The iPhone is the world’s most popular smartphone.
The iPhone is Apple’s smartphone. Launched in 2007, it is Apple’s best-selling product, representing around half of the company’s revenue for more than a decade.
The slim device’s innovative touchscreen interface revolutionized the way users interact with smartphones. Apple continually updates the iPhone, releasing new models with new features every year.
The iPhone runs on a proprietary operating system known as iOS, which shares many features with iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and visionOS. iOS 26 is the current version.
In 2025, the iPhone lineup currently includes five models — the budget iPhone 16e, the regular iPhone 17, the iPhone Air, the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. Apple announces most models every year in early September, while replacements for the 16e are expected around February. Apple also continues to offer older models for sale at a reduced price after they’ve been replaced.
Table of contents: Everything you need to know about the iPhone
It was the first smartphone with an all-screen design, capacitive touchscreen and advanced modern software with full web browsing capabilities. Phones before the iPhone came with physical keyboards, required you to click around with arrow keys for navigation instead of tapping the screen, and ran limited proprietary software.
The iPhone’s 3.5-inch touchscreen display and powerful software (based on Mac OS X) set it apart from the competition. These two technologies enabled all kinds of innovation in the interface that we still use today: the Home screen of apps, inertial scrolling, slide to unlock, pinch to zoom and a software keyboard.
The original iPhone lacked many major features, though. There were no third-party apps or App Store, because the software was still being developed. That would not arrive until the following year. The camera didn’t take video, only very low-resolution pictures. Cellphone cameras in 2007 were not expected to be good. There was no copy and paste feature — the design team hadn’t figured out a good interface for it yet. iMessage wouldn’t launch for another few years — the iPhone only supported SMS/MMS texting.
iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS
The iPhone 3G was a big step forward.
The iPhone 3G in 2008 brought a much improved wireless connection. The original was limited to the 2G Edge network, with typical download speeds a measly 0.1 Mb/s. Without Wi-Fi, downloading emails or browsing the web was nigh unusably slow. The 3G radio significantly helped.
It also added GPS, offering precise location tracking in Google Maps.
The iPhone 3G switched out the two-tone design for a plastic shell, in either black or white. The headphone jack was no longer recessed, allowing for more kinds of headphones to be plugged in.
The iPhone 3GS in 2009 was the first model to get a faster processor, making it twice as fast. It also had a higher resolution 3 MP camera capable of recording video.
iPhone 4
The iPhone 4 had a timeless and beautiful design.
The iPhone 4 in 2010 was a huge leap forward when it debuted in 2010. Its design, with glass on the front and back sandwiched around a silver stainless steel band, is one of the most iconic. It still feels very premium and nice in the hand to this day.
The Retina display doubled the resolution of the screen, so text is easier to read and images and video look crisper and higher-resolution. It maintained the same 3.5-inch size, but with pixels doubled from 480 × 320 to 960 × 640 resolution. Apple rolled out Retina displays across the rest of its product lineup, onto the iPad in 2011, the MacBook Pro in 2012 and the iMac in 2014.
It introduced the first front-facing “selfie” camera on an iPhone, and brought with it FaceTime video calling. (Although, at first, you could only FaceTime other people who had an iPhone 4.)
This iPhone is famous for leaking before its official introduction. A prototype iPhone 4 was accidentally left in a bar by an Apple engineer. It ended up in the hands of Gizmodo, which bought it for $5,000 and published all kinds of details about its design and features.
In the United States, the iPhone 4 was the first model to be offered on Verizon, ending its exclusivity with AT&T. Interestingly, the Verizon iPhone 4 had a different physical design, with antennas repositioned around the outside. This design would be used on the iPhone 4s.
Those antenna lines on the outside were famous for causing the iPhone to lose some of its signal strength if they were covered up by your hand. Steve Jobs was called back home from his Hawaii vacation in order to hold a press conference addressing the issue. In the end, Apple offered customers a free bumper case that would cover up the lines, and future models were designed with the antenna lines in different spots that are harder to cover up.
The iPhone 4s introduced us to Siri, clad in gray linen.
The iPhone 4s in 2011 was a significant internal upgrade. It again had a significantly faster chip inside, the A5. It was the first iPhone to get 4G LTE connectivity. The rear camera was also now capable of recording 1080p video, with some image stabilization.
The iPhone 4s was most famous for introducing Siri. The first generation voice assistant, then in beta, could set timers, read and send texts, play music from your library, perform math calculations via Wolfram Alpha, give information on movies and actors from Wikipedia, and more. (Not much has changed on that front.)
It was also the first iPhone not to be introduced by Steve Jobs. The keynote was hosted by CEO Tim Cook; the iPhone 4s was introduced by Phil Schiller and Scott Forstall. The iPhone 4s was announced on September 4, 2011; Jobs died the following day.
From this point onwards, new iPhones were introduced in September, with few exceptions.
iPhone 5
The iPhone 5 and 5s raised the size of the screen for the first time.
The iPhone 5 in 2012 was the first model to come with a bigger screen, raising it from 3.5 inches to 4. It increased the height of the display without changing the width, making it a standard 16:9 aspect ratio. Apple marketing claimed that the new display was still easy to use with one hand, as one thumb could easily reach over to the opposite edge or up to the very top. The taller screen allowed for an extra row of icons on the Home Screen, or an extra email to display in your inbox.
The iPhone 5 came in a very dark black finish, that had a tendency to chip away as it aged.
iPhone 5s and 5c
The iPhone 5s in 2013 brought two major innovations.
Touch ID let you authenticate your iPhone using a fingerprint sensor built into its Home Button. With one simple click of the button, you could wake up your iPhone and instantly unlock it. Prior to Touch ID, many people didn’t set up their phone with a passcode. This significantly increased the security of iPhone users everywhere.
The A7 chip inside the iPhone 5s was also the first 64-bit chip in a smartphone. This gave the iPhone 5s a much longer lease on life than previous models. The iPhone 5s launched with iOS 7, but can be updated to iOS 12.5.7 — that’s five major updates. Previous models had only received three or four.
It also came in three colors: Silver, Space Gray and a new Gold.
The iPhone 5c was Apple’s most colorful iPhone yet.
After the debut of the iPhone 5s, instead of continuing the sale of the iPhone 5 at a lower cost, Apple replaced it with the iPhone 5c. It was essentially an iPhone 5, but with a colorful plastic shell instead of the similar-looking metal body.
iPhone 6, 6 Plus and 6s
The iPhone 6 had a more simple design that stayed for many years.
The iPhone 6 was the first iPhone to have a protruding camera. While this change was wildly controversial at the time, it now seems quaint. Its single lens looks like a tiny blemish on the back compared to today’s iPhones, with gigantic multi-camera arrays.
It also adopted a more basic design, with a rounded aluminum body, that would stay for many years.
The iPhone 6s in 2015 was a large internal upgrade. The A9 chip significantly boosted performance by 70%. A second-generation Touch ID sensor was much faster. The display introduced 3D Touch — a pressure-sensitive layer that added an extra dimension to interaction. In addition to a tap, you could press. This would let you preview an email without opening it, or you could press the edge of the screen to quickly switch apps. The camera also introduced Live Photos for the first time.
iPhone 7 and 8
The iPhone 7 came in a brilliant Jet Black finish.
The iPhone 7 in 2016 brought with it a haptic Home Button. The button no longer physically clicked, but instead used a precisely controlled motor to simulate a button click. The iPhone 7 Plus was the first iPhone to introduce a dual-lens camera system, offering a telephoto optical 2× zoom. Portrait Mode combined the image from both lenses to simulate a shallow depth of field effect, also known as ‘bokeh.’
It also came in a special Jet Black color, with a highly polished black aluminum finish.
The all-screen design abandoned the Home Button that had been present since the very beginning, along with the chunky bezels on the top and bottom. The screen reached all the way to the edge, allowing for a significantly larger screen in a phone was largely the same physical size.
Shrinking the proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, speaker and camera — along with the new Face ID sensors — led to a large notch in the top of the screen. The iPhone 13 Pro would reposition the speaker even higher, allowing the notch to shrink; the iPhone 14 Pro would replace the notch with the Dynamic Island.
The A11 chip inside the iPhone X was the first to include a Neural Engine, for better performance with machine learning-based tasks and features. The Neural Engine would later become an integral part of Apple silicon, powering Apple Intelligence on the iPhone 15 Pro and later.
iPhone XS, XS Max, XR, 11 and 11 Pro
The iPhone XS marked the return of gold.
The iPhone XS debuted on September 12, 2018. The A12 chip inside was a monumental leap forward, with a 50% faster GPU and 8× faster Neural Engine. The modern all-screen design now came in two sizes — the iPhone XS Max was the same phone, in a much larger 6.5-inch size.
The iPhone XR debuted at the same event, as a lower-cost model with a similar design. It featured a lower-resolution LCD display rather than an OLED panel, with a screen size squarely in the middle at 6.1 inches.
The iPhone 11 lineup replaced all three models on September 10, 2019. Last year’s iPhone XR was revised to become the iPhone 11, with a much-upgraded camera. The iPhone XS and XS Max became the new iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max, featuring much brighter displays, a new triple-camera layout and far greater battery life.
iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineup
The iPhone 12 was the first with 5G.
Three became four with the new iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max, featuring a fresh redesign with flat edges all around. These models were the first iPhones with 5G connectivity, and introduced the MagSafe line of chargers and accessories. The entry-level models were finally bumped from an LCD display to OLED, like the Pro models.
The quadruplets carried over the following year as well, with the iPhone 13 lineup. The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max now featured always-on displays, letting you keep an eye on your notifications and the time while your phone is locked.
iPhone 14, iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 lineup
The iPhone 15 and 16 Pro (pictured) switched from polished stainless steel to a matte titanium frame.
The iPhone 14 lineup dropped the mini. It now consisted of the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max and an iPhone 14 Plus — a budget phone with the same screen size as the Pro Max. The iPhone 14 introduced Emergency SOS via Satellite, for contacting emergency services in remote locations. On the pro models, the notch was replaced by a new Dynamic Island — a floating black cutout in the display, that can show background tasks like timers and navigation up in the status area. The main rear camera could take 48 MP photos for the first time.
The iPhone 15 lineup switched all models away from Lightning to the industry-standard USB-C connector. The lower-end models now featured the Dynamic Island. On the iPhone 15 Pro, the traditional ring/mute switch was replaced by a customizable Action button. The pro models support Apple Intelligence.
The iPhone 16 lineup introduced a new Camera Control button for quickly opening and operating the camera. It is also pressure-sensitive for detecting half-presses and touch-sensitive for swiping along the surface. The lower-end models also received the Action button. All models support Apple Intelligence. The Pro models can now seamlessly shoot 4K 120 fps video.
An addition to the 16 lineup was released the following February, the iPhone 16e. This replaced the aging SE model. It modernizes the budget model with an edge-to-edge screen, Face ID and a single 48 MP rear camera. Reviews praised its lightweight and gorgeous design, though it was criticized for lacking MagSafe — a standard feature since 2020.
iPhone 17 lineup
The iPhone Air is shakes up the lineup.
Apple changed things up in 2025 once again. The Plus model was discontinued in favor of an all-new model, the iPhone Air. Thin is in like it’s 2014 again. It made sacrifices on speakers, rear cameras and battery life for the sake of being just 5.6 mm thin through its body — although the camera and plateau protrude a little farther. Reviews were glowing about its stunning design.
All 17 models received a much-needed update to the selfie camera, with a square sensor that can take both vertical and horizontal selfies, no matter how you hold the phone. The Pro models were updated with a 48 MP sensor in the telephoto lens, allowing for smooth zooming between 4–8× levels at full quality. All models were also bumped up to 256 GB of storage.
iPhone Features
iPhone camera
The camera dominates the back of the iPhone.
The camera is one of the iPhone’s most prominent features, with a large multi-camera system dominating the back of the phone on the pro models. Here’s a quick guide to the features of the iPhone’s camera:
Portrait mode will artificially blur the background, like a DSLR camera. This works best if there’s a lot of clear separation between your subject and the background. I also recommend using this feature outside during the day, or indoors with a lot of even light, for the best results. You can also pick a few color effects; the zoom control is moved to the corner.
If your phone has multiple lenses, you can tap .5, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 to switch between them. You can also pinch to freely zoom in and out. Tap the Reverse button in the bottom right to switch to the front-facing camera.
Pano will take a panorama. Hold your phone steady (or put it on a tripod) and tap the button to start. Slowly and steadily spin your phone around in a circle to capture your surroundings.
Video modes
Swipe right or tap Video to record instead. In the upper right corner, you can tap to change the video resolution or frame rate. As you’re recording, hit the white button to take a picture.
Tap the icon of a person running to turn on Action mode. This will stabilize the video if you’re filming handheld with a lot of motion. This feature requires an iPhone 14 or newer.
Cinematic mode is like Portrait mode for video. It’ll intelligently determine the focus of the shot and blur the background. You can even adjust the focus after the video’s been taken. This is available on the iPhone 13 or newer.
Slo-Mo will record video at a much higher frame rate, played back in slow motion. In the upper right corner, you can set the speed. 120 is 4 times slower; 240 is eight times slower.
Time-Lapse is the opposite; it’ll speed up your video. Set your phone steady on a ledge, shelf or tripod and start recording. However long you record for, it’ll shorten the result to about twenty seconds or so.
Camera Control
The Camera Control button on iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro gives you instant access to your camera AND camera settings.
The Camera Control is a new button on the side of the iPhone 16 lineup. It makes opening the camera and taking a picture faster than ever before:
Click the button to open the Camera app.
Click the button again to take a picture.
Hold the button down to take a video.
It also has some advanced functionality, for operating the camera, that you can enable in Settings:
Half-click the button to bring up a control slider to zoom in and out. Swipe your finger along the button to control the zoom level.
Double-half-click the button to switch between other camera controls.
Half-click and hold the button down to lock the focus and exposure.
Dynamic Island
The Dynamic Island morphs into different sorts of interactive widgets at the top of the screen.
The Dynamic Island is a status area at the top of the screen on the iPhone 15, iPhone 14 Pro and later models. Music or podcasts playing in the background, active phone calls, running timers, Apple Maps navigation and more will add little widgets to the Dynamic Island so you can quickly switch back to them.
Tap on an item to switch to that app.
Tap and hold on it to bring up quick interactive controls.
iPhone screen
Modern iPhones have an OLED screen, where each pixel can be individually lit. That means you get true, deep blacks and higher contrast. iPhone screens can also show HDR (High Dynamic Range) content. This brightens parts of the image for more vibrant colors.
Newer iPhones can hit a maximum typical brightness of 1,000 nits, considered bright enough to be legible outdoors, with a higher peak brightness for HDR content. The iPhone 15 and newer models can reach up to 2,000 nits outdoors, making them ideal for those bright sunny days.
The iPhone 13 Pro, later pro models and the iPhone 17 have a ProMotion display. Whereas a typical display refreshes at 60 Hz, a ProMotion display can refresh up to 120 Hz for smoother animations. It can also match the refresh rate of the content onscreen, if you’re watching a 30 FPS video or a 24 FPS movie. When nothing is moving on the screen, it can drop down to 10 FPS for preserving battery life.
The iPhone 14 Pro, subsequent pro phones and the iPhone 17 come with an always-on screen. When the phone isn’t being used, it dims the brightness of your Lock Screen, while keeping your notifications and wallpaper visible. Apple says the always-on screen only takes approximately 1% of battery life per hour.
StandBy
It turns your phone into a little smart display when you’re not using it.
StandBy is a special mode you can put your phone in while it’s sitting on your desk, nightstand or counter. To enter StandBy, your phone has to be charging and held horizontally. This works great if you have a MagSafe charging stand, but also works if your phone is plugged in and propped up.
In StandBy mode, your phone can show you the time, rotate through photos, or show a variety of widgets.
StandBy was introduced in iOS 17 on models with MagSafe.
iPhone storage
Every iPhone, just like a computer, has internal storage for saving photos, apps, messages and more. The latest iPhones come with 256 GB of storage on the base model, but can be ordered in higher capacities of 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB.
iPhone Photos
The new Photos library in iOS 18 has a floating toolbar at the bottom.
Apple Photos is the photo management app on your iPhone. Images you take on the camera, or save from the web, are added to your photo library here.
The Photos app is divided into two sections.
When you launch the app, you can scroll up to browse through your library. Tap the Sort & Filter button in the bottom left to view pictures sorted by date added instead of date taken, or to show screenshots in with the rest of your photos.
Scroll down to browse through collections and albums. You’ll see your albums, named people and pets, pinned collections, intelligently chosen collections of trips and memories and different media types and utilities. You can customize the order of these items by tapping Customize & Reorder at the bottom.
You can assign names to the people and pets in your photo library to make them easier to find. You can tap the Search button at the top to find images based on the name of the people, the location, the date and even objects inside the photo.
Photos automatically sync every night to iCloud when your iPhone is charging and connected to Wi-Fi. New photos and edits will sync across all your devices.
You can create a shared photo library with those close to you. You can each continue to have photos private to yourselves, but photos you take together can be added to the shared library automatically.
iMessage on iPhone
iMessage is a special feature that kicks in when you’re texting another person with an iPhone. Instead of texting by SMS (or RCS) using your cell carrier, it’ll send your text over iMessage.
iMessage allows for higher-quality photos and videos, text formatting, larger file attachments, stickers, SharePlay and built-in apps and games.
You can use iMessage from any iPhone, but also on a Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro.
iPhone Backup
You can sync huge amounts of data to the web with iCloud.
iCloud can seamlessly back up your iPhone every night when it’s charging and connected to Wi-Fi. This means that if you ever lose or upgrade your device, you can pick up exactly where you left off.
Turn it on in Settings, tap on your name at the top, tap iCloud and tap iCloud Backup. Make sure you enable Back Up This iPhone.
Find My iPhone
Find My lets you find a lost device. Whether it was misplaced around the house, left at a friend’s place or stolen, Find My will help you get it back.
You can launch the Find My app from any of your other Apple devices, like an iPad, Mac or Apple Watch. You can also use Find My from a Windows PC or Android device via icloud.com.
iPhone Accessories
MagSafe
MagSafe is the name for accessories, cases, stands, chargers, wallets and more that attach to your iPhone magnetically. The feature was introduced on the iPhone 12 and is compatible with all subsequent models (except the iPhone 16e).
MagSafe chargers
A MagSafe charger can charge at speeds up to 25W on the iPhone 16 and later. Most officially certified MagSafe devices charge at 15W, while other third-party “MagSafe-compatible” devices only charge at 7.5W.
MagSafe chargers typically either snap onto the back of your phone with wired cables or attach your phone to solid charging stands. You can also find MagSafe battery packs, if you want to top up your battery without dealing with a messy cable in your pocket. MagSafe car chargers let you quickly prop up your phone with navigation, while charging it up as well.
A thicker case will prevent your iPhone from connecting to MagSafe, as the magnets will not be able to make a strong connection. But a MagSafe case will include the same pattern of magnets built in, so that you can keep using the same accessories.
MagSafe wallets
If you want to carry around a small handful of cards, you can carry them in a magnetically attaching MagSafe wallet.
When not unfolded for use like this, the charger folds flat. Photo: David Snow/Cult of Mac
Love the convenience of 3-in-1 wireless chargers for iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods — but wish they were faster? Well, Ugreen joined the early wave of Qi2.2 chargers with it MagFlow 3-in-1 Magnetic Wireless Charger. And that means it leaps from 15 watts (Qi2) to 25W (Qi2.2) of charging power for late-model iPhones, which makes a big difference in charging speed. And with this Ugreen MagFlow charger deal, you can get $40 off right now on Amazon.
In several states, Apple’s state ID initiative enables iPhones and Apple Watches to hold a digital copy of the user’s driver’s license, in the same way these devices store credit cards and airline tickets. And across the United States, you can create an Apple Digital ID based on your passport that can get you through some airport security checks.
The day when an iPhone can completely take the place of an old-fashioned wallet remains years away, but it’s a goal Apple is working toward. Apple Pay is making progress on replacing credit cards, you can put airline tickets in the Wallet app, and the same goes for loyalty cards.
But no wallet is complete unless it can hold an ID. And that’s where Apple’s digital ID initiative comes in. Here’s what you need to know to add your driver’s license, state ID or federal passport to your Apple Wallet.
13 states or territories, including Georgia, are fully on board. Image: Apple/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
When will you be able to add your driver’s license or state ID to Apple Wallet on your iPhone? In the United States, it varies by where you live. It’s not up to Apple: Each state and territory maintains a completely independent registry of drivers and identification cards, so each one must independently pass legislation and implement digital IDs.
If you live in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Puerto Rico or West Virginia, you can do it today. (Our guide will show you how to add your driver’s license to Apple Wallet.) Otherwise, check our map and lists below to see how likely your state is to let you add your ID to Apple Wallet, and when it might happen.
The never-ending battle between Apple and Samsung takes another turn. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
November 13, 2013: Apple and Samsung head back to court to determine how much the Korean company must pay for having copied the iPhone. Cupertino asks Samsung for $379 million in damages for ripping off key iPhone technical and design features.
Apple arrives at that number based on estimated lost profits, royalty rates and the $3.5 billion worth of copyright-infringing devices Samsung sold during the period in question.
Digital ID joins Apple Wallet. It’s a passport-based ID on iPhone and Watch. Image: Apple/Cult of Mac
Apple launched Digital ID, a new option to create an ID in Apple Wallet using information from a U.S. passport. The information can be presented to TSA when traveling, saving on the hassle of pulling out a physical passport. And it’s available nationwide, not just in select states.
“With the launch of Digital ID, we’re excited to expand the ways users can store and present their identity — all with the security and privacy built into iPhone and Apple Watch,” said Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.
You can do quite a lot with SamSung SmartThings and Siri. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
If you’re an Apple user who’s been eyeing Samsung’s SmartThings ecosystem, you might be wondering how well it plays with Siri and your other Apple devices. The good news? SmartThings has robust HomeKit support, meaning you can control a wide range of smart home devices using Siri voice commands, the Home app and Apple’s automation features. Here are five impressive ways to integrate SmartThings into your Apple-powered smart home.
Simplify tasks using Apple Intelligence-powered Shortcuts in iOS 26. Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Shortcuts are more innovative than ever in iOS 26, thanks to Apple Intelligence. They now support LLM-based actions and automations that can make quick work of various time-consuming tasks. You can streamline audio transcription, movie streaming, food tracking and more.
Best of all, Apple users are sharing an increasing number of user-created shortcuts that you can try out for free. I compiled a list of the 13 most exciting shortcuts powered by Apple Intelligence to give you a taste of just how useful they can be.
Security patches stand between your Apple devices and danger. Graphic: Google Gemini
When Apple needs to install a security patch onto an iPhone, iPad or Mac, it now does so without requiring the user to do anything — or even be aware of the update. The new Background Security Improvements feature delivers “additional security protections between software updates,” according to Apple.
It’s a feature of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1 and macOS 26.1, but users have the option to deactivate it.
Can Google AI finally fix Siri? Sounds like Apple's betting on it. Image: Cult of Mac
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Apple reportedly plans to pay a cool $1 billion a year to use Google Gemini to make Siri smarter. How do we feel about that? Honestly, anything that fixes Siri sooner rather than later would be a big win.
Anybody creeped out about iPhones and Macs with Google inside should rest easy, though. Apple plans to keep everything safe and secure. And Cupertino’s still scrambling to get its own AI up to speed.
Also on The CultCast:
Apple plans to build a low-priced laptop that will bring Macs to the masses. We discuss why that has PC makers quaking in their boots.
The iPhone Air is reportedly a bust. One big reason is that people love their iPhone cameras — and the Air skimped out on that. The next iPhone Air model might add a second lens, but really fix the problem?
Some automakers plan to pull the plug on CarPlay. We’re already plotting our revolt!
Griffin runs down the top five features in iOS 26.1 that you should try immediately, including one important toggle that will keep your iPhone from photographing the luxurious insides of your pocket.
And finally, we wrap up with a new game — Apple Mad Libs!
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
It’s easy to factory reset your iPhone. Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
You’ll want to reset your iPhone if you’re trading it in, selling it or passing it down to another family member. There’s a right way and a wrong way to do it.
If you don’t fully reset the phone, it’ll still be locked to your Apple Account — and the phone will be effectively useless to anyone who tries to use it.
Follow along to make sure you reset your iPhone the right way.
Nice CarPlay updates in iOS 26 aside, the system's future faces big challenges. Photo: Apple
For millions of iPhone users, Apple’s CarPlay marries basic transportation with a satisfying technology experience for navigation, entertainment and more.
But an expert’s new report points to troubling reasons why CarPlay’s days may be numbered, thanks to a growing automotive industry profit motive. Yes, of course, it’s all about money.
Apple made a simple change in iOS 26.1 that you’ll probably love. AI image: ChatGPT/Cult of Mac
My favorite change in iOS 26.1 has nothing to do with Liquid Glass, though cosmetic tweaks to the glossy user interface have drawn the most attention in the latest OS update. To me, the biggest improvement is the option to disable the Lock Screen swipe to open the iPhone’s Camera app.
I frequently pull out my iPhone to find the Camera app has been running in my pocket, draining the battery. It’s that damn Lock Screen swipe at fault. If this happens to you, too, here’s how to disable it in iOS 26.1.
The best new features in the latest update. Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
iOS 26.1, which Apple released Monday, brings five features you should check out immediately after you install the update.
The biggest change gives you a way to customize the legibility of Liquid Glass, the major user interface overhaul Apple delivered to all its software platforms this year. But there’s plenty of other cool stuff you don’t want to miss.
Other key upgrades come to Apple Music and the iPhone’s alarm clock interface. Plus, there’s a setting that can keep your iPhone battery from draining in your pocket. And for iPad owners, there’s the celebrated return of Slide Over on iPad.
Apple — finally — put the App Store on the web. Screenshot: Lewis Wallace /Cult of Mac
The iPhone App Store is now accessible on a Mac. And iPad users can research what macOS applications are available. Anyone can see what Apple Watch apps are available. All of these are possible now that Apple finally put the App Store on the web Monday.
It’s long overdue, and still missing a feature many users would like.
The iPhone 17 Wi-Fi 7 performance isn’t really turtle-like, but it’s not half as fast as it could be. Illustration: ChatGPT
Although Wi-Fi 7 is theoretically more than four times faster than Wi-Fi 6E, tests of wireless performance on newer iPhone models that support the upgraded standard show no real improvement in speed. This is reportedly because Apple did not implement the Wi-Fi 7 changes that would boost performance over iPhones with Wi-Fi 6E.
In Apple’s defense, it did implement the portion of Wi-Fi 7 intended to make wireless connections more reliable. That’s arguably the part of the standard that benefits average users the most.
The iPhone might get a lot more haptic when its 20th anniversary rolls around. Image: Cult of Mac
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The latest rumor about the 20th anniversary iPhone whets our appetite for this glorious device. It’s just over the horizon, and it sounds like an absolute stunner.
Also on The CultCast:
Apple reportedly plans to bring a gorgeous OLED screen to almost every iPad.
A horrifying AirPods Pro 3 problem strikes when you need it least — while flying! Thankfully, it seems like the glitch is not that widespread. Still, we’ve got some tips on preparing for the worst.
Griffin serves up his M5 Vision Pro review, and Leander talks up Apple Watch Series 11.
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video version, embedded below.
The iPhone was immediately recognized as a breakthrough device. Photo: Time
November 1, 2007: Six months after Steve Jobs showed it off, the original iPhone becomes Time magazine’s “best invention of the year.”
The iPhone stands out from the rest of 2007’s gadget pack, which includes the Nikon Coolpix S51c digital camera, the Netgear SPH200W Wi-Fi Phone and the Samsung P2 music player. Remember those? (Yeah, we thought not.)
iOS 26.1 is packed with new features. Image: Apple/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
In addition to a bunch of much-needed bug fixes, iOS 26.1 brings plenty of new features. Tweaks to Liquid Glass improve its legibility without sacrificing its cool effects. iPad multitaskers can rejoice the return of Slide Over, which returns better than before.
There are 20 new changes: A new user interface for alarms, improvements to Photos, a new gesture for quickly fast-forwarding music, a setting that fixes a long-standing problem with the Lock Screen, and much more.
Here are the products getting repeat customers into Apple stores. AI image: ChatGPT/Cult of Mac
Record numbers of customers upgrading their gear helped push up Apple’s revenue into record territory last quarter, and that’s boosting AAPL’s stock price.
Here are the products that the company says are the most popular with upgraders in Q4 2025. Some you might be able to guess, but there’s a very conspicuous absence from the list.
Be on the lookout for your packages. Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
You can use the built-in iPhone Wallet app for some basic order tracking with classic Apple ease of use. No need to fiddle with finding and copying tracking numbers — your orders will appear there automatically.
If you order something from an online store that doesn’t automatically integrate with the Wallet app, there’s a solution for that as well. If your device supports Apple Intelligence, it’ll scan your email inbox and add in all those Amazon orders, too.
Here’s how the iPhone’s order-tracking feature works.
iPhone 17 success powered Apple to a $4 trillion market cap. Image: Apple/ChatGPT
Apple hit a major stock market milestone Tuesday, with its market capitalization surpassing the staggering $4 trillion mark for the first time. Its valuation shot up recently after reports that the new iPhone 17 models are selling well.
There are far more Liquid Glass fans than you might think. AI image: ChatGPT/Cult of mac
The upcoming iOS 26.1 makes it easy to disable Liquid Glass, the translucent, glasslike user interface recently added to the iPhone (and Apple’s other devices). But judging from the results of a poll of Cult of Mac newsletter readers, a large majority of users are quite happy with Liquid Glass.
There’ve been plenty of complaints about the new look, but it seems these are coming from a vocal minority.
The new Vision Pro is definitely more powerful, but the Dual Knit Band's the real upgrade. Image: Cult of Mac
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Griffin gets his hands on the new M5 Vision Pro, and he’s all too happy to share his first impressions about the upgraded headset.
Also on The CultCast:
The latest iOS beta offers a strange option for people who dislike Liquid Glass.
New rumors about Apple’s folding iPhone and iPad make both projects sound a bit shaky. And the prices we might pay when these devices finally arrive? Outrageous!
The Mac mini is one smokin’ machine, and it powers some pretty sweet setups.
And finally, we field a question from a listener about our Cult of Mac workflows.
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video version, embedded below.
November 13, 2013: Apple and Samsung head back to court to determine how much the Korean company must pay for having copied the 
November 1, 2007: Six months after Steve Jobs showed it off, the original iPhone becomes Time magazine’s “best invention of the year.”
