USB to AC
adapter (or "wall charger," also included) can be connected to the
cable to charge directly from an AC outlet.
Apple runs tests on preproduction units to determine battery
life. Apple's website says that the battery life "is designed to retain up
to 80 percent of its original capacity after 400 full charge and discharge
cycles", which is comparable to iPod batteries.
The battery life of early models of the iPhone has been
criticized by several technology journalists as insufficient and less than
Apple's claims. This is also reflected by a J. D. Power and Associates customer
satisfaction survey, which gave the "battery aspects" of the iPhone
3G its lowest rating of 2 out of 5 stars.
If the battery malfunctions or dies prematurely, the
phone can be returned to Apple and replaced for free while still under warranty. The
warranty lasts one year from purchase and can be extended to two years with AppleCare.
The battery replacement service and its pricing was not made known to buyers
until the day the product was launched, it is similar to how Apple (and third
parties) replace batteries for iPods. The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer
Rights, a consumer advocate group, has sent a complaint
to Apple and AT&T
over the fee that consumers have to pay to have the battery replaced.[
Since July 2007, third-party battery replacement kits
have been available at a much lower price than Apple's own battery replacement
program. These kits often include a small screwdriver and an instruction
leaflet, but as with many newer iPod models the battery in the original iPhone
has been soldered
in. Therefore a soldering iron is required to install the new battery. The
iPhone 3G uses a different battery fitted with a connector that is easier to
replace.
The iPhone 4 is the first generation to have two
cameras. The LED flash for the rear-facing camera (top) and the
forward-facing camera (bottom) are both unique to that model.
Camera
The original iPhone and iPhone 3G feature a built-in fixed focus
2.0 megapixel
camera located on the back for still digital photos. It has no optical zoom,
flash or autofocus,
and does not support video recording (iPhone 3G does support video recording
via third-party App available on the App Store), however jailbreaking
allows users to do so. Version 2.0 of iPhone OS introduced the capability to embed location
data in the pictures, producing geocoded photographs.
The iPhone 3GS has a 3.2 megapixel camera,
manufactured by OmniVision, featuring autofocus, auto white
balance, and auto macro (up to 10 cm). It is also capable of capturing 640
× 480 (VGA resolution) video at 30 frames per second,[99] although
compared to higher-end CCD based video cameras it does exhibit the rolling
shutter effect.[100] The
video can then be cropped on the device itself and directly uploaded to
YouTube, MobileMe,
or other services.
The iPhone 4 introduced a 5.0 megapixel
camera (2592 × 1936 pixels), also located on the back, which is equipped with a
backside illuminated sensor capable of
capturing pictures in low-light conditions, as well as an LED flash capable of staying lit for video
recording at 720p
resolution, considered high-definition. iPhone 4 is the first iPhone
that has the high dynamic range photography feature.
In addition the iPhone 4 has a second camera on the front capable of VGA photos and SD video recording.
Regardless of the source, saved recordings may be
synced to the host computer, attached to email, or (where supported) sent by MMS. Videos may be uploaded to YouTube
directly.
The camera on the iPhone 4S is capable of shooting 8MP
stills and recording 1080p videos. The camera can now be accessed directly from
the lock screen, and the volume up button as a shutter trigger. The built-in
gyroscope is able to stabilize the camera while recording video.
The iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S,
running iOS 6 or
later, have the ability to take panoramas using the built-in camera app, and
the iPhone 5
also has the ability to take still photos while recording video.
On all five model generations, the phone can be
configured to bring up the camera app by quickly pressing the home key twice.
On all iPhones running iOS 5 it can also be accessed from the lock
screen directly.
The camera on the iPhone 5
reportedly shows purple haze when light source is just out of frame. However
Consumer Reports states "[the iPhone 5] is
no more prone to purple hazing on photos shot into a bright light source than
its predecessor or than several Android phones with fine cameras..."
Storage and SIM
An iPhone 3G with the SIM slot open. The SIM ejector
tool is still placed in the eject hole.
The iPhone was initially released with two options for
internal storage size: 4 GB or 8 GB. On September 5, 2007, Apple
discontinued the 4 GB models. On February 5, 2008, Apple added a
16 GB model. The iPhone 3G was available in 16 GB and 8 GB. The
iPhone 3GS came in 16 GB and 32 GB variants and remained available in
8 GB until September 2012, more than three years after its launch.
The iPhone 4 is available in 16 GB and 32 GB
variants, as well as a newly introduced 8 GB variant to be sold along side
the iPhone 4S at a reduced price point. The iPhone 4S is available in three
sizes: 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB. All data is stored on the
internal flash drive; the iPhone does not support expanded storage through a
memory card slot, or the SIM card. The iPhone 5 is available in the same three
sizes previously available to the iPhone 4S: 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB.
GSM
models of the iPhone use a SIM card to identify themselves to the
GSM network. The SIM sits in a tray, which is inserted into a slot at the top
of the device. The SIM tray can be ejected with a paperclip or
the "SIM ejector tool" (a simple piece of die-cut sheet metal)
included with the iPhone 3G and 3GS. Some iPhone models shipped with a SIM
ejector tool which was fabricated from an alloy dubbed "Liquidmetal".
In most countries, the iPhone is usually sold with a SIM lock, which
prevents the iPhone from being used on a different mobile network.
The GSM iPhone 4 features a MicroSIM card
that is located in a slot on the right side of the device.
The CDMA model of the iPhone 4, just the same any other CDMA-only
cell phone, does not use a SIM card or have a SIM card slot.
An iPhone 4S activated on a CDMA carrier, however,
does have a SIM card slot but does not rely on a SIM card for activation on
that CDMA network. A CDMA-activated iPhone 4S usually has a carrier-approved
roaming SIM preloaded in its SIM slot at the time of purchase that is used for
roaming on certain carrier-approved international GSM networks only. The SIM
slot is locked to only use the roaming SIM card provided by the CDMA carrier.
In the case of Verizon, for example, one can request that the SIM slot be unlocked for international use by calling their support number and requesting an international unlock if their account has been in good standing for the past 60 days. This method only unlocks the iPhone 4S for use on international carriers. An iPhone 4S that has been unlocked in this way will reject any non international SIM cards (AT&T Mobility or T-Mobile USA, for example).
In the case of Verizon, for example, one can request that the SIM slot be unlocked for international use by calling their support number and requesting an international unlock if their account has been in good standing for the past 60 days. This method only unlocks the iPhone 4S for use on international carriers. An iPhone 4S that has been unlocked in this way will reject any non international SIM cards (AT&T Mobility or T-Mobile USA, for example).
The iPhone 5 will feature the use of a nanoSIM, in
order to save more space for internal components.
Liquid contact indicators
All iPhones (and many other devices by Apple) have a
small disc at the bottom of the headphone jack that changes from white to red on contact
with water; iPhone 3G and later models also have a similar indicator at the
bottom of the dock connector. Because Apple warranties do not
cover water damage, employees examine the indicators before approving warranty repair
or replacement.
The iPhone's indicators are more exposed than those in
some mobile phones from other manufacturers, which carry them in a more
protected location, such as beneath the battery behind a battery cover. The
iPhone's can be triggered during routine use, by an owner's sweat, steam in a
bathroom, and other light environmental moisture. Criticism led Apple to change
to its water damage policy for iPhones and similar products, allowing customers
to request further internal inspection of the phone to verify if internal
liquid damage sensors were triggered.
Included items
The contents of the box of an iPhone
4. From left to right: iPhone 4 in plastic holder, written documentation, and
(top to bottom) headset, USB cable, wall charger.
All iPhone
models include written documentation, and a dock
connector to USB cable. The original and 3G iPhones also
came with a cleaning cloth. The original iPhone included a stereo headset
(earbuds
and a microphone) and a plastic dock to hold the unit upright while charging
and syncing. The iPhone 3G includes a similar headset plus a SIM eject tool
(the original model requires a paperclip). The iPhone 3GS includes the SIM
eject tool and a revised headset, which adds volume buttons (not functional
with previous iPhone versions).
The iPhone 3G and 3GS are compatible with the same
dock, sold separately, but not the original model's dock. All versions include
a USB power adapter, or "wall charger," which allows the iPhone to
charge from an AC outlet. The iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS
sold in North America, Japan, Colombia, Ecuador, or Peru include an
ultracompact USB power adapter.
Software
The default Home screen of iOS 6 shows most of the
applications provided by Apple. Users can download additional applications from
the App store, create Web Clips, rearrange the icons, and create and delete
folders.
The iPhone, iPod Touch
and iPad run an operating
system known as iOS (formerly iPhone OS). It is a variant of the same Darwin operating system core that is
found in Mac
OS X. Also included is the "Core
Animation" software component from Mac
OS X v10.5 Leopard. Together with the PowerVR hardware
(and on the iPhone 3GS, OpenGL ES 2.0), it is responsible for the interface's motion
graphics. The operating system takes up less than half a gigabyte.[125]
It is capable of supporting bundled and future
applications from Apple, as well as from third-party developers. Software
applications cannot be copied directly from Mac OS X but must be written and
compiled specifically for iOS.
Like the iPod, the iPhone is managed from a computer
using iTunes.
The earliest versions of the OS required version 7.3 or later, which is compatible
with Mac OS X version 10.3.9 Panther or later, and 32-bit Windows XP
or Vista.[
The release of iTunes 7.6 expanded this support to include 64-bit
versions of XP and Vista, and a workaround has been discovered for previous
64-bit Windows operating systems.
Apple provides free updates to the OS for the iPhone
through iTunes, and major updates have historically accompanied new models.
Such updates often require a newer version of iTunes—for example, the 3.0
update requires iTunes 8.2—but the iTunes system requirements have stayed the
same. Updates include bug fixes, security patches and new features. For
example, iPhone 3G users initially experienced dropped calls until an update
was issued.
Version 3.1 required iTunes 9.0, and iOS 4 required
iTunes 9.2. iTunes 10.5, which is required to sync and activate iOS 5, the
current version of iTunes, Requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or Leopard on G4 or G5
computers on 800 MHz or higher; versions 10.3 and 10.4 and 10.5–10.5.7 are
no longer supported.
Interface
The interface is based around the home screen,
a graphical list of available applications. iPhone applications normally run
one at a time (not including iOS 4 and iOS 5, which includes running
applications in the background), although most functionality is still available
when making a call or listening to music. The home screen can be accessed at
any time by a hardware button below the screen, closing the open application in
the process.
By default, the Home screen contains the following
icons: Messages (SMS and MMS messaging), Calendar, Photos,
Camera, YouTube, Stocks, Maps (Google Maps),
Weather, Voice Memos, Notes, Clock, Calculator, Settings, iTunes
(store), App Store, (on the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4) Compass, FaceTime
and GameCenter were added in iOS 4.0 and 4.1 respectively. In iOS 5, Reminders
and Newsstand were added, as well as the iPod application split into separate
Music and Videos applications. iOS 6 added Passbook as well as an updated
version of Maps that relies on data provided by TomTom as well as other
sources. iOS 6 also added a Clock application onto the iPad's homescreen.
Docked at the base of the screen, four icons for Phone,
Mail, Safari (Internet), and Music delineate the
iPhone's main purposes. On January 15, 2008, Apple released software update
1.1.3, allowing users to create "Web Clips", home screen icons that
resemble apps that open a user-defined page in Safari. After the update, iPhone
users can rearrange and place icons on up to nine other adjacent home screens,
accessed by a horizontal swipe.
Users can also add and delete icons from the dock,
which is the same on every home screen. Each home screen holds up to sixteen
icons, and the dock holds up to four icons. Users can delete Web Clips and
third-party applications at any time, and may select only certain applications
for transfer from iTunes. Apple's default programs, however, may not be
removed. The 3.0 update adds a system-wide search, known as Spotlight, to the left of the first home screen.
Almost all input is given through the touch screen,
which understands complex gestures using multi-touch. The
iPhone's interaction techniques enable the user to
move the content up or down by a touch-drag motion of the finger. For example,
zooming in and out of web pages and photos is done by placing two fingers on
the screen and spreading them farther apart or bringing them closer together, a
gesture known as "pinching".
Scrolling through a long list or menu is achieved by
sliding a finger over the display from bottom to top, or vice versa to go back.
In either case, the list moves as if it is pasted on the outer surface of a
wheel, slowly decelerating as if affected by friction. In this way, the
interface simulates the physics of a real object.
Other user-centered interactive effects include horizontally sliding
sub-selection, the vertically sliding keyboard and bookmarks menu, and widgets
that turn around to allow settings to be configured on the other side. Menu
bars are found at the top and bottom of the screen when necessary. Their options
vary by program, but always follow a consistent style motif. In menu
hierarchies, a "back" button in the top-left corner of the screen
displays the name of the parent folder.
Phone
When making a call, the iPhone presents a number of
options; including FaceTime on supported models. The screen is automatically
disabled when held close to the face.
The iPhone allows audio conferencing,
call holding, call merging, caller ID, and integration with other cellular network
features and iPhone functions. For example, if music is playing when a call is
received, the music fades out, and fades back in when the call has ended.
The proximity
sensor shuts off the screen and touch-sensitive circuitry when the iPhone
is brought close to the face, both to save battery and prevent unintentional
touches. The iPhone does not support video calling
or videoconferencing on versions prior to the fourth
generation, as there is only one camera on the opposite side of the screen.
The iPhone 4 supports video calling using either the
front or back camera over Wi-Fi, a feature Apple calls FaceTime. The
first two models only support voice dialing through third-party
applications. Voice control, available only on the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4,
allows users to say a contact's name or number and the iPhone will dial.
The iPhone includes a visual
voicemail (in some countries) feature allowing users to view a list of
current voicemail messages on-screen without having to call into their
voicemail. Unlike most other systems, messages can be listened to and deleted
in a non-chronological order by choosing any message from an on-screen list.
A music ringtone feature was introduced in the United States on September
5, 2007. Users can create custom ringtones from songs purchased from the iTunes
Store for a small additional fee. The ringtones can be 3 to 30 seconds long
from any part of a song, can fade in and out, pause from half a second to five
seconds when looped, or loop continuously. All customizing can be done in
iTunes, or alternatively with Apple's GarageBand
software 4.1.1 or later (available only on Mac OS X) or
third-party tools.
With the release of iOS 6, which was
released on September 19, 2012, Apple added features that enable the user to
have options to decline a phone call when a person is calling them. The user
has the capability to reply with a message, or to set a reminder to call them
back at a later time.
On September 12, 2012, Apple unveiled the iPhone 5,
the sixth iteration of the iPhone. New features included a bigger 4 inch
screen, thinner design and 4G LTE.
Multimedia
The layout of the music library is similar to that of
an iPod or current Symbian S60
phones. The iPhone can sort its media library by songs, artists, albums,
videos, playlists,
genres, composers,
podcasts, audiobooks,
and compilations. Options are always presented
alphabetically, except in playlists, which retain their order from iTunes. The iPhone
uses a large font that allows users plenty of room to touch their selection.
Users can rotate their device horizontally to landscape
mode to access Cover Flow. Like on iTunes, this feature shows the
different album covers in a scroll-through photo library. Scrolling is achieved
by swiping a finger across the screen. Alternatively, headset controls can be
used to pause, play, skip, and repeat tracks. On the iPhone 3GS, the volume can
be changed with the included Apple Earphones, and the Voice Control feature can
be used to identify a track, play songs in a playlist or by a specific artist,
or create a Genius playlist.
The iPhone supports gapless
playback. Like the fifth-generation iPods introduced in 2005, the iPhone
can play digital video, allowing users to watch TV shows and
movies in widescreen.
Double-tapping switches between widescreen and fullscreen video
playback.
The iPhone allows users to purchase and download songs
from the iTunes Store directly to their iPhone. The feature originally required
a Wi-Fi network, but now[when?] can
use the cellular data network if one is not available.
The iPhone includes software that allows the user to
upload, view, and email photos taken with the camera. The user zooms in
and out of photos by sliding two fingers further apart or closer together, much
like Safari. The Camera application also lets users view the camera roll, the
pictures that have been taken with the iPhone's camera. Those pictures are also
available in the Photos application, along with any transferred from iPhoto or Aperture on a Mac, or Photoshop
on a Windows PC.
Internet connectivity
Wikipedia Main Page on the iPhone Safari web browser in landscape mode
Internet access is available when the iPhone is
connected to a local area Wi-Fi or a wide area GSM or EDGE network, both
second-generation (2G)
wireless data standards. The iPhone 3G introduced support for third-generation UMTS and HSDPA 3.6, only the iPhone 4S
supports HSUPA networks (14.4 Mbit/s), and
only the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 support HSDPA 7.2.
AT&T introduced 3G in July 2004, but as
late as 2007, Steve Jobs stated that it was still not widespread
enough in the US, and the chipsets not energy efficient enough, to be included
in the iPhone. Support for 802.1X, an authentication system commonly used by university
and corporate Wi-Fi networks, was added in the 2.0 version update.
By default, the iPhone will ask to join newly
discovered Wi-Fi
networks and prompt for the password when required. Alternatively, it can join
closed Wi-Fi networks manually. The iPhone will automatically choose the
strongest network, connecting to Wi-Fi instead of EDGE when it is available.
Similarly, the iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4 prefer 3G to 2G, and Wi-Fi to either.
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 3G (on the iPhone 3G onwards) can all be
deactivated individually. Airplane mode disables all wireless connections at
once, overriding other preferences. However, once in Airplane mode, one can
explicitly enable Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth modes to join and continue to operate
over one or both of those networks while the cellular network transceivers
remain off.
The iPhone 3GS has a maximum download rate of
7.2 Mbit/s.
Furthermore, email attachments as well as apps and media from Apple's various
stores must be smaller than 20 MB to be downloaded over a cellular
network. Larger files, often email attachments or podcasts, must be downloaded
over Wi-Fi (which has no file size limits). If Wi-Fi is unavailable, one workaround
is to open the files directly in Safari.
Safari is the iPhone's native web browser,
and it displays pages similar to its Mac and Windows
counterparts. Web pages may be viewed in portrait or landscape mode and the
device supports automatic zooming by pinching together or spreading apart
fingertips on the screen, or by double-tapping text or images. It is worth
mentioning that Safari doesn't allow file downloads except for
predefined extensions. The iPhone does not support Flash.
Consequently, the UK's Advertising
Standards Authority adjudicated that an advertisement claiming the iPhone
could access "all parts of the internet" should be withdrawn in its
current form, on grounds of false
advertising. In a rare public letter in April 2010, Apple CEO Steve Jobs
outlined the reasoning behind the absence of Flash on the iPhone (and iPad). The iPhone
supports SVG, CSS, HTML Canvas, and Bonjour.
Google Chrome was introduced to the iOS on June 26,
2012. In a review by Chitika on July 18, 2012, they announced that the Google
Chrome web browser has 1.5% of the iOS web browser market since its release.
The maps application can access Google Maps
in map, satellite, or hybrid form. It can also generate
directions between two locations, while providing optional real-time traffic
information. During the iPhone's announcement, Jobs demonstrated this feature
by searching for nearby Starbucks locations and then placing a prank call
to one with a single tap. Support for walking directions, public transit, and street view was added in the version 2.2
software update, but no voice-guided navigation.
The iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 can orient the map with
its digital compass. Apple also developed a separate application to view
YouTube videos on the iPhone, which streams videos after encoding them using
the H.264 codec. Simple weather and stock
quotes applications also tap in to the Internet.
iPhone users can and do access the Internet
frequently, and in a variety of places. According to Google, in 2008,
the iPhone generated 50 times more search requests than any other mobile
handset. According to Deutsche Telekom CEO René Obermann, "The
average Internet usage for an iPhone customer is more than
100 megabytes.
This is 30 times the use for our average contract-based consumer
customers." Nielsen found that 98% of iPhone users use data
services, and 88% use the internet. In China, the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS were
built and distributed without Wi-Fi.
With the introduction of the Verizon iPhone in January
2011, the issue of using internet while on the phone has been brought to the
public's attention. Under the two US carriers, internet and phone could be used
simultaneously on AT&T networks, whereas Verizon networks only support the
use of each separately.
Text input
The virtual
keyboard on the original iPhone touchscreen.
For text input, the iPhone implements a virtual
keyboard on the touchscreen. It has automatic spell
checking and correction, predictive
word capabilities, and a dynamic dictionary that learns new words. The
keyboard can predict what word the user is typing and complete it, and correct
for the accidental pressing of keys near the presumed desired key.
The keys are somewhat larger and spaced farther apart
when in landscape mode, which is supported by only a limited
number of applications. Touching a section of text for a brief time brings up a
magnifying
glass, allowing users to place the cursor in the middle of existing text. The
virtual keyboard can accommodate 21 languages, including character recognition
for Chinese.
Alternate characters with accents can be typed from
the keyboard by pressing the letter for 2 seconds and selecting the alternate
character from the popup. The 3.0 update brought support for cut, copy, or pasting text, as well as
landscape keyboards in more applications. On iPhone 4S, Siri allows dictation.
Email and text messages
The iPhone also features an email program that
supports HTML
email, which enables the user to embed photos in an email message. PDF, Word,
Excel,
and Powerpoint attachments to mail messages can be
viewed on the phone. Apple's MobileMe platform offers push email,
which emulates the functionality of the popular BlackBerry
email solution, for an annual subscription. Yahoo! offers a
free push-email service for the iPhone. IMAP (although not Push-IMAP)
and POP3 mail standards are also supported,
including Microsoft Exchange and Kerio
Connect.
In the first versions of the iPhone firmware, this was
accomplished by opening up IMAP on the Exchange server. Apple has also licensed
Microsoft
ActiveSync and now[when?]
supports the platform (including push email) with the release of iPhone 2.0
firmware. The iPhone will sync email account settings over from Apple's own Mail application, Microsoft
Outlook, and Microsoft Entourage, or it can be manually
configured on the device itself. With the correct settings, the email program
can access almost any IMAP or POP3 account.
Text messages are presented chronologically in a
mailbox format similar to Mail, which places all text from recipients together
with replies. Text messages are displayed in speech bubbles (similar to iChat) under each
recipient's name. The iPhone has built-in support for email message forwarding,
drafts, and direct internal camera-to-email picture sending. Support for
multi-recipient SMS was added in the 1.1.3 software update. Support for MMS was added in the 3.0 update, but
not for the original iPhone and not in the U.S. until September 25, 2009.
Third-party applications
At WWDC 2007 on June 11, 2007, Apple
announced that the iPhone would support third-party "web applications"
written in Ajax 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, at the Apple Town Hall
facility.
It is a free download, with an Apple registration,
that allows developers to develop native applications for the iPhone and iPod
Touch, then test them in an "iPhone simulator". However, loading an
application onto a real device is only possible after paying an Apple Developer Connection membership
fee. Developers are free to set any price for their applications to be
distributed through the App
Store, of which they will receive a 70% share.
Developers can also opt to release the application for
free and will not pay any costs to release or distribute the application beyond
the membership fee. The App Store was launched with the release of iOS 2.0, on
July 11, 2008. The update was free for iPhone users; owners of older iPod
Touches were required to pay US$10 for it.
Once a developer has submitted an application to the
App Store, Apple holds firm control over its distribution. Apple can halt the
distribution of applications it deems inappropriate, for example, I Am Rich,
a US$1000 program that simply demonstrated the wealth of its user. Apple has
been criticized for banning third-party applications that enable a
functionality that Apple does not want the iPhone to have: In 2008, Apple
rejected Podcaster,
which allowed iPhone users to download podcasts directly to the iPhone claiming
it duplicated the functionality of iTunes. Apple has since released a software
update that grants this capability.
NetShare, another rejected app, would have enabled
users to tether
their iPhone to a laptop or desktop, using its cellular network to load data
for the computer. Many carriers of the iPhone later globally allowed tethering
before Apple officially supported it with the upgrade to the iOS 3.0, with AT&T
Mobility being a relative latecomer in the United States. In most cases,
the carrier charges extra for tethering an iPhone.
Before the SDK was released, third-parties were
permitted to design "Web Apps" that would run through Safari.
Unsigned native applications are also available for "jailbroken"
phones. The ability to install native applications onto the iPhone outside of
the App Store is not supported by Apple, the stated reason being that such
native applications could be broken by any software update, but Apple has
stated it will not design software updates specifically to break native
applications other than those that perform SIM unlocking.
As of January 2011, Apple has passed 10 billion
app downloads.
Accessibility
The iPhone can enlarge text to make it more accessible
for vision-impaired users, and can accommodate hearing-impaired users with closed
captioning and external TTY devices. The iPhone 3GS
also features white on black mode, VoiceOver (a screen
reader), and zooming for impaired vision, and mono audio for limited
hearing in one ear. Apple regularly publishes Voluntary Product
Accessibility Templates which explicitly state compliance with the US
regulation "Section 508".
Vulnerability
In 2007, 2010, and 2011, developers released a series
of tools called JailbreakMe that used security vulnerabilities in Mobile
Safari rendering in order to jailbreak
the device (which allows users to install any compatible software on the device
instead of only App Store apps). These exploits were each soon fixed by iOS
updates from Apple. Theoretically these flaws could have also been used for
malicious purposes.
In July 2011, Apple released iOS 4.3.5 (4.2.10 for
CDMA iPhone) to fix a security vulnerability with certificate validation.
Model comparison
This table highlights key differences between
"generations" of the iPhone.
|
Model
|
||||||
|
Status
|
Discontinued
|
Discontinued
|
Discontinued
|
Available
|
Available
|
Available
|
|
89 mm (3.5 in), 3:2 aspect ratio
|
4 in, 16:9 aspect ratio
|
|||||
|
960 × 640 px at 326 ppi
|
1,136 × 640 px at 326 ppi
|
|||||
|
4, 8, or 16 GB
|
8 or 16 GB
|
8, 16, or 32 GB
|
16, 32, or 64 GB
|
|||
|
620 MHz (underclocked
to 412 MHz)
ARM 1176JZ(F)-S |
833 MHz (underclocked to
600 MHz)
ARM Cortex-A8 |
1 GHz (underclocked to
800 MHz)
Apple A4 |
1.3 GHz dual core Apple A6
|
|||
|
PowerVR SGX535
(150 MHz) |
PowerVR SGX535
(200 MHz) |
PowerVR SGX543MP2
|
PowerVR SGX543MP3
|
|||
|
256 MB DRAM
|
512 MB DRAM
|
1GB DRAM
|
||||
|
Cellular connectivity
|
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1,800, 1,900 MHz)
|
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1,800,
1,900 MHz) (GSM model only)
|
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1,800,
1,900 MHz)
|
|||
|
N/A
|
UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1,900,
2,100 MHz) (GSM model only)
|
UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1,900,
2,100 MHz)
|
UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900,
1,900, 2,100 MHz)
|
|||
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
LTE
(Bands 4 and 17) (American GSM model only)
|
|||
|
LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5) (International
GSM model only)
|
||||||
|
LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 13, 25) (CDMA
model only)
|
||||||
|
CDMA EV-DO
Rev. A (800, 1,900 MHz)
|
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800,
1,900, 2,100 MHz) (CDMA model only)
|
|||||
|
New features
|
USB 2.0/dock connector, earphones with mic and button
|
Voice
control, digital
compass (magnetometer),
Nike+, camera tap to focus (iOS 4.0+),
volume controls on earphones
|
3-axis gyroscope, dual-microphone noise
suppression, micro-SIM,
rear camera LED
flash
|
Larger screen, 4G LTE, Lightning
connector, nano-SIM, Apple EarPods
|
||
|
Camera
|
Rear: 8.0 Megapixel, f/2.4
1080p Full HD video at 30 frame/s |
|||||
|
Front: 1.2 Megapixel 720p HD video at 30
frame/s
|
||||||
|
Materials
|
Aluminum, glass and black plastic
|
Glass, plastic, and steel; black
or white
(white not available for 8 GB models) |
Black or white aluminosilicate glass and stainless steel
|
Black or white glass and
"slate" or "silver" colored aluminum
|
||
|
Dimensions
|
115.0 mm (4.53 in) H
61.0 mm (2.40 in) W 11.6 mm (0.46 in) D |
115.5 mm (4.55 in) H
62.1 mm (2.44 in) W 12.3 mm (0.48 in) D |
115.2 mm (4.54 in) H
58.66 mm (2.309 in) W 9.3 mm (0.37 in) D |
123.8 mm (4.87 in) H
58.6 mm (2.31 in) W 7.6 mm (0.30 in) D |
||
|
Weight
|
135 g (4.8 oz)
|
133 g (4.7 oz)
|
135 g (4.8 oz)
|
137 g (4.8 oz)
|
140 g (4.9 oz)
|
112 g (3.95 oz)
|
|
Power
|
Built-in, non removable,
rechargeable lithium-ion
polymer battery
|
|||||
|
Announced
|
January 9, 2007
|
June 9, 2008
|
June 8, 2009
|
June 7, 2010
|
October 4, 2011
|
September 12, 2012
|
|
Released
|
4 and 8 GB: June 29, 2007
16 GB: February 5, 2008 |
July 11, 2008
|
16 and 32 GB: June 19, 2009
Black 8 GB: June 24, 2010 |
GSM (Black): June 24, 2010
CDMA (Black): February 10, 2011 White: April 28, 2011 8 GB: October 4, 2011 (Available from Oct 14, 2011) |
October 14, 2011
|
September 21, 2012
|
|
Discontinued
|
4 GB: September 5, 2007
8 and 16 GB: July 11, 2008 |
16 GB: June 8, 2009
Black 8 GB: June 4, 2010 |
16 and 32 GB: June 24, 2010
Black 8 GB: September 12, 2012 |
16 and 32 GB (unlocked only):
October 4, 2011
Black and White 8 GB: In production |
32 and 64 GB : September
12, 2012
Black and White 16 GB: In production |
In production
|
|
Model
|
||||||
Intellectual property
Apple has filed more than 200 patent applications related to the technology
behind the iPhone.
LG Electronics claimed the design of the iPhone was
copied from the LG Prada. Woo-Young Kwak, head of LG Mobile
Handset R&D Center, said at a press conference: "we consider that
Apple copied Prada phone after the design was unveiled when it was presented in
the iF Design Award and won the prize in September 2006."
On September 3, 1993, Infogear filed
for the U.S. trademark "I PHONE" and on March 20, 1996, applied for
the trademark "IPhone" "I Phone" was registered in March
1998, and "IPhone" was registered in 1999. Since then, the I PHONE
mark had been abandoned. Infogear trademarks cover "communications
terminals comprising computer hardware and software providing integrated
telephone, data communications and personal computer functions" (1993
filing), and "computer hardware and software for providing integrated
telephone communication with computerized global information networks"
(1996 filing).
Infogear released a telephone with an integrated web
browser under the name iPhone in 1998. In 2000, Infogear won an
infringement claim against the owners of the iphones.com domain name. In June
2000, Cisco
Systems acquired Infogear, including the iPhone trademark. On December 18,
2006, they released a range of re-branded Voice
over IP (VoIP) sets under the name iPhone.
In October 2002, Apple applied for the
"iPhone" trademark in the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, and
the European Union. A Canadian application followed in October 2004, and a New
Zealand application in September 2006. As of October 2006, only the Singapore
and Australian applications had been granted. In September 2006, a company
called Ocean Telecom Services applied for an "iPhone" trademark in
the United States, United Kingdom and Hong Kong, following a filing in Trinidad
and Tobago.
As the Ocean Telecom trademark applications use
exactly the same wording as the New Zealand application of Apple, it is assumed
that Ocean Telecom is applying on behalf of Apple. The Canadian application was
opposed in August 2005, by a Canadian company called Comwave who
themselves applied for the trademark three months later. Comwave has been
selling VoIP devices called iPhone since 2004.
Shortly after Steve Jobs' January 9, 2007,
announcement that Apple would be selling a product called iPhone in June 2007,
Cisco issued a statement that it had been negotiating trademark licensing with
Apple and expected Apple to agree to the final documents that had been
submitted the night before. On January 10, 2007, Cisco announced it had filed a
lawsuit against Apple over the infringement of the trademark iPhone, seeking an
injunction in federal court to prohibit Apple from using the name. More
recently,[when?] Cisco
claimed that the trademark lawsuit was a "minor skirmish" that was
not about money, but about interoperability.
On February 2, 2007, Apple and Cisco announced that
they had agreed to temporarily suspend litigation while they held settlement
talks, and subsequently announced on February 20, 2007, that they had reached
an agreement. Both companies will be allowed to use the "iPhone" name
in exchange for "exploring interoperability" between their security,
consumer, and business communications products.
The iPhone has also inspired several leading high-tech
clones,[ driving both the popularity of Apple and
consumer willingness to upgrade iPhones quickly.
On October 22, 2009, Nokia filed a lawsuit
against Apple for infringement of its GSM, UMTS and WLAN patents. Nokia alleges
that Apple has been violating ten of the patents of Nokia since the iPhone
initial release.
In December 2010, Reuters reported
that some iPhone and iPad
users were suing Apple Inc. because some applications were passing user
information to third-party advertisers without permission. Some makers of the
applications such as Textplus4, Paper Toss,
Weather
Channel, Dictionary.com, Talking Tom Cat and Pumpkin Maker have
also been named as co-defendants in the lawsuit.
In August 2012, Apple won a smartphone patent lawsuit
against Samsung,
the world's largest maker of smartphones.
Secret tracking
Since April 20, 2011, a hidden unencrypted
file on the iPhone and other iOS devices has been widely discussed in the
media. It was alleged that the file, labeled "consolidated.db",
constantly stores the iPhone user's movement by approximating geographic
locations calculated by triangulating nearby cell phone towers, a technology
proven to be inaccurate at times. The file was released with the June 2010
update of Apple iOS4
and may contain almost one year's worth of data. Previous versions of iOS
stored similar information in a file called "h-cells.plist".
F-Secure discovered that the data is transmitted to Apple
twice a day and postulate that Apple is using the information to construct
their global location database similar to the ones constructed by Google and Skyhook
through wardriving.
Nevertheless, unlike the Google "Latitude" application, which performs a
similar task on Android phones, the file is not
dependent upon signing a specific EULA or even the user's knowledge, but it is stated in the
15,200 word-long terms and conditions of the iPhone that "Apple
and [their] partners and licensees may collect, use, and share precise location
data, including the real-time geographic location of [the user's] Apple
computer or device".
The file is also automatically copied onto the user's
computer once synchronized with the iPhone. An open source
application named "iPhoneTracker", which turns the data stored in the
file into a visual map, was made available to the public in April 2011. While
the file cannot be erased without jailbreaking
the phone, it can be encrypted.
Apple gave an official response on their web site on
April 27, 2011, after questions were submitted by users, the Associated
Press and others.[ Apple indicated that the data is a
crowd-sourced location database cache, used to make location services faster,
and that the volume of data retained was an error; they 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, stopped it being backed up to iTunes, and erased it entirely
if whenever location services were turned off. The upload to Apple can also be
selectively disabled from "System services", "Cell Network
Search."
Restrictions
Jailbroken iPod Touch
on iOS 3.0. The serial
number and Wi-Fi address have been removed from the image.
See also: Hardware restrictions#Apple devices
Apple tightly controls certain aspects of the iPhone.
According to Jonathan Zittrain, the emergence of closed
devices like the iPhone have made computing more proprietary than early versions of Microsoft
Windows.[252]
The hacker community has found many workarounds, most
of which are disallowed by Apple and threaten to void the device's
warranty. "Jailbreaking"
allows users to install apps not available on the App Store or modify basic
functionality. SIM unlocking allows the iPhone to be used on a different
carrier's network.
The iPhone also has an area and settings where parents
can set restriction or parental controls on apps that can be downloaded or used
within the iPhone. The restrictions area will require a password.
Activation
The iPhone normally prevents access to its media
player and web features unless it has also been activated as a phone with an
authorized carrier. On July 3, 2007, Jon
Lech Johansen reported on his blog that he had successfully bypassed this
requirement and unlocked the iPhone's other features with a combination of
custom software and modification of the iTunes binary. He published the
software and offsets for others to use.[
Unlike the original, the iPhone 3G must be activated
in the store in most countries. This makes the iPhone 3G more difficult, but
not impossible, to hack. The need for in-store activation, as well as the huge
number of first-generation iPhone and iPod Touch
users upgrading to iPhone OS 2.0, caused a worldwide overload of Apple's servers on July 11, 2008, the day on which both
the iPhone 3G and iPhone OS 2.0 updates as well as MobileMe were
released. After the update, devices were required to connect to Apple's servers
to authenticate the update, causing many devices to be temporarily unusable.
Users on the O2 network in the United Kingdom, however, can
buy the phone online and activate it via iTunes as with the previous model.
Even where not required, vendors usually offer activation for the buyer's
convenience. In the U.S., Apple has begun to offer free shipping on both the
iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS (when available), reversing the in-store
activation requirement. Best Buy and Walmart will also sell the iPhone.
Unapproved third-party software and
jailbreaking
The iPhone's operating system is designed to only run
software that has an Apple-approved cryptographic
signature. This restriction can be overcome by "jailbreaking" the
phone, which involves replacing the iPhone's firmware with a
slightly modified version that does not enforce the signature check. Doing so
may be a circumvention of Apple's technical protection measures. Apple,
in a statement to the United States Copyright Office in
response to Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
lobbying for a DMCA exception for this kind of hacking, claimed that
jailbreaking the iPhone would be copyright infringement due to the necessary
modification of system software. However in 2010 Jailbreaking was declared
officially legal in the United States by the DMCA. Jailbroken
iPhones may be susceptible to computer viruses, but few such incidents have
been reported.
iOS and Android 2.3.3 'Gingerbread' may be set
up to dual boot on a jailbroken iPhone with the help of OpeniBoot or
iDroid.
SIM unlocking
United States
Most iPhones were and are still sold with a SIM lock,
which restricts the use of the phone to one particular carrier, a common
practice with subsidized GSM
phones. Unlike most GSM phones however, the phone cannot be officially unlocked
by entering a code. The locked/unlocked state is maintained on Apple's servers
per IMEI and is set
when the iPhone is activated.
While the iPhone was initially sold
in the US only on the AT&T network with a SIM lock in place, various
hackers have found methods to "unlock"
the phone from a specific network. Although AT&T, Sprint and Verizon are
the only authorized iPhone carriers in the United States, unlocked iPhones can
be used with other carriers after unlocking. For example, an unlocked iPhone
may be used on the T-Mobile network in the U.S. but, while an unlocked iPhone
is compatible with T-Mobile's voice network, it may not be able to make
use of 3G functionality (i.e., no mobile web or e-mail, etc.). More than a
quarter of the original iPhones sold in the United States were not registered
with AT&T. Apple speculates that they were likely shipped overseas and
unlocked, a lucrative market before the iPhone 3G's worldwide release.
On March 26, 2009, AT&T in the United States began
selling the iPhone without a contract, though still SIM-locked to their
network. The up-front purchase price of such iPhone units is often twice as
expensive as those bundled with contracts. Outside of the United States,
policies differ, especially in US territories and insular areas like Guam, where GTA
TeleGuam is the exclusive carrier for the iPhone, since none of the three U.S.
carriers (AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon) has a presence in the area.
Beginning April 8, 2012, AT&T began offering a
factory SIM unlock option (which Apple calls a "whitelisting",
allowing it to be used on any carrier the phone supports) for iPhone owners.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, carriers O2, Orange,
3,
Vodafone,
T-Mobile,
as well as MVNO Tesco
Mobile sell the device under subsidised contracts, or for use on pay as you
go. They are locked to network initially, though are usually able to be
unlocked either after a certain period of contract length has passed, or for a
small fee. The iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S are all currently sold
unlocked without a contract for use on any mobile network, but only when bought
directly from Apple Retail Stores or Apple Online Store.
Australia and other countries
Five major carriers in Australia, (Three,
Optus, Telstra, Virgin Mobile, and Vodafone), offer legitimate unlocking, now at no
cost for all iPhone devices, both current and prior models. The iPhone 3GS and
the iPhone 4 can also be bought unlocked from Apple Retail Stores or the Apple
Online Store.
Internationally, policies vary, but many carriers sell
the iPhone unlocked for full retail price.wikipedia
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