Hardware
According to The Wall Street Journal, the iPhone is manufactured on agreement in the Longhua, Shenzhen factory of the Taiwanese business Hon Hai. Conditions for workers at the factory have been a matter of controversy.
Touch screen
The 3.5 in liquid crystal display (320×480 px at 160 ppi) HVGA touch screen topped with optical-quality, scratch-resistant glass is specifically created for use with a finger, or multiple fingers for multi-touch sensing. Because the screen is a capacitive touch screen, no stylus is needed, nor can one be used. Bare skin is a requirement; users wearing gloves would have to remove them to use the touchpad, unless they are bearing electrically conductive gloves.
The user interface also features other visual things, such as horizontally sliding sub-selections and co-selections from right and left, vertically sliding system menus from the base (e.g. favorites, keyboard), and menus and widgets that turn around to allow settings to be configured on their back sides.
Audio
The iPhone’s headphones are like to those of existing iPods, but also incorporate a microphone. Calls can be answered and ended by squeezing a bud, toggling the microphone. The 3.5 mm TRS connector for the headphones is located on the top left corner (as seen from front upright). Wireless earpieces that use Bluetooth technology to communicate with the iPhone are sold separately. The headphone socket on the iPhone is recessed into the casing, making it incompatible with some headphones without the use of an adapter.
The loudspeaker is used both for handsfree operations and media playback, but does not help voice recording.
With the iPhone firmware update 1.1.1, released in late September 2007, video can be output from the headset jack using a three-way jack plug. Component video at up to 576i and stereo audio can also be output from the dock connector with the Apple Component AV Cable.
Battery
The iPhone features a built-in rechargeable battery that is not intended to be user-replaceable, like to existing iPods. If the battery prematurely reaches the end of its life time, the phone can be returned to Apple and replaced for free while still in warranty, one year at purchase and extended to two years with AppleCare. The expense of having Apple give a new battery and replace it when the iPhone is out of warranty is US$79 and US$6.95 for shipping.
The battery is stated to be capable of providing up to seven hours of video, six hours of web browsing, or eight hours of talk time (depending on configuration). The battery life for music playing is stated to be 24 hours. The battery also allows for up to 250 hours of standby time. Apple’s site says that the battery life “is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity after 400 complete charge and discharge cycles,” which turns out to be the same as for the iPod batteries. When the battery reaches only 80% amount, it would be providing approximately 5.6 hours of video, 4.8 hours of web browsing, 6.4 hours of talk time, or 19.2 hours of music playing, depending on configuration.
The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a consumer advocate group, has sent a complaint to Apple and AT&T over the fee that clients have to pay to get the battery replaced. Though the battery replacement service and its pricing was not made known to buyers until the day the product was launched, a related service had been well established for the iPods by Apple and several third party service providers.
SIM card
The SIM card is located in a slot at the top of the device, and the device is activated through iTunes. The iPhone does not have a memory card slot.
The iPhone, like many other phones on agreement, are locked to a service provider, such as AT&T, Orange or T-Mobile.