The iPhone is a line of smartphones designed and marketed by Apple Inc. these devices use Apple's iOS mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007. Since then, Apple has annually released new iPhone models and iOS updates. As of November 1, 2018, more than 2.2 billion iPhones had been sold.
The front face of an iPhone 13 Pro in Sierra Blue
Depends on model
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Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
GSM models also include:
CDMA model also includes:
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The iPhone has a user interface built around a multi-touch screen. It connects to cellular networks or Wi-Fi, and can make calls, browse the web, take pictures, play music and send and receive emails and text messages. Since the iPhone's launch further features have been added, including larger screen sizes, shooting video, waterproofing, the ability to install third-party mobile apps through an app store, and many accessibility features. Up to iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, iPhones used a layout with a single button on the front panel that returns the user to the home screen. Since iPhone X, iPhone models have switched to a nearly bezel-less front screen design with app switching activated by gesture recognition. The iPhone is one of the two largest smartphone platforms in the world alongside Android, forming a large part of the luxury market. The iPhone has generated large profits for Apple, making it one of the world's most valuable publicly traded companies. The first-generation iPhone was described as "revolutionary" and a "game-changer" for the mobile phone industry and subsequent models have also garnered praise. The iPhone has been credited with popularizing the smartphone and slate form factor, and with creating a large market for smartphone apps, or "app economy". As of January 2017[update], Apple's App Store contained more than 2.2 million applications for the iPhone. Development of what was to become the iPhone began in 2004, when Apple started to gather a team of 1,000 employees led by hardware engineer Tony Fadell, software engineer Scott Forstall and design engineer Sir Jonathan Ive[15] to work on the highly confidential "Project Purple".[16][17] Apple CEO Steve Jobs steered the original focus away from a tablet (which Apple eventually revisited in the form of the iPad) towards a phone.[18] Apple created the device during a secretive collaboration with Cingular Wireless (which became AT&T Mobility) at the time—at an estimated development cost of US$150 million over thirty months.[19] According to Steve Jobs, the "i" word in "iMac" (and therefore "iPod", "iPhone" and "iPad") stands for internet, individual, instruct, inform, and inspire.[20][21] Apple rejected the "design by committee" approach that had yielded the Motorola ROKR E1, a largely unsuccessful collaboration with Motorola. Among other deficiencies, the ROKR E1's firmware limited storage to only 100 iTunes songs to avoid competing with Apple's iPod nano.[22][23] Cingular gave Apple the liberty to develop the iPhone's hardware and software in-house[24][25] and even paid Apple a fraction of its monthly service revenue (until the iPhone 3G),[26] in exchange for four years of exclusive U.S. sales, until 2011.[27] Jobs unveiled the iPhone to the public on January 9, 2007, at the Macworld 2007 convention at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.[28] The two initial models, a 4 GB[a] model priced at US$499 and an 8 GB model at US$599 (both requiring a two-year contract), 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.[29] The passionate reaction to the launch of the iPhone resulted in sections of the media dubbing it the 'Jesus phone'.[30][31] Following this successful release in the US, the first generation iPhone was made available in the UK, France, and Germany in November 2007, and Ireland and Austria in the spring of 2008. Worldwide iPhone availability: iPhone available since its original release iPhone 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.[32] Apple released the iPhone 3G in upwards of eighty countries and territories.[33] Apple announced the iPhone 3GS on June 8, 2009, along with plans to release it later in June, July, and August, starting with the US, Canada and major European countries on June 19. Many would-be users objected to the iPhone's cost,[34] and 40% of users had household incomes over US$100,000.[35] First iPhone on display under glass at the January 2007 Macworld show The back of the original first-generation 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.[36] The iPhone 3G was available in an 8 GB black model, or a black or white option for the 16 GB model. 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. Users of the iPhone 4 reported dropped/disconnected telephone calls when holding their phones in a certain way. This became known as antennagate.[37] On January 11, 2011, Verizon announced during a media event that it had reached an agreement with Apple and would begin selling a CDMA iPhone 4. Verizon said it would be available for pre-order on February 3, with a release set for February 10.[38][39] In February 2011, the Verizon iPhone accounted for 4.5% of all iPhone ad impressions in the U.S. on Millennial Media's mobile ad network.[40] From 2007 to 2011, Apple spent $647 million on advertising for the iPhone in the US.[17] On 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.[41] 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.[42] American carrier C Spire Wireless announced that it would be carrying the iPhone 4S on October 19, 2011.[43] 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 phone's lifespan, hovering between $622 and $660.[44] The production price of the iPhone 4S was estimated by IHS iSuppli, in October 2011, to be $188, $207 and $245, for the 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB models, respectively.[45] Labor costs are estimated at between $12.50 and $30 per unit, with workers on the iPhone assembly line making $1.78 an hour.[46] In February 2012, ComScore reported that 12.4% of U.S. mobile subscribers used an iPhone.[47] By 2009, approximately 6.4 million iPhones were active in the U.S. alone.[35] On September 12, 2012, Apple announced the iPhone 5. It has a 4 inches (100 mm) display, up from its predecessors' 3.5 inches (89 mm) 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% smaller than the iPhone 4S' A5 and is twice as fast, doubling the graphics performance of its predecessor. The device is 18% thinner than the iPhone 4S, measuring 7.6 millimetres (0.3 in), and is 20% lighter at 112 grams (4 oz). On July 6, 2013, it was reported that Apple was in talks with Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom to release the next generation iPhone with LTE Advanced technology.[48] On July 22, 2013, the company's suppliers said that Apple is testing out larger screens for the iPhone and iPad. "Apple has asked for prototype smartphone screens larger than 4 inches (100 mm) and has also asked for screen designs for a new tablet device measuring slightly less than 13 inches (330 mm) diagonally, they said."[49] On September 10, 2013, Apple unveiled two new iPhone models during a press event in Cupertino. The iPhone 5C, a mid-range-priced version of the handset that is designed to increase accessibility due to its price is available in five colors (green, blue, yellow, pink, and white) and is made of plastic. The iPhone 5S comes in three colors (black, white, and gold) and the home button is replaced with a fingerprint scanner (Touch ID). Both phones shipped on September 20, 2013.[50] On September 9, 2014, Apple revealed the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus at an event in Cupertino. Both devices had a larger screen than their predecessor, at 4.7 inches (120 mm) and 5.5 inches (140 mm) respectively.[51] After the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus was released, some users started complaining about the 6 and 6 Plus bending from normal use. This trend became known as "Bendgate",[52] which later started "Touch Disease." However, they released the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, a more bend-resistant iPhone than the 6 and 6 Plus, to solve this issue. On September 7, 2016, Apple unveiled the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, which added water and dust resistance, improved system and graphics performance, a new dual-camera setup on the Plus model, new color options, and featured the removal of the 3.5 mm headphone jack from the iPhone.[53] On September 12, 2017, Apple officially unveiled the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which features a new glass design, camera improvements, a True Tone display, wireless charging, and improved system performance. It also unveiled the iPhone X, which features a near bezel-less design, a facial recognition feature dubbed "Face ID" with facial tracking used for Animojis, an OLED screen with the highest pixel density on an iPhone, a new telephoto lens which works better in low light conditions, and improved cameras for AR.[54] On September 12, 2018, Apple officially unveiled the iPhone XS, XS Max[55] and XR[56] at the Steve Jobs theater at Apple Park. The XS and XS Max feature an improved Super Retina Display with Dolby Vision and HDR10 support with the XS Max featuring a larger 6.5 inches (170 mm) display, improved cameras with Smart HDR, and the A12 Bionic chip. The iPhone XS and XS Max are IP68 water, liquid, and dust resistant which allow the devices to be submerged in up to 2 meters for a duration of 30 minutes, while iPhone XR retained the IP67 certification found in the first-generation iPhone X and also features an IPS LCD display instead of the OLED displays found in the higher-end models. The iPhone XS/XS Max's IP68 certifications were tested using various liquids such as chlorinated-water, saltwater, tea, wine, beer, and juices. Apple also announced the fourth generation of Apple Watch, the Apple Watch Series 4. On September 10, 2019, Apple officially unveiled the iPhone 11 at Steve Jobs Theater,[57][58][59] along with the iPhone 11 Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro Max. All models gained a ultra-wide lens, allowing for a wider field of view. The Pro models gained a triple-lens camera arrangement, and a matte glass finish.[60][61][59] The iPhone 12 and 12 Pro series were virtually announced on October 13, 2020, featuring a refreshed design, Super Retina XDR Displays across all models, and 5G connectivity. All models also feature MagSafe, allowing special magnetic accessories to easily snap on and off, while also allowing 15W wireless charging.[62][63] The iPhone 13 and 13 Pro series were virtually announced on September 14, 2021, featuring improved cameras with sensor-shift stabilization for all models, a diagonal camera arrangement for the 13 and 13 mini, significantly larger camera sensors and an adaptive 120 Hz ProMotion display for the Pro models. All models also gained a battery size increase, and a reduction in width of the TrueDepth camera module.[64][65] Up to the iPhone 4, all iPhones and other iOS devices were manufactured by Foxconn, based in Taiwan. In 2011, new CEO Tim Cook changed Apple's manufacturing strategy to diversify its suppliers. The iPhone 4s in 2012 was the first model to be manufactured simultaneously by two stand-alone companies: Foxconn and Pegatron, the latter also based in Taiwan. Although Foxconn still produces more iPhones, Pegatron's orders have been slowly increased: the company made part of the iPhone 5C line in 2013, and 30% of iPhone 6 devices in 2014. The 6 Plus model was produced solely by Foxconn.[66] In 2019, Apple investigated reports that some Foxconn managers had used rejected parts to build iPhones.[67] In India, Apple pays Wistron, a Taiwan-based manufacturer with a plant near Bangalore, to assemble iPhones to sell in the region.[68] 34 iPhone models have been produced. The models in bold are devices of the latest generation: Current devices
Past devices
 Source: Apple Newsroom Archive[69]
A comparison of iPhone sizes from the iPhone 5S to the iPhone 12.
The iPhone contains most of the hardware parts of a typical modern smartphone. Some hardware elements, such as 3D Touch and the Taptic Engine, are unique to the iPhone. The main hardware of the iPhone is the touchscreen, with current models offering screens of 4.7 inches and larger. A range of sensors are included on the device, such as a proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, accelerometer, gyroscopic sensor, magnetometer, facial recognition sensor, fingerprint sensor and barometer. All iPhones include a rear-facing camera, and a front-facing camera being included on all models since the iPhone 4. The iPhone 7 Plus introduced multiple lenses to the rear-facing camera to the iPhone. The iPhone runs an operating system known as iOS (formerly iPhone OS).[70] It is a variant of the Darwin operating system core found in macOS. Also included is the "Core Animation" software component from Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard. Together with the graphics hardware (and on the iPhone 3GS, OpenGL ES 2.0), it is responsible for the interface's motion graphics. The iPhone comes with a set of bundled applications developed by Apple,[71] and supports downloading third-party applications through the App Store.[72] Apple provides free[73] updates to the operating system for the iPhone either wirelessly or through iTunes.[74] Major new updates have historically accompanied new models.[75][76] The size of the operating system depends on the version. While iOS 8 required over 4.5 GB, its successor required only 1.3 GB.[77]
InterfaceThe interface is based around the home screen, a graphical list of available applications. iPhone applications normally run one at a time. Starting with the iPhone 4, a primitive version of multitasking came into play. Users could double click the home button to select recently opened applications.[78] However, the apps never ran in the background. Starting with iOS 7, though, apps can truly multitask, and each open application runs in the background when not in use, although most functionality is still available when making a call or listening to music. The home screen can be accessed by a hardware button below the screen on the iPhone 8 and earlier. iPhone X and later models, with the exception of the second and third generation iPhone SE, instead use touch-based gestures. The original iPhone contained the following apps: Messages (SMS and MMS messaging), Calendar, Photos, Camera, YouTube, Stocks, Maps (Google Maps), Weather, Voice Memos, Notes, Clock, Calculator, Settings and iTunes (store). The App Store was introduced in iPhone OS 2 for the original iPhone and iPhone 3G. Compass was added in iPhone OS 3 for the iPhone 3GS. FaceTime and Game Center were added in iOS 4 and 4.1 respectively. In iOS 5, Reminders and Newsstand were added, and the iPod application was split into separate Music and Videos applications. iOS 6 added Passbook as well as a new version of Maps called Apple Maps that relies on data provided by TomTom as well as other sources, and YouTube no longer came as a pre-installed application starting from that version. iOS 7 introduced a modern flat design for the interface and added a motion-based parallax feature to give the device a quasi-3D effect. iOS 8 added Health app. iOS 9 replaced Newsstand and Passbook with News and Wallet. iOS 10 introduced Home and dedicated a page on the home screen for the widgets. iOS 11 added Files. iOS 12 introduced Measure, an app that uses AR technology to measure objects and things. It is available on devices with an A9 chip or newer. Docked at the base of the screen, four icons for Phone, Mail, Safari (Internet), and Music delineate the iPhone's main purposes.[79] 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 (by holding down on any icon and moving it to the desired location once they start shaking) on up to nine other adjacent home screens, accessed by a horizontal swipe.[80] Users can also add and delete icons from the dock, which is the same on every home screen. The dock holds up to four icons and is located at the bottom section of the screen. Each home screen holds up to twenty icons for the first-generation iPhone, 3G, 3GS, 4 and 4S; The iPhone 5, 5C, 5S, and first-generation iPhone SE hold up to twenty-four icons; while the iPhone 6 and later iPhone models support up to twenty-eight 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 could only be removed since the iOS 10 update. The 3.0 update added a system-wide search, known as Spotlight, to the left of the first home screen.[81][82] 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. Unlike previous scrollable views, in which the user pressed a "down" control to move the view "downwards", on iOS the user pushes upwards, as if moving a "plank of wood floating on the water", creating the impression that the user is directly manipulating the content displayed on the screen.[83][84] 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. PhoneWhen 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.[85] The iPhone 4 supports video calling using either the front or back camera over Wi-Fi, a feature Apple calls FaceTime.[86] Voice control, introduced in the iPhone 3GS, allows users to say a contact's name or number and the iPhone will dial it.[87] The first two models only support voice dialing through third-party applications.[88] The iPhone includes a visual voicemail (in some countries)[89] 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 three 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,[90] or with Apple's GarageBand software 4.1.1 or later (available only on Mac OS X)[91] or third-party tools.[92] 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 can reply with a message, or set a reminder to call them back at a later time.[93] MultimediaThe layout of the music library is similar to that of an iPod. The iPhone can sort its media library by songs, artists, albums, videos, playlists, genres, composers, podcasts, audiobooks, and compilations. Options are 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.[87] The iPhone supports gapless playback.[94] 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 since 2012, it can be used on a cellular data network.[95] 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. The iPhone did not support voice recording until the 3.0 software update.[81][82] Internet connectivityWikipedia 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. Networks accessible from iPhone models include 1xRTT (represented by a 1× on the status bar) and GPRS (shown as GPRS on the status bar), EDGE (shown as a capital E on the status bar), UMTS and EV-DO (shown as 3G), a faster version of UMTS and 4G (shown as a 4G symbol on the status bar), and LTE (shown as LTE on the status bar).[96] The iPhone 3G introduced support for third-generation UMTS and HSDPA 3.6,[97] the iPhone 4S introduced support for HSUPA networks (14.4 Mbit/s), and support for HSDPA 7.2 was introduced in the iPhone 3GS.[98] and the iPhone 5 introduced support for 4G LTE. 5G Evolution is now supported on AT&T in areas where implemented and stylized as a larger 5G and reduced size capital E.[99] 5GE uses the 4x4 MIMO doubling the number of antennas, 256-QAM, and three-way carrier aggregation. True 5G support was added starting with the iPhone 12 series in fall 2020. All iPhone 12 models support sub-6 GHz frequencies, but only models purchased in the United States support mmWave.[100] AT&T introduced 3G in July 2004,[101] 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.[102] Support for 802.1X, an authentication system commonly used by university and corporate Wi-Fi networks, was added in the 2.0 version update.[103] 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.[104] The iPhone will automatically choose the strongest network, connecting to Wi-Fi instead of EDGE when it is available.[105] Similarly, the iPhone 3G and onwards prefer 3G to 2G, and Wi-Fi to either.[106] 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. 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.[107][108] Safari does not allow file downloads except for predefined extensions. The iPhone does not support Flash, which was still popular when the iPhone was introduced.[109] 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).[110] The iPhone supports SVG, CSS, HTML Canvas, and Bonjour.[111] Google Chrome was introduced to the iOS on June 26, 2012, and Opera mini is also available. 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.[112][113] Support for walking directions, public transit, and street view was added in the version 2.2 software update, but no voice-guided navigation.[114] The iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 can orient the map with its digital compass.[115] 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 into 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.[116] 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."[117] Nielsen found that 98% of iPhone users use data services, and 88% use the internet.[35] In China, the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS were built and distributed without Wi-Fi.[118] With the introduction of the Verizon iPhone in January 2011, the issue of using the internet while on the phone was brought to the public's attention. Under the two U.S. carriers, internet and phone could be used simultaneously on AT&T networks, whereas Verizon networks only support the use of each separately.[119] However, in 2014, Verizon announced that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus would allow simultaneous voice and data over its LTE Network.[120] T-Mobile and Sprint have enabled calls over Wi-Fi, with Verizon and AT&T soon doing the same.[121] Text inputThe virtual keyboard on the first generation 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.[122] 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.[123] Alternative characters with accents (for example, letters from the alphabets of other languages) and emoji can be typed from the keyboard by pressing the letter for two seconds and selecting the alternative character from the popup.[124] The 3.0 update brought support for cut, copy, or pasting text, as well as landscape keyboards in more applications.[81][82] On iPhone 4S and above, Siri allows dictation. Since iOS 8, third party keyboards, distributed through the App Store, are allowed. Previously, they were only available on jailbroken iPhones.[125] Email and text messagesThe 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.[126] 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[127] and Kerio Connect.[128] 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 supports the platform (including push email) with the release of iPhone 2.0 firmware.[129][130] 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. The email program can access almost any IMAP or POP3 account.[131] 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.[132] Support for MMS was added in the 3.0 update, but not for the original first generation iPhone[81][82] and not in the U.S. until September 25, 2009.[133][134] Third-party applicationsAt WWDC 2007 on June 11, 2007, Apple announced that the iPhone would support third-party web applications using Ajax that share the look and feel of the iPhone interface.[135] 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.[136] The iPhone SDK was officially announced and released on March 6, 2008, at the Apple Town Hall facility.[137] 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.[138] 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 iPhone OS 2.0, on July 11, 2008.[130] The update was free for iPhone users; owners of older iPod Touches were required to pay US$10 for it.[139] 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, and Send Me To Heaven, a game that encouraged users to throw their phones in the air.[140][141] 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.[142] Apple has since released a software update that grants this capability.[114] 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.[143] Many carriers of the iPhone later globally allowed tethering before Apple officially supported it with the upgrade to the iPhone OS 3.0, with AT&T Mobility being a relative latecomer in the United States.[144] In the United States, most carriers charge extra for tethering a iPhone.[145] Before the SDK was released, third parties were permitted to design "Web Apps" that would run through Safari.[146] Unsigned native applications are also available for "jailbroken" phones.[147] 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.[148] As of October 2013[update], Apple has passed 60 billion app downloads.[149] As of September 2016[update], there have been over 140 billion app downloads from the App Store.[150] As of January 2017[update], the App Store has over 2.2 million apps for the iPhone.[151][152] Accessibility featuresStarting with the iPhone 4S, Apple added an accessibility feature to optimize the function of the iPhone with hearing aids.[153] Apple released a program of Made for iPhone Hearing Aids.[154] These hearing aids deliver a power-efficient, high-quality digital audio experience and allow the user to manage the hearing aid right from the iPhone. Made for iPhone hearing aids also feature Live Listen. With Live Listen the iPhone acts as a remote microphone that sends sound to a Made for iPhone hearing aid. Live Listen can help the user hear a conversation in a noisy room or hear someone speaking across the room.[155] The Braille Displays for the iOS program was announced by Apple coinciding with the release of the iPhone 3GS, iPad and iPod Touch (3rd Generation). This program added support for more than 50 Bluetooth wireless braille displays that work with iOS out of the box. The user only needs to pair the keyboard to the device to start using it to navigate the iOS device with VoiceOver without any additional software. iOS supports braille tables for more than 25 languages.[156] iPhone lets the user know when an alert is sent to it, in a variety of notice methods. It delivers both visual and vibrating alerts for incoming phone and FaceTime calls, new text messages, new and sent mail, and calendar events. Users can set an LED light flash for incoming calls and alerts or have incoming calls display a photo of the caller. Users can choose from different vibration patterns or even create their own.[157] The iPhone can enlarge text to make it more accessible for vision-impaired users,[158] and can accommodate hearing-impaired users with closed captioning and external TTY devices.[159] 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.[160] Apple regularly publishes Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates which explicitly state compliance with the U.S. regulation "Section 508".[161] With the release of iOS 9 for all iPhones, users have the ability to choose between two different screen view options. The user can choose to have a standard view or zoomed view. When the iPhone is placed in a standard view setting, the icons are normal size and the text remains the same. With a zoomed view option, the icons on the screen and the text become slightly larger. This enables the user to have a more customized appearance and it can potentially help some users read the screen easier. AssistiveTouch helps to adapt the Multi-Touch screen of an iOS device to a user's unique physical needs. This can be of great assistance to those who have difficulty with some gestures, like pinch, one can make them accessible with just a tap of a finger. The user can create their own gestures and customize the layout of the AssistiveTouch menu. If the user has trouble pressing the Home button, it can be set so that it can be activated with an onscreen tap. Gestures, like rotate and shake, are available even when if the iOS device is mounted on a wheelchair.[157] Guided Access helps people with autism or other attention and sensory challenges stay focused on the task (or app) at hand. With Guided Access, a parent, teacher, or therapist can limit an iOS device to stay on one app by disabling the Home button and limit the amount of time spent in an app. The user can restrict access to the keyboard or touch input on certain areas of the screen. In 2019 Apple began developing satellites so that the iPhone could skip wireless carriers.[162] The iPhone Upgrade Program is a 24-month program designed for consumers to be able to get the latest iPhone every year, without paying the whole price up-front. The program consists of "low monthly payments", where consumers will gradually pay for the iPhone they have over a 24-month period, with an opportunity to switch (upgrade) to the new iPhone after 12 months of payment have passed. Once 12 months have passed, consumers can trade their current iPhone with a new one, and the payments are transferred from the old device to the new device, and the program "restarts" with a new 24-month period.[163] Additional features of the program include unlocked handsets, which means consumers are free to pick the network carrier they want, and two-year AppleCare+ protection, which includes "hardware repairs, software support, and coverage for up to two incidents of accidental damage".[163][164] Criticism of the program includes the potential endless cycle of payments, with The Huffington Post's Damon Beres writing, "Complete the full 24-month payment cycle, and you're stuck with an outdated phone. Upgrade every 12 months, and you'll never stop owing Apple money for iPhones". Additionally, the program is limited to just the iPhone hardware; cell phone service from a network operator is not included.[165] Apple has filed more than 200 patent applications related to the technology behind the iPhone.[166][167] 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."[168] Conversely, the iPhone has also inspired its own share of high-tech clones.[169] On September 3, 1993, Infogear filed for the U.S. trademark "I PHONE"[170] and on March 20, 1996, applied for the trademark "IPhone".[171] "I Phone" was registered in March 1998,[170] and "IPhone" was registered in 1999.[171] Since then, the I PHONE mark had been abandoned.[170] Infogear trademarks cover "communications terminals comprising computer hardware and software providing integrated telephone, data communications and personal computer functions" (1993 filing),[170] and "computer hardware and software for providing integrated telephone communication with computerized global information networks" (1996 filing).[172] In 2000, Infogear filed an infringement claim against the owners of the iPhones.com domain name.[173] The owners of the iPhones.com domain name challenged the infringement claim in the Northern District Court of California. In June 2000, Cisco Systems acquired Infogear, including the iPhone trademark.[174] In September 2000, Cisco Systems settled with the owners of iPhones.com and allowed the owners to keep the iPhones.com domain name along with intellectual property rights to use any designation of the iPhones.com domain name for the sale of cellular phones, cellular phones with Internet access (WAP PHONES), handheld PDAs, storage devices, computer equipment (hardware/software), and digital cameras (hardware/software). The intellectual property rights were granted to the owners of the iPhones.com domain name by Cisco Systems in September 2000. 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.[175] 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.[176] 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.[174] 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.[177] 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.[178] In February 2007, Cisco claimed that the trademark lawsuit was a "minor skirmish" that was not about money, but about interoperability.[179] On February 2, 2007, Apple and Cisco announced that they had agreed to temporarily suspend litigation while they held settlement talks,[180] and subsequently announced on February 20, 2007, that they had reached an agreement. Both companies will be allowed to use the "iPhone" name[181] in exchange for "exploring interoperability" between their security, consumer, and business communications products.[182] 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 Nokia patents since the iPhone initial release.[183] 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, The Weather Channel, Dictionary.com, Talking Tom Cat and Pumpkin Maker have also been named as co-defendants in the lawsuit.[184] In August 2012, Apple won a smartphone patent lawsuit in the U.S. against Samsung, the world's largest maker of smartphones;[185] however, on December 6, 2016, SCOTUS reversed the decision that awarded nearly $400 million to Apple and returned the case to Federal Circuit court to define the appropriate legal standard to define "article of manufacture" because it is not the smartphone itself but could be just the case and screen to which the design patents relate.[186] In March 2013, an Apple patent for a wraparound display was revealed.[187] 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.[188] The hacker community has found many workarounds, most of which are disallowed by Apple and make it difficult or impossible to obtain warranty service.[189] "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.[190] However, in the United States, Apple cannot void an iPhone's warranty unless it can show that a problem or component failure is linked to the installation or placement of an after-market item such as unauthorized applications, because of the Federal Trade Commission's Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975.[191] Users can set restrictions or parental controls[192] on apps that can be downloaded or used within the iPhone. The restrictions area requires a password.[193] ActivationThe 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.[194] Unlike the first generation iPhone, the iPhone 3G must be activated in the store in most countries.[195] 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 it, causing many devices to be temporarily unusable.[196] 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.[197][unreliable source?] Even where not required, vendors usually offer activation for the buyer's convenience. In the US, 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.[198] Unapproved third-party software and jailbreakingThe 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,[199] 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.[200] 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.[201] However, in 2010, Jailbreaking was declared officially legal in the United States by the DMCA.[202] Jailbroken iPhones may be susceptible to computer viruses, but few such incidents have been reported.[203][204] 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.[205][206] In 2007, 2010, and 2011, developers released a series of tools called JailbreakMe that used security vulnerabilities in Mobile Safari rendering to jailbreak the device (which allows users to install any compatible software on the device instead of only App Store apps).[207][208][209] Each of these exploits were quickly fixed by iOS updates from Apple. Theoretically these flaws could have also been used for malicious purposes.[210] In July 2011, Apple released iOS 4.3.5 (4.2.10 for CDMA iPhone) to fix a security vulnerability with certificate validation.[211] Following the release of the iPhone 5S model, a group of German hackers called the Chaos Computer Club announced on September 21, 2013, that they had bypassed Apple's new Touch ID fingerprint sensor by using "easy everyday means." The group explained that the security system had been defeated by photographing a fingerprint from a glass surface and using that captured image as verification. The spokesman for the group stated: "We hope that this finally puts to rest the illusions people have about fingerprint biometrics. It is plain stupid to use something that you can't change and that you leave everywhere every day as a security token."[212][213] SIM unlockingUnited StatesiPhone 5S shown with the SIM tray partially ejected and SIM ejector tool in the eject hole. Most iPhones were and are still[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] The locked/unlocked state is maintained on Apple's servers[citation needed] per IMEI and is set when the iPhone is activated.[214][failed verification] While the iPhone was initially sold in the U.S. 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.[215] Although AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon are the only authorized iPhone carriers in the United States[citation needed], unlocked iPhones can be used with other carriers.[216][failed verification] 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 or 4G functionality (i.e. no mobile web or e-mail, etc.).[217][failed verification] More than a quarter of the original first generation iPhones sold in the U.S. were not registered with AT&T. Apple speculates that they were likely shipped overseas and unlocked (also known as box breaking), a lucrative market before the iPhone 3G's worldwide release.[34][218] On March 26, 2009, AT&T in the United States began selling the iPhone without a contract, though still SIM-locked to their network.[219] The up-front purchase price of such iPhone units is often twice as expensive as those bundled with contracts.[220] Outside of the United States, policies differ, especially in U.S. territories and insular areas like Guam; GTA Teleguam was the exclusive carrier for the iPhone since its introduction, as none of the four U.S. carriers (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon) have a presence in the area.[221] Since 2013, Docomo Pacific ended GTA's exclusivity starting with the iPhone 5.[222] 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.[223] It has been reported that all of the Verizon 4G LTE phones come factory unlocked. After such discovery, Verizon announced that all of their 4G LTE phones, including iPhones, would remain unlocked. This is due to the regulations that the FCC has placed on the 700 MHz C-Block spectrum,[citation needed] which is used by Verizon.[224][failed verification] Apple loses more money than it makes on repair services in the US.[225] Other countriesIn the United Kingdom, O2, EE, 3, Vodafone, and Tesco Mobile sell the device under subsidized contracts, or for use on a pay as you go. They are locked to the network initially, though they can usually be unlocked either after a certain period of contract length has passed, or for a small fee (with the exception of the 3 network, which will unlock the device at any time for no charge).[226] However, all current versions of iPhone are available for purchase SIM-free from the Apple Store or Apple's Online Store, consequently, they are unlocked for use on any GSM network too.[227][unreliable source?] In Canada, all iPhones purchased for full retail price at an Apple Store or online at apple.com come unlocked which allows customer selection of carriers. iPhones sold in Canada purchased through mobile carries such as TELUS, Rogers, or Bell were locked to their respective networks and unlocking required visiting a carrier store and paying an unlocking fee. Third-party methods to unlock iPhones existed but were highly unreliable and sometimes rendered phones unusable.[citation needed] However, in 2017 the CRTC abolished SIM-locking and required that all mobile devices sold after December 1, 2017, come unlocked.[228] The CRTC also mandated that carriers must offer unlocking services of existing devices for free to consumers, regardless of whether or not they had purchased the phone themselves. In Australia, the three major carriers (Optus, Telstra and Vodafone)[229][unreliable source?] offer legitimate unlocking, now at no cost for all iPhone devices, both current and prior models. Internationally, policies vary, but many carriers sell the iPhone unlocked for full retail price.[230] Prevention of repair
Apple takes numerous measures that make third-party repairs difficult. Only Apple and service providers / independent repair providers explicitly authorized by Apple are able to perform genuine replacements.[231] In the past (with models as early as the iPhone 6), there have been reports such as denial of operation if the home button is detected to have been tampered with, upon which an Error 53 is indicated instead.[232] There have also been issues caused by swapping a display made by one manufacturer with one made by another, as Apple uses multiple suppliers for its displays.[233] In more recent models (starting with the iPhone XR), Apple displays non-removable warnings if the battery, display, or camera is replaced by a third party.[234] Additionally, features are disabled upon detection of a "non-genuine" replacement such as disabling true tone or hiding the battery health feature. iFixit notes that a proprietary, cloud-linked System Configuration tool is required to "complete" a part repair, meaning that even replacing a genuine part with another genuine part will fail Apple's "genuine parts" check unless said tool is used.[235] In Mexico, the trademark iFone was registered in 2003 by a communications systems and services company, iFone.[236] Apple tried to gain control over its brand name, but a Mexican court denied the request. The case began in 2009, when the Mexican firm sued Apple. The Supreme Court of Mexico upheld that iFone is the rightful owner and held that Apple iPhone is a trademark violation.[237] In Brazil, the brand IPHONE was registered in 2000 by the company then called Gradiente Eletrônica S.A., now IGB Eletrônica S.A. According to the filing, Gradiente foresaw the revolution in the convergence of voice and data over the Internet at the time.[238] The final battle over the brand name concluded in 2008. On December 18, 2012, IGB launched its own line of Android smartphones under the tradename to which it has exclusive rights in the local market.[238] In February 2013, the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (known as "Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial") issued a ruling that Gradiente Eletrônica, not Apple, owned the "iPhone" mark in Brazil. The "iPhone" term was registered by Gradiente in 2000, seven years before Apple's release of its first iPhone. This decision came three months after Gradiente Eletrônica launched a lower-cost smartphone using the iPhone brand.[239] In June 2014, Apple won, for the second time, the right to use the brand name in Brazil. The court ruling determined that the Gradiente's registration does not own exclusive rights on the brand. Although Gradiente intended to appeal, with the decision Apple can use freely the brand without paying royalties to the Brazilian company.[240] In the Philippines, Solid Group launched the MyPhone brand in 2007. Stylized as "my|phone", Solid Broadband filed a trademark application of that brand. Apple later filed a trademark case at the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) against Solid Broadband's MyPhone for "confusingly similar" to the iPhone and that it may likely "deceive" or "cause confusion" among consumers. Apple lost the trademark battle to Solid Group in a 2015 decision made by IPO director Nathaniel Arevalo, who also reportedly said that it was unlikely that consumers would be confused between the "iPhone" and the "MyPhone". "This is a case of a giant trying to claim more territory than what it is entitled to, to the great prejudice of a local 'Pinoy Phone' merchant who has managed to obtain a significant foothold in the mobile phone market through the marketing and sale of innovative products under a very distinctive trademark", Arevalo later added.[241][242] Around April 20, 2011, a hidden unencrypted file on the iPhone and other iOS devices was widely discussed in the media.[243][244] 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.[245] The file was released with the June 2010 update of Apple iOS4 and may contain almost a year's worth of data. Previous versions of iOS stored similar information in a file called "h-cells.plist".[246] 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.[247] 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".[248] 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.[249] While the file cannot be erased without jailbreaking the phone, it can be encrypted.[250] Apple gave an official response on their web site on April 27, 2011,[251] after questions were submitted by users, the Associated Press and others. Apple clarified that the data is a small portion of their crowd-sourced location database cache of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers which is downloaded from Apple into the iPhone for making location services faster than with only GPS, therefore the data does not represent the locations of the iPhone. The volume of data retained was an error. Apple issued an update for iOS (version 4.3.3, or 4.2.8 for the CDMA iPhone 4) which reduced the size of the cache, stopped it being backed up to iTunes, and erased it entirely whenever location services were turned off.[251] The upload to Apple can also be selectively disabled from "System services", "Cell Network Search." Regardless, in July 2014, a report on state-owned China Central Television labeled the iPhone a "national security concern."[252] The "Frequent Locations" feature found in "Settings" under "Location Services" stores commonly visited locations locally on the device.[253] This feature is said to help the accuracy of the GPS and Apple Maps since it can log information about the locations the user has frequently visited. However, this feature also keeps track of the number of times that the user has been to that location, the dates, and the exact times. Media outlets have publicized instructions on how this can be disabled for concerned users.[254] Transmission of private and technical dataA privacy experiment conducted by the Washington Post determined that the iPhone transmitted a host of personal data without the user's knowledge or consent, including phone number, email, exact location, device model and IP address, to "a dozen marketing companies, research firms and other personal data guzzlers" via 5,400 hidden app trackers.[255] Some of the information shared with third parties was found to be in violation of the apps' own privacy regulations.[256] Encryption and intelligence agency accessIt was revealed as a part of the 2013 mass surveillance disclosures that the American and British intelligence agencies, the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) have access to the user data in iPhones, BlackBerrys, and Android phones, respectively. They can read almost all smartphone information, including SMS, location, emails, and notes.[257] According to an article in The New York Times titled "Signaling Post-Snowden Era, New iPhone Locks Out N.S.A.", Apple has developed a new encryption method for iOS 8, described as "so deep that Apple could no longer comply with government warrants asking for customer information to be extracted from devices."[258] Throughout 2015, prosecutors in the United States argued for the U.S. government to be able to compel decryption of iPhone contents.[259][260][261][262] After the 2015 San Bernardino attack, the FBI recovered an iPhone 5C that was issued to one of the shooters by his employer, and iCloud backups of that phone from a month and a half before the shooting. (The shooters had destroyed their personal phones.) The U.S. government attempted to obtain a court order under the All Writs Act compelling Apple to produce an IPSW file that would allow investigators to brute force the device passcode.[263][264][265] Tim Cook responded on the company's website, outlining a need for encryption, arguing that if they produce a backdoor for one device, it would inevitably be used to compromise the privacy of other iPhone users.[266] On February 19, Apple communicated to journalists that the password for the Apple ID for the iPhone had been changed within a day of the government obtaining it, preventing Apple from producing a workaround that would only target older devices.[267] See FBI–Apple encryption dispute. The GrayKey, manufactured by Grayshift, can unlock iPhones, even if they are disabled.[268][269] As a countermeasure, Apple implemented USB Restricted Mode.[270] As of April 2016[update], Apple's privacy policy addresses requests from government agencies for access to customers' data: "Apple has never worked with any government agency from any country to create a 'backdoor' in any of our products or services. We have also never allowed any government access to our servers. And we never will."[271] In 2015 the Electronic Frontier Foundation awarded Apple five out of five stars "commend[ing] Apple for its strong stance regarding user rights, transparency, and privacy."[272] Apple iOS in combination with their specific hardware uses crypto-shredding when activating the "Erase all content and settings" by obliterating all the keys in 'effaceable storage'. This renderes all user data on the device cryptographically inaccessible.[273] The original iPhone has been described as "revolutionary",[274] a "game-changer" for the mobile phone industry,[275][276][277][278] and has been credited with helping to make Apple one of the world's most valuable publicly traded companies by 2011.[279] Newer iterations have also received praise, such as being called "the best phone",[280] although in more recent years this has often not been the case.[281] The iPhone attracts users of all ages,[35] and besides consumer use, the iPhone has also been adopted for business purposes.[282] Research has shown that iPhones are commonly associated with wealth, and that the average iPhone user has 40% more annual income than the average Android user.[283][284] Women are more likely than men to own an iPhone.[285] Before the release of the iPhone, handset manufacturers such as Nokia and Motorola were enjoying record sales of cell phones based more on fashion and brand rather than technological innovation.[286] The smartphone market, dominated at the time by BlackBerry OS and Windows Mobile devices, was a "staid, corporate-led smartphone paradigm" focused on enterprise needs. Phones at the time were designed around carrier and business limits which were conservative with regards to bandwidth usage and battery life.[287][288] Phones were sold in a very large number of models, often segmented by marketing strategy, confusing customers and sapping engineering resources.[289][290] For example, phones marketed at business were often deliberately stripped of cameras or the ability to play music and games.[291] Apple's approach was to deliberately simplify its product line by offering just one model a year for all customers while making it an expensive, high-end product. Apple's marketing, building on successful iPod campaigns, helped the phone become a mass-market product with many buyers on launch day. Some market research has found that, compared to other products, a greater proportion of iPhone users are female.[292] In 2012, Ars Technica wrote that Apple had avoided the kind of "patronizing" marketing that competitors used to sell low-quality, high-priced products to women.[293] When then-CEO of Research in Motion Mike Lazaridis pried open an iPhone, his impression was of a Mac stuffed into a cellphone, as it used much more memory and processing power than the smartphones on the market at the time.[287][288] With its capacitive touchscreen and consumer-friendly design, the iPhone fundamentally changed the mobile industry; Steve Jobs proclaimed in 2007 that the phone was not just a communication tool but a way of life.[294] The dominant mobile operating systems at the time such as Symbian, BlackBerry OS, and Windows Mobile were not designed to handle tasks beyond communication and basic functions. These operating systems never focused on applications and developers, and due to infighting among manufacturers as well as the complexity of developing on their low-memory hardware, they never developed a thriving ecosystem like Apple's App Store or Android's Google Play.[294][295] iPhone OS (renamed iOS in 2010) was designed with capabilities such as multitasking and graphics to meet future consumer demands.[291] Many services were provided by mobile carriers, who often extensively customized devices. Meanwhile, Apple's decision to base its OS on OS X had the unexpected benefit of allowing OS X developers to rapidly expand into iOS development.[296] Rival manufacturers have been forced to spend more on software and development costs to catch up to the iPhone. The iPhone's success has led to a decline in sales of high-end fashion phones and business-oriented smartphones such as Vertu and BlackBerry, as well as Nokia.[294][297] Nokia realised the limitations of its operating system Symbian and attempted to develop a more advanced system, Maemo, without success. It ultimately agreed to a technology-sharing deal and then a takeover from Microsoft.[298] Before the iPhone, "Handsets were viewed largely as cheap, disposable lures, massively subsidized to snare subscribers and lock them into using the carriers' proprietary services." However, Wired wrote, "Apple retained complete control over the design, manufacturing, and marketing of the iPhone", meaning that it and not the carrier would control the software updates, and by extension security patches. By contrast, Google has allowed carriers and OEMs to dictate the "pace of upgrades and pre-load phones with their own software on top of Android". As a result, many Android OEMs often lag months behind Google's release of the next iteration of Android; although Google Nexus and Pixel devices are guaranteed two years of operating system updates and a third additional year for security. However, Apple has supported older iterations of iPhones for over four years.[27] Some of the newer generations of iPhone have hit six years of support.[299] Sales
Apple sold 6.1 million first generation iPhone units over five quarters.[300] Apple had achieved a 1.1% worldwide mobile phone share for the year 2008;[301] in the smartphone market it held an 8.2% share.[302] Sales in the fourth quarter of 2008 temporarily surpassed those of Research In Motion's (RIM) BlackBerry sales of 5.2 million units, which briefly made Apple the third largest mobile phone manufacturer by revenue, after Nokia and Samsung[303] (however, some of this income is deferred[304]). Numbers were lower in the first three quarters of 2009 until the fourth quarter surpassed sales of Q4 2008.[305] Recorded sales grew steadily thereafter, and by the end of fiscal year 2010, a total of 73.5 million iPhones had been sold.[306] By 2010, the iPhone had a market share of barely 4% of all cell phones; however, Apple pulled in more than 50% of the total profit that global cellphone sales generated.[307] Apple sold 14.1 million iPhones in the third quarter of 2010, representing a 91% unit growth over the year-ago quarter, which was well ahead of IDC's latest published estimate of 64% growth for the global smartphone market in the September quarter. Apple's sales surpassed that of Research in Motion's 12.1 million BlackBerry units sold in their most recent quarter ended August 2010.[308] In the United States market alone for the third quarter of 2010, while there were 9.1 million Android-powered smartphones shipped for 43.6% of the market, Apple iOS was the number two phone operating system with 26.2% but the 5.5 million iPhones sold made it the most popular single device.[309] On March 2, 2011, at the iPad 2 launch event, Apple announced that they had sold 100 million iPhones worldwide.[310] As a result of the success of the iPhone sales volume and high selling price, headlined by the iPhone 4S, Apple became the largest mobile handset vendor in the world by revenue in 2011, surpassing long-time leader Nokia.[42] While the Samsung Galaxy S II proved more popular than the iPhone 4S in parts of Europe, the iPhone 4S was dominant in the United States.[311] By 2012, the two-year-old iPhone 4 had outsold the original iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS models put together.[312] 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 phone's lifespan, hovering between $622 and $660.[44] For the eight largest phone manufacturers in Q1 2012, according to Horace Dediu at Asymco, Apple and Samsung combined to take 99% of industry profits (HTC took the remaining 1%, while RIM, LG, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, and Nokia all suffered losses), with Apple earning 73 cents out of every dollar earned by the phone makers. As the industry profits grew from $5.3 billion in the first quarter of 2010 to $14.4 billion in the first quarter of 2012 (quadruple the profits in 2007),[313][314] Apple had managed to increase its share of these profits. This is due to increasing carrier subsidies and the high selling prices of the iPhone, which had a negative effect on the wireless carriers (AT&T Mobility, Verizon, and Sprint) who have seen their EBITDA service margins drop as they sold an increasing number of iPhones.[315][316][317] In the fourth quarter of 2012, the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S were the best-selling handsets with sales of 27.4 million (13% of smartphones worldwide) and 17.4 million units, respectively, with the Samsung Galaxy S III in third with 15.4 million. According to Strategy Analytics' data, this was "an impressive performance, given the iPhone portfolio's premium pricing", adding that the Galaxy S III's global popularity "appears to have peaked" (the Galaxy S III was touted as an iPhone-killer by some in the press when it was released[318][319]). While Samsung has led in worldwide sales of smartphones, Apple's iPhone line has still managed to top Samsung's smartphone offerings in the United States,[320] with 21.4% share and 37.8% in that market, respectively. iOS grew 3.5% to 37.8%, while Android slid 1.3% to fall to a 52.3% share.[321] The continued top popularity of the iPhone despite growing Android competition was also attributed to Apple being able to deliver iOS updates over the air, while Android updates are frequently impeded by carrier testing requirements and hardware tailoring, forcing consumers to purchase a new Android smartphone to get the latest version of that OS.[322] However, by 2013, Apple's market share had fallen to 13.1%, due to the surging popularity of the Android offerings.[323] Apple announced on September 1, 2013, that its iPhone trade-in program would be implemented at all of its 250 specialty stores in the US. For the program to become available, customers must have a valid contract and must purchase a new phone, rather than simply receive a credit to be used at a later date. A significant part of the program's goal is to increase the number of customers who purchase iPhones at Apple stores rather than carrier stores.[324] On September 20, 2013, the sales date of the iPhone 5S and 5C models, the longest ever queue was observed at the New York City flagship Apple store, in addition to prominent queues in San Francisco, and Canada; however, locations throughout the world were identified for the anticipation of corresponding consumers.[325] Apple also increased production of the gold-colored iPhone 5S by an additional one-third due to the particularly strong demand that emerged.[326] Apple had decided to introduce a gold model after finding that gold was seen as a popular sign of a luxury product among Chinese customers.[327] Apple released its opening weekend sales results for the 5C and 5S models, showing an all-time high for the product's sales figures, with nine million handsets sold—the previous record was set in 2012, when five million handsets were sold during the opening weekend of the 5 model. This was the first time that Apple has simultaneously launched two models and the inclusion of China in the list of markets contributed to the record sales result.[328] Apple also announced that, as of September 23, 2013[update], 200 million devices were running the iOS 7 update, making it the "fastest software upgrade in history."[329] An Apple Store located at the Christiana Mall in Newark, Delaware, claimed the highest iPhones sales figures in November 2013. The store's high sales results are due to the absence of a sales tax in the state of Delaware.[330] The finalization of a deal between Apple and China Mobile, the world's largest mobile network, was announced in late December 2013. The multi-year agreement provides iPhone access to over 760 million China Mobile subscribers.[331] In the first quarter of 2014, Apple reported that it had sold 51 million iPhones, an all-time quarterly record, compared to 47.8 million in the year-ago quarter.[332][333] On July 27, 2016, Apple had announced that that have sold their 1 billionth iPhone.[334] During Apple's earnings call on January 27, 2021, Tim Cook said that there are now 1 billion iPhones active.[335]
iPhoneat Wikipedia's sister projects
Page 2In telecommunications, 5G is the fifth-generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks, which cellular phone companies began deploying worldwide in 2019, and is the planned successor to the 4G networks which provide connectivity to most current cellphones. 5G networks are predicted to have more than 1.7 billion subscribers worldwide by 2025, according to the GSM Association.[1] 3GPP's 5G logo Like its predecessors, 5G networks are cellular networks, in which the service area is divided into small geographical areas called cells. All 5G wireless devices in a cell are connected to the Internet and telephone network by radio waves through a local antenna in the cell. The new networks have greater bandwidth than their predecessors, giving higher download speeds, eventually up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbit/s).[2] In addition to 5G being faster than existing networks, 5G has higher bandwidth and can thus connect more different devices, improving the quality of Internet services in crowded areas.[3] Due to the increased bandwidth, it is expected the networks will increasingly be used as general internet service providers (ISPs) for laptops and desktop computers, competing with existing ISPs such as cable internet, and also will make possible new applications in internet-of-things (IoT) and machine-to-machine areas. Cellphones with 4G capability alone are not able to use the new networks, which require 5G-enabled wireless devices.
5G networks are cellular networks, in which the service area is divided into small geographical areas called cells. All 5G wireless devices in a cell communicate by radio waves with a cellular base station via fixed antennas, over frequency channels assigned by the base station. The base stations, termed gNodeBs, are connected to switching centers in the telephone network and routers for Internet access by high-bandwidth optical fiber or wireless backhaul connections. As in other cellular networks, a mobile device moving from one cell to another is automatically handed off seamlessly to the current cell. 5G can support up to a million devices per square kilometer, while 4G supports only one-tenth of that capacity.[citation needed] Several network operators use millimeter waves called FR2 in 5G terminology, for additional capacity and higher throughputs. Millimeter waves have a shorter range than microwaves, therefore the cells are limited to a smaller size. Millimeter waves also have more trouble passing through building walls. Millimeter-wave antennas are smaller than the large antennas used in previous cellular networks. Some are only a few centimeters long.
The increased speed is achieved partly by using additional higher-frequency radio waves in addition to the low- and medium-band frequencies used in previous cellular networks. However, higher-frequency radio waves have a shorter useful physical range, requiring smaller geographic cells. For wide service, 5G networks operate on up to three frequency bands – low, medium, and high.
5G can be implemented in low-band, mid-band or high-band millimeter-wave 24 GHz up to 54 GHz. Low-band 5G uses a similar frequency range to 4G cellphones, 600–900 MHz, giving download speeds a little higher than 4G: 30–250 megabits per second (Mbit/s).[4] Low-band cell towers have a range and coverage area similar to 4G towers. Mid-band 5G uses microwaves of 1.7–4.7 GHz, allowing speeds of 100–900 Mbit/s, with each cell tower providing service up to several kilometers in radius. This level of service is the most widely deployed, and was deployed in many metropolitan areas in 2020. Some regions are not implementing the low band, making Mid-band the minimum service level. High-band 5G uses frequencies of 24–47 GHz, near the bottom of the millimeter wave band, although higher frequencies may be used in the future. It often achieves download speeds in the gigabit-per-second (Gbit/s) range, comparable to cable internet. However, millimeter waves (mmWave or mmW) have a more limited range, requiring many small cells.[5] They can be impeded or blocked by materials in walls or windows.[6]
Due to their higher cost, plans are to deploy these cells only in dense urban environments and areas where crowds of people congregate such as sports stadiums and convention centers. The above speeds are those achieved in actual tests in 2020, and speeds are expected to increase during rollout.[4] The spectrum ranging from 24.25–29.5 GHz has been the most licensed and deployed 5G mmWave spectrum range in the world.[citation needed] The industry consortium setting standards for 5G is the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). It defines any system using 5G NR (5G New Radio) software as "5G", a definition that came into general use by late 2018. Minimum standards are set by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Rollout of 5G technology has led to debate over its security and relationship with Chinese vendors. It has also been the subject of health concerns and misinformation, including discredited conspiracy theories linking it to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ITU-R has defined three main application areas for the enhanced capabilities of 5G. They are Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), and Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC).[7] Only eMBB is deployed in 2020; URLLC and mMTC are several years away in most locations.[8] Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) uses 5G as a progression from 4G LTE mobile broadband services, with faster connections, higher throughput, and more capacity. This will benefit areas of higher traffic such as stadiums, cities, and concert venues.[9] Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC) refer to using the network for mission critical applications that require uninterrupted and robust data exchange. The short-packet data transmission is used to meet both reliability and latency requirements of the wireless communication networks.
Massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC) would be used to connect to a large number of devices. 5G technology will connect some of the 50 billion connected IoT devices.[10] Most will use the less expensive Wi-Fi. Drones, transmitting via 4G or 5G, will aid in disaster recovery efforts, providing real-time data for emergency responders.[10] Most cars will have a 4G or 5G cellular connection for many services. Autonomous cars do not require 5G, as they have to be able to operate where they do not have a network connection.[11] However, most autonomous vehicles also feature teleoperations for mission accomplishment, and these greatly benefit from 5G technology.[12][13] This article possibly contains unsourced predictions, speculative material, or accounts of events that might not occur. Information must be verifiable and based on reliable published sources. (January 2022) 5G speeds will range from ~50 Mbit/s to over 1,000 Mbit/s (1 Gbit/s). The fastest 5G speeds would be in the mmWave bands and can reach 4 Gbit/s with carrier aggregation and MIMO.
Sub-6 GHz 5G (mid-band 5G), by far the most common, will usually deliver between 100 and 1,400 MBit/s but will have a much further reach than mmWave, especially outdoors. C-Band (n77/n78) will be deployed by various U.S. operators in 2022. C-Band had been planned to be deployed by Verizon and AT&T in early January 2022 but was delayed due to safety concerns raised by the Federal Aviation Administration.[14][15] The Low-band spectrum offers the greatest range, thereby a greater coverage area for a given site, but its speeds are lower than the mid and high bands.
In 5G, the "air latency" is of the order of 8–12 milliseconds. The latency to the server must be added to the "air latency" for most comparisons. Verizon reported the latency on its 5G early deployment is 30 ms: Edge Servers close to the towers can reduce latency to 10–20 ms; 1–4 ms will be extremely rare for years outside the lab. The latency is much higher during handovers; ranging from 50–500 milliseconds depending on the type of handover. Reducing handover latency is an ongoing area of research and development.
5G uses adaptive modulation and coding scheme (MCS) to keep the bit error rate extremely low. Whenever the error rate crosses a (very low) threshold the transmitter will switch to a lower MCS, which will be less error-prone. This way speed is sacrificed to ensure an almost zero error rate.
The range of 5G depends on many factors; frequency is the most important of all. mmWave signals tend to have a range of only a couple of hundred meters whilst low band signals generally have a range of a couple of kilometers.
Since there is a lot of marketing hype on what 5G can offer, simulators and drive tests are used for the precise measurement of 5G performance.
Initially, the term was associated with the International Telecommunication Union's IMT-2020 standard, which required a theoretical peak download speed of 20 gigabits per second and 10 gigabits per second upload speed, along with other requirements.[16] Then, the industry standards group 3GPP chose the 5G NR (New Radio) standard together with LTE as their proposal for submission to the IMT-2020 standard.[17][18] 5G NR can include lower frequencies (FR1), below 6 GHz, and higher frequencies (FR2), above 24 GHz. However, the speed and latency in early FR1 deployments, using 5G NR software on 4G hardware (non-standalone), are only slightly better than new 4G systems, estimated at 15 to 50% better.[19][20][21] The standard documents for 5G are organized by 3GPP.[22][23] The 5G system architecture is defined in TS 23.501.[24] The packet protocol for mobility management (establishing connection and moving between base stations) and session management (connecting to networks and network slices) is described in TS 24.501.[25] Specifications of key data structures are found in TS 23.003.[26] IEEE covers several areas of 5G with a core focus in wireline sections between the Remote Radio Head (RRH) and Base Band Unit (BBU). The 1914.1 standards focus on network architecture and dividing the connection between the RRU and BBU into two key sections. Radio Unit (RU) to the Distributor Unit (DU) being the NGFI-I (Next Generation Fronthaul Interface) and the DU to the Central Unit (CU) being the NGFI-II interface allowing a more diverse and cost-effective network. NGFI-I and NGFI-II have defined performance values which should be compiled to ensure different traffic types defined by the ITU are capable of being carried.[page needed] The IEEE 1914.3 standard is creating a new Ethernet frame format capable of carrying IQ data in a much more efficient way depending on the functional split utilized. This is based on the 3GPP definition of functional splits.[page needed] 5G NR (New Radio) is a new air interface developed for the 5G network.[27] It is supposed to be the global standard for the air interface of 3GPP 5G networks.[28] In the Internet of things (IoT), 3GPP is going to submit evolution of NB-IoT and eMTC (LTE-M) as 5G technologies for the LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) use case.[31] 5G 3.5 GHz cell site of Vodafone in Karlsruhe, Germany Beyond mobile operator networks, 5G is also expected to be used for private networks with applications in industrial IoT, enterprise networking, and critical communications, in what being described as NR-U (5G NR in Unlicensed Spectrum)[32] Initial 5G NR launches depended on pairing with existing LTE (4G) infrastructure in non-standalone (NSA) mode (5G NR radio with 4G core), before maturation of the standalone (SA) mode with the 5G core network.[33] As of April 2019, the Global Mobile Suppliers Association had identified 224 operators in 88 countries that have demonstrated, are testing or trialing, or have been licensed to conduct field trials of 5G technologies, are deploying 5G networks or have announced service launches.[34] The equivalent numbers in November 2018 were 192 operators in 81 countries.[35] The first country to adopt 5G on a large scale was South Korea, in April 2019. Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson predicted that 5G internet will cover up to 65% of the world's population by the end of 2025.[36] Also, it plans to invest 1 billion reals ($238.30 million) in Brazil to add a new assembly line dedicated to fifth-generation technology (5G) for its Latin American operations.[37] When South Korea launched its 5G network, all carriers used Samsung, Ericsson, and Nokia base stations and equipment, except for LG U Plus, who also used Huawei equipment.[38][39] Samsung was the largest supplier for 5G base stations in South Korea at launch, having shipped 53,000 base stations at the time, out of 86,000 base stations installed across the country at the time.[40] The first fairly substantial deployments were in April 2019. In South Korea, SK Telecom claimed 38,000 base stations, KT Corporation 30,000 and LG U Plus 18,000; of which 85% are in six major cities.[41] They are using 3.5 GHz (sub-6) spectrum in non-standalone (NSA) mode and tested speeds were from 193 to 430 Mbit/s down.[42] 260,000 signed up in the first month and 4.7 million by the end of 2019.[43] T-Mobile US was the 1st company in the world to launch a commercially available 5G NR Standalone network.[44] Nine companies sell 5G radio hardware and 5G systems for carriers: Altiostar, Cisco Systems, Datang Telecom/Fiberhome, Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung, and ZTE.[45][46][47][48][49][50][51] SpectrumLarge quantities of new radio spectrum (5G NR frequency bands) have been allocated to 5G.[52] For example, in July 2016, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) freed up vast amounts of bandwidth in underused high-band spectrum for 5G. The Spectrum Frontiers Proposal (SFP) doubled the amount of millimeter-wave unlicensed spectrum to 14 GHz and created four times the amount of flexible, mobile-use spectrum the FCC had licensed to date.[53] In March 2018, European Union lawmakers agreed to open up the 3.6 and 26 GHz bands by 2020.[54] As of March 2019[update], there are reportedly 52 countries, territories, special administrative regions, disputed territories and dependencies that are formally considering introducing certain spectrum bands for terrestrial 5G services, are holding consultations regarding suitable spectrum allocations for 5G, have reserved spectrum for 5G, have announced plans to auction frequencies or have already allocated spectrum for 5G use.[55] In March 2019, the Global Mobile Suppliers Association released the industry's first database tracking worldwide 5G device launches.[56] In it, the GSA identified 23 vendors who have confirmed the availability of forthcoming 5G devices with 33 different devices including regional variants. There were seven announced 5G device form factors: (telephones (×12 devices), hotspots (×4), indoor and outdoor customer-premises equipment (×8), modules (×5), Snap-on dongles and adapters (×2), and USB terminals (×1)).[57] By October 2019, the number of announced 5G devices had risen to 129, across 15 form factors, from 56 vendors.[58] In the 5G IoT chipset arena, as of April 2019 there were four commercial 5G modem chipsets and one commercial processor/platform, with more launches expected in the near future.[59] On March 6, 2020, the first-ever all-5G smartphone Samsung Galaxy S20 was released. According to Business Insider, the 5G feature was showcased as more expensive in comparison with 4G; the line up starts at US$1,000, in comparison with Samsung Galaxy S10e which started at US$750.[60] On March 19, HMD Global, the current maker of Nokia-branded phones, announced the Nokia 8.3 5G, which it claimed as having a wider range of 5G compatibility than any other phone released to that time. The mid-range model, with an initial Eurozone price of €599, is claimed to support all 5G bands from 600 MHz to 3.8 GHz.[61] Many phone manufacturers support 5G. Apples iPhone 12 and later versions support 5G.[62][63] Google Pixel phones support it, since version 5a.[64] The air interface defined by 3GPP for 5G is known as New Radio (NR), and the specification is subdivided into two frequency bands, FR1 (below 6 GHz) and FR2 (24–54 GHz) Frequency range 1 (< 6 GHz)Otherwise known as sub-6, the maximum channel bandwidth defined for FR1 is 100 MHz, due to the scarcity of continuous spectrum in this crowded frequency range. The band most widely being used for 5G in this range is 3.3–4.2 GHz. The Korean carriers use the n78 band at 3.5 GHz. Some parties used the term "mid-band" frequency to refer to higher part of this frequency range that was not used in previous generations of mobile communication. Frequency range 2 (24–54 GHz)The minimum channel bandwidth defined for FR2 is 50 MHz and the maximum is 400 MHz, with two-channel aggregation supported in 3GPP Release 15. The higher the frequency, the greater the ability to support high data-transfer speeds. Signals in this frequency have been described as mmWave. FR2 coverage5G in the 24 GHz range or above use higher frequencies than 4G, and as a result, some 5G signals are not capable of traveling large distances (over a few hundred meters), unlike 4G or lower frequency 5G signals (sub 6 GHz). This requires placing 5G base stations every few hundred meters in order to use higher frequency bands. Also, these higher frequency 5G signals cannot penetrate solid objects easily, such as cars, trees, and walls, because of the nature of these higher frequency electromagnetic waves. 5G cells can be deliberately designed to be as inconspicuous as possible, which finds applications in places like restaurants and shopping malls.[65]
Massive MIMOMIMO systems use multiple antennas at the transmitter and receiver ends of a wireless communication system. Multiple antennas use the spatial dimension for multiplexing in addition to the time and frequency ones, without changing the bandwidth requirements of the system. Massive MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) antennas increases sector throughput and capacity density using large numbers of antennas. This includes Single User MIMO and Multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). Each antenna is individually-controlled and may embed radio transceiver components.[citation needed] Edge computingEdge computing is delivered by computing servers closer to the ultimate user. It reduces latency and data traffic congestion.[66][67] Small cellSmall cells are low-powered cellular radio access nodes that operate in licensed and unlicensed spectrum that have a range of 10 meters to a few kilometers. Small cells are critical to 5G networks, as 5G's radio waves can't travel long distances, because of 5G's higher frequencies.[68][69][70][71] BeamformingThere are two kinds of beamforming: digital and analog. Digital beamforming involves sending the data across multiple streams (layers), while analog beamforming shaping the radio waves to point in a specific direction. The analog BF technique combines the power from elements of the antenna array in such a way that signals at particular angles experience constructive interference, while other signals pointing to other angles experience destructive interference. This improves signal quality in the specific direction, as well as data transfer speeds.[citation needed] 5G uses both digital and analog beamforming to improve the system capacity.[citation needed] Convergence of Wi-Fi and cellularOne expected benefit of the transition to 5G is the convergence of multiple networking functions to achieve cost, power, and complexity reductions. LTE has targeted convergence with Wi-Fi band/technology via various efforts, such as License Assisted Access (LAA; 5G signal in unlicensed frequency bands that are also used by Wi-Fi) and LTE-WLAN Aggregation (LWA; convergence with Wi-Fi Radio), but the differing capabilities of cellular and Wi-Fi have limited the scope of convergence. However, significant improvement in cellular performance specifications in 5G, combined with migration from Distributed Radio Access Network (D-RAN) to Cloud- or Centralized-RAN (C-RAN) and rollout of cellular small cells can potentially narrow the gap between Wi-Fi and cellular networks in dense and indoor deployments. Radio convergence could result in sharing ranging from the aggregation of cellular and Wi-Fi channels to the use of a single silicon device for multiple radio access technologies."Article - 5G ! Solwise Ltd". NOMA (non-orthogonal multiple access)NOMA (non-orthogonal multiple access) is a proposed multiple-access technique for future cellular systems via allocation of power.[citation needed] SDN/NFVInitially, cellular mobile communications technologies were designed in the context of providing voice services and Internet access. Today a new era of innovative tools and technologies is inclined towards developing a new pool of applications. This pool of applications consists of different domains such as the Internet of Things (IoT), web of connected autonomous vehicles, remotely controlled robots, and heterogeneous sensors connected to serve versatile applications.[72] In this context, network slicing has emerged as a key technology to efficiently embrace this new market model.[73] Channel codingThe channel coding techniques for 5G NR have changed from Turbo codes in 4G to polar codes for the control channels and LDPC (low-density parity check codes) for the data channels.[74][75] Operation in unlicensed spectrumIn December 2018, 3GPP began working on unlicensed spectrum specifications known as 5G NR-U, targeting 3GPP Release 16.[76] Qualcomm has made a similar proposal for LTE in unlicensed spectrum. 5G-Advanced is a name for 3GPP release 18, which as of 2021[update] is under conceptual development.[77][78][79] A report published by the European Commission and European Agency for Cybersecurity details the security issues surrounding 5G. The report warns against using a single supplier for a carrier's 5G infrastructure, especially those based outside the European Union. (Nokia and Ericsson are the only European manufacturers of 5G equipment.)[80] On October 18, 2018, a team of researchers from ETH Zurich, the University of Lorraine and the University of Dundee released a paper entitled, "A Formal Analysis of 5G Authentication".[81][82] It alerted that 5G technology could open ground for a new era of security threats. The paper described the technology as "immature and insufficiently tested," and one that "enables the movement and access of vastly higher quantities of data, and thus broadens attack surfaces". Simultaneously, network security companies such as Fortinet,[83] Arbor Networks,[84] A10 Networks,[85] and Voxility[86] advised on personalized and mixed security deployments against massive DDoS attacks foreseen after 5G deployment. IoT Analytics estimated an increase in the number of IoT devices, enabled by 5G technology, from 7 billion in 2018 to 21.5 billion by 2025.[87] This can raise the attack surface for these devices to a substantial scale, and the capacity for DDoS attacks, cryptojacking, and other cyberattacks could boost proportionally.[82] Due to fears of potential espionage of users of Chinese equipment vendors, several countries (including the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom as of early 2019)[88] have taken actions to restrict or eliminate the use of Chinese equipment in their respective 5G networks. Chinese vendors and the Chinese government have denied claims of espionage.[clarification needed] On 7 October 2020, the UK Parliament's Defence Committee released a report claiming that there was clear evidence of collusion between Huawei and Chinese state and the Chinese Communist Party. The UK Parliament's Defence Committee said that the government should consider removal of all Huawei equipment from its 5G networks earlier than planned.[89] Electromagnetic interferenceWeather forecasting
The spectrum used by various 5G proposals, especially the n258 band centered at 26 GHz, will be near that of passive remote sensing such as by weather and Earth observation satellites, particularly for water vapor monitoring at 23.8 GHz.[90] Interference is expected to occur due to such proximity and its effect could be significant without effective controls. An increase in interference already occurred with some other prior proximate band usages.[91][92] Interference to satellite operations impairs numerical weather prediction performance with substantially deleterious economic and public safety impacts in areas such as commercial aviation.[93][94] The concerns prompted U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine in February 2019 to urge the FCC to delay some spectrum auction proposals, which was rejected.[95] The chairs of the House Appropriations Committee and House Science Committee wrote separate letters to FCC chairman Ajit Pai asking for further review and consultation with NOAA, NASA, and DoD, and warning of harmful impacts to national security.[96] Acting NOAA director Neil Jacobs testified before the House Committee in May 2019 that 5G out-of-band emissions could produce a 30% reduction in weather forecast accuracy and that the resulting degradation in ECMWF model performance would have resulted in failure to predict the track and thus the impact of Superstorm Sandy in 2012. The United States Navy in March 2019 wrote a memorandum warning of deterioration and made technical suggestions to control band bleed-over limits, for testing and fielding, and for coordination of the wireless industry and regulators with weather forecasting organizations.[97] At the 2019 quadrennial World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC), atmospheric scientists advocated for a strong buffer of −55 dBW, European regulators agreed on a recommendation of −42 dBW, and US regulators (the FCC) recommended a restriction of −20 dBW, which would permit signals 150 times stronger than the European proposal. The ITU decided on an intermediate −33 dBW until September 1, 2027 and after that a standard of −39 dBW.[98] This is closer to the European recommendation but even the delayed higher standard is much weaker than that pleaded for by atmospheric scientists, triggering warnings from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) that the ITU standard, at 10 times less stringent than its recommendation, brings the "potential to significantly degrade the accuracy of data collected".[99] A representative of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) also warned of interference,[100] and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), sternly warned, saying that society risks "history repeat[ing] itself" by ignoring atmospheric scientists' warnings (referencing global warming, monitoring of which could be imperiled).[101] In December 2019, a bipartisan request was sent from the US House Science Committee to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate why there is such a discrepancy between recommendations of US civilian and military science agencies and the regulator, the FCC.[102] AviationThe United States FAA has warned that radar altimeters on aircraft, which operate between 4.2 and 4.4 GHz, might be affected by 5G operations between 3.7 and 3.98 GHz. This is particularly an issue with older altimeters using RF filters[103] which lack protection from neighboring bands.[104] This is not as much of an issue in Europe, where 5G uses lower frequencies between 3.4 and 3.8 GHz.[105] Nonetheless, the DGAC in France has also expressed similar worries and recommended 5G phones be turned off or be put in airplane mode during flights.[106] On December 31, 2021, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Steve Dickinson, administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration asked the chief executives of AT&T and Verizon to delay 5G implementation over aviation concerns. The government officials asked for a two-week delay starting on January 5, 2022 while investigations are conducted on the effects on radar altimeters. The government transportation officials also asked the cellular providers to hold off their new 5G service near 50 priority airports, to minimize disruption to air traffic that would be caused by some planes being disallowed from landing in poor visibility.[107] After coming to an agreement with government officials the day before,[108] Verizon and AT&T activated their 5G networks on January 19, 2022, except for certain towers near 50 airports.[109] AT&T scaled back its deployment even further than its agreement with the FAA required.[110] The FAA rushed to test and certify radar altimeters for interference so that planes could be allowed to perform instrument landings (e.g. at night and in low visibility) at affected airports. By January 16, it had certified equipment on 45% of the U.S. fleet, and 78% by January 20.[111] Airlines complained about the avoidable impact on their operations, and commentators said the affair called into question the competence of the FAA.[112] Several international airlines substituted different planes so they could avoid problems landing at scheduled airports, and about 2% of flights (320) were cancelled by the evening of January 19.[113] SatelliteA number of 5G networks deployed on the radio frequency band of 3.3–3.6 GHz is expected to cause interference with C-Band satellite stations, which operate by receiving satellite signals at 3.4–4.2 GHz frequency.[114] This interference can be mitigated with low-noise block downconverters and waveguide filters.[114] Wi-FiIn regions like the US and EU, the 6 GHz band is to be opened up for unlicensed applications, which would permit the deployment of 5G-NR Unlicensed, 5G version of LTE in unlicensed spectrum, as well as Wi-Fi 6e. However, interference could occur with the co-existence of different standards in the frequency band.[115] OverhypeThere have been concerns surrounding the promotion of 5G, questioning whether the technology is overhyped. There are questions on whether 5G will truly change the customer experience,[116] ability for 5G's mmWave signal to provide significant coverage,[117][118] overstating what 5G can achieve or misattributing continuous technological improvement to "5G",[119] lack of new use case for carriers to profit from,[120] wrong focus on emphasizing direct benefits on individual consumers instead of for internet of things devices or solving the Last mile problem,[121] and overshadowing the possibility that in some aspects there might be other more appropriate technologies.[122] Such sort of concerns have also lead to consumers not trusting information provided by cellular providers on the topic.[123] There is a long history of fear and anxiety surrounding wireless signals that predates 5G technology. The fears about 5G are similar to those that have persisted throughout the 1990s and 2000s. They center on fringe claims that non-ionising radiation poses dangers to human health.[124] Unlike ionising radiation, non-ionizing radiation cannot remove electrons from atoms. The CDC says "Exposure to intense, direct amounts of non-ionizing radiation may result in damage to tissue due to heat. This is not common and mainly of concern in the workplace for those who work on large sources of non-ionizing radiation devices and instruments."[125] Some advocates of fringe health claim the regulatory standards are too low and influenced by lobbying groups.[124] Many popular books of dubious merit have been published on the subject including one by Joseph Mercola alleging that wireless technologies caused numerous conditions from ADHD to heart diseases and brain cancer. Mercola has drawn sharp criticism for his anti-vaccinationism during the COVID-19 pandemic and was warned by the FDA to stop selling fake COVID-19 cures through his online alternative medicine business.[124][126] According to the New York Times, one origin of the 5G health controversy was an erroneous unpublished study that physicist Bill P. Curry did for the Broward County School Board in 2000 which indicated that the absorption of external microwaves by brain tissue increased with frequency.[127] According to experts this was wrong, the millimeter waves used in 5G are safer than lower frequency microwaves because they cannot penetrate the skin and reach internal organs. Curry had confused in vitro and in vivo research. However Curry's study was widely distributed on the internet. Writing in The New York Times in 2019, William Broad reported that RT America began airing programming linking 5G to harmful health effects which "lack scientific support", such as "brain cancer, infertility, autism, heart tumors, and Alzheimer's disease". Broad asserted that the claims had increased. RT America had run seven programs on this theme by mid-April 2019 but only one in the whole of 2018. The network's coverage had spread to hundreds of blogs and websites.[128] In April 2019, the city of Brussels in Belgium blocked a 5G trial because of radiation rules.[129] In Geneva, Switzerland, a planned upgrade to 5G was stopped for the same reason.[130] The Swiss Telecommunications Association (ASUT) has said that studies have been unable to show that 5G frequencies have any health impact.[131] According to CNET,[132] "Members of Parliament in the Netherlands are also calling on the government to take a closer look at 5G. Several leaders in the United States Congress have written to the Federal Communications Commission expressing concern about potential health risks. In Mill Valley, California, the city council blocked the deployment of new 5G wireless cells."[132][133][134][135][136] Similar concerns were raised in Vermont[137] and New Hampshire.[132] The US FDA is quoted saying that it “continues to believe that the current safety limits for cellphone radiofrequency energy exposure remain acceptable for protecting the public health.”[138] After campaigning by activist groups, a series of small localities in the UK, including Totnes, Brighton and Hove, Glastonbury, and Frome, passed resolutions against the implementation of further 5G infrastructure, though these resolutions have no impact on rollout plans.[139][140][141] COVID-19 conspiracy theories and arson attacksThe World Health Organization published a mythbuster infographic to combat the conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and 5G. As the introduction of 5G technology coincided with the time of COVID-19 pandemic, several conspiracy theories circulating online posited a link between SARS‑CoV‑2 and 5G.[142] This has led to dozens of arson attacks being made on telecom masts in the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, etc.), Ireland (Cork,[143] etc.), Cyprus, the United Kingdom (Dagenham, Huddersfield, Birmingham, Belfast and Liverpool[144][145]), Belgium (Pelt), Italy (Maddaloni), Croatia (Bibinje[146]) and Sweden.[147] It led to at least 61 suspected arson attacks against telephone masts in the United Kingdom alone[148] and over twenty in The Netherlands. In the early months of the pandemic anti-lockdown protesters at protests over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia were seen with anti-5G signs, an early sign of what became a wider campaign by conspiracy theorists to link the pandemic with 5G technology. There are two versions of the 5G-COVID 19 conspiracy theory:[124]
In various parts of the world, carriers have launched numerous differently branded technologies, such as "5G Evolution", which advertise improving existing networks with the use of "5G technology".[149] However, these pre-5G networks are an improvement on specifications of existing LTE networks that are not exclusive to 5G. While the technology promises to deliver higher speeds, and is described by AT&T as a "foundation for our evolution to 5G while the 5G standards are being finalized," it cannot be considered to be true 5G. When AT&T announced 5G Evolution, 4x4 MIMO, the technology that AT&T is using to deliver the higher speeds, had already been put in place by T-Mobile without being branded with the 5G moniker. It is claimed that such branding is a marketing move that will cause confusion with consumers, as it is not made clear that such improvements are not true 5G.[150]
5G Automotive Association have been promoting the C-V2X communication technology that will first be deployed in 4G. It provides for communication between vehicles and infrastructures.[172] Digital TwinsA real time digital twin of the real object such as a turbine engine, aircraft, wind turbines, offshore platform and pipelines. 5G networks helps[173] in building it due to the latency and throughput to capture near real-time IoT data and support digital twins.[174] Public safetyMission-critical push-to-talk (MCPTT) and mission-critical video and data are expected to be furthered in 5G.[175] Fixed wirelessFixed wireless connections will offer an alternative to fixed line broadband (ADSL, VDSL, Fiber optic, and DOCSIS connections) in some locations.[176][177][178] Wireless video transmission for broadcast applicationsSony has tested the possibility of using local 5G networks to replace the SDI cables currently used in broadcast camcorders.[179] The 5G Broadcast tests started around 2020 (Orkneys, Bavaria, Austria, Central Bohemia) based on FeMBMS (Further evolved multimedia broadcast multicast service).[180] The aim is to serve unlimited number of mobile or fixed devices with video (TV) and audio (radio) streams without these consuming any data flow or even being authentificated in a network.
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