From the very first ‘One last thing’ from Steve Jobs more than a decade ago, the iPhone has sat proudly on the throne of the coolest phone on the planet, and the truth is I still can’t see anyone changing that. 

Over the years there have been phones that you could argue have been better than the iPhones of the time – especially in the ‘S’ years – but nobody – not Samsung, not Motorola and not Google – has ever created a phone that garners the same attention or the same global reaction. 

I’m a rarity on the TechRadar team: someone who has been on iPhone for the entire decade in which we have existed. There are a plethora of reasons why I've never defected to the Android side of the fence – and don’t think for a second I haven’t thought the grass might just be that little bit more verdant over there. 

I work alongside the best phone reviewers on the planet; people who plucked the HTC Desire from obscurity and decreed it a five-star phone, who looked past the original OnePlus arriving bundled in tape and brown paper and realised its potential, and who currently have the Samsung Galaxy S8 as top choice in our ever-influential ‘Best Phones’ list. 

And – indeed – those phone reviewers have never given an iPhone a five-star write-up.

That’s not to say there haven’t been times when the iPhone has come close; the iPhone 4 was a tour de force, and the iPhone 6 so nearly broke the hoodoo, but ultimately the price, or features that could be found more impressively in other (often cheaper) handsets, kept it from getting the ultimate accolade – a rare five-star TechRadar review. 

Cool factor

So why, given all of this, have I remained so squarely parked in the iPhone camp? Because, quite simply, iPhones remain the coolest, easiest to use and most satisfying devices I have ever used. I’ve tried Android plenty of times, and I completely get that people like its adaptability, but for me the iPhone’s simplicity combined with clever, intuitive firmware upgrades and, yes, the Ive design ethos, always does enough to keep me loyal.

And here’s the crux: why is the iPhone the coolest phone? How can a phone that, quite possibly, your grandmother owns be cool, even for an instant? How can the best-selling single handset on the planet be cool? 

Because… of something. A hard-to-define mainstream appeal, exactly the secret Apple sauce that has turned its devices into world-beaters. 

You don’t need to be the best when it comes to features, you don’t need a shiny gimmick or a better camera. You certainly don’t need to be the cheapest, or come out of the left-field like an obscure indie band on the undercard at Glastonbury. 

You need to convince the vast majority of the world that you are cool. That’s a trick that Jobs finessed back in 2007, and his legacy has endured. 

Defining cool

In 2016 I asked the leader of the UK's CoolBrands Council, Steve Cheliotis, what criteria he used to define what cool actually meant. He felt there were four pillars: originality, innovation, authenticity and desirability. 

But does that actually fit for an iPhone? It was, to most people, the original smartphone, and although its achievements in terms of innovation are less obvious it has had its moments (not least with the apps that now run our lives). 

Authenticity has never been a problem for a company that genuinely lives and breathes its own products, and, let’s be completely honest, it remains the leader in terms of desirability, with a powerful marketing operation – including the clever way in which it corrals an army of committed fans and celebrities to do its work for it. 

"Apple ticks those boxes and most celebs you see are still running around with iPhones, so the public by and large aspire to have them as well," Cheliotis told me. 

Jobs was renowned for his showmanship, for making the Apple launch events something special; he had a rock star quality that we simply haven’t seen in the tech world since, but his real genius was in imbuing his products with his own vast reserves of confidence. 

For me, the iPhone, even without fundamental changes, has a swagger and a confidence that no other phone can match. It doesn’t demand attention because it gets it anyway; it doesn’t need gimmicks or headline specs because, well, it’s an iPhone. 

Remaining the best-seller for the majority of the 10 years of your existence is a tough ask. Being the best-seller for all that time and still managing to keep your cool – well that’s remarkable. 

• What's next? Here's what you need to know about the iPhone 8
• A decade of iPhones
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The follow-up to the world’s thinnest smartphone, the Moto Z, is on its way – and we now have a better idea of what its specs are going to be. 

Thanks to reputable tech leaker Evan Blass we’ve known the Moto Z2 has been coming since April, but now the phone has appeared on benchmarking site GFXBench, and it’s looking a lot like a flagship device.

The screen looks to be the same as the Moto Z at 5.5 inches, with a resolution of 2560 x 1440, making it a QHD competitor for the Samsung Galaxy S8, which comes in at 5.8 inches and 2960 x 1440 pixels. 

What's under the hood?

The post also confirms that it’s powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, featuring an octa-core 2.4GHz CPU and Adreno 540 GPU, as well as 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage – allowing for the Android operating system and out-of-the-box apps, you’ll get around 47GB to actually play with.

Contrary to leaked designs we’ve seen previously, the stats are only showing a single rear-facing 12MP camera with the ability to shoot 4K video, while the front-facing camera looks set to be 5MP.

According to PhoneArena there's a Motorola event on June 30, so we'll possibly see the Moto Z2 made official then.

• Until that time, check out what we know so far on: Moto Z2 release date, news and rumors

While Android handsets have been wirelessly charging for years, iPhones have so far stuck with cables, but that could all change with the iPhone 8 as a sound file buried in the iOS 11 beta suggests wireless charging could be on the way.

The sound, which was discovered by MAKS+ and can be heard in the video below, is labeled “engage_power.caf”, which makes it sound a lot like it’s meant to go off when some kind of charger is connected.

But it’s very different to the “connect_power.caf” sound file that plays when you plug a charger in. This can also be heard in the video. The new, unused file, is longer, but certainly sounds like a charging sound effect.

Adding to the evidence

Of course, that doesn’t guarantee that it will be used for wireless charging, if it’s used at all, but it’s not the only evidence that Apple will add wireless charging to the iPhone 8.

In fact, the CEO of one of Apple’s suppliers recently mentioned wireless charging in reference to the iPhone, and rumors of wireless charging had cropped up several times before that.

Some of the more ambitious rumors talk of long-distance wireless charging which could work up to 15ft from the power source, but there’s little evidence that this tech is ready.

Rather, Apple will probably include a more conventional wireless charger in the iPhone 8, but at this point it seems very likely that the phone will have some form of wireless charging, whether or not this mystery sound is associated with it. 

The big remaining question is whether the cheaper iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus will as well.

• Want to try the iOS 11 beta for yourself? Here's how.

Via MacRumors

With the launch of the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, let's look back over the twelve years of iPhone products to see just how much they've changed.

It was January 9 2007 when Steve Jobs took to the stage of the Moscone Center in San Francisco to announce the arrival of the iPhone, which went on sale on June 29 of the same year. That's a dozen years ago!

If you find it difficult to remember that far back, people were flocking to the cinema to get teary-eyed at Will Smith in The Pursuit Of Happyness, and rocking out to Beyonce's Irreplaceable.

While our pop music and movie choices may not have changed much, smartphones were elevated forever: from that point on, touchscreens, apps and digital media were the way forward.

The next big landmark is the iPhone journey is near, with the next three iPhones (which we're expecting to be called the iPhone 11, iPhone 11R and iPhone 11 Max), about to be announced. We're also expecting to see the Apple Watch 5, iOS 13, watchOS 6, iPadOS, and perhaps even more.

Click on through to see every version of the iPhone from the first eleven years.

Launched: June 2007 (US), November 2007 (UK)

Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone as three devices in one: a touchscreen iPod, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a truly mobile web browser.

Now we take touchscreens, digital media playback and web access for granted, but in 2007 the iPhone was unlike anything that had appeared before. Its 3.5-inch screen had a 320 x 480 pixel reoslution (one of the best displays of the time), with a 2MP camera built in, and up to 8GB of storage.

Third-party apps were not yet allowed on "iPhone OS". In the TechRadar review, we noted that despite several shortcomings, the phone had "changed the mobile device landscape… multitouch will prove to be a model for interfaces in the future".

Launched: July 2008

High-speed connectivity was big news in 2008, which is why the second generation iPhone included 3G in its moniker (rather confusingly, as this was the second generation iPhone). It also brought with it a thinner shape, a plastic back and – crucially – support for the newly launched App Store.

The app store model worked so well you'll now find it replicated in everything from your smart TV to your Windows 8 laptop, and the change helped Apple's phone really start to gain traction.

We said in our iPhone 3G review that buyers would be "amazed by the function and feel of this handset". The iPhone era had begun in earnest.

Launched: June 2009

The iPhone 3GS upgrade was viewed as disappointingly minor at the time, but look at the detail and a different picture emerges: as well as faster performance, the new handset offered a better 3.2MP camera (that could now record video as well as take photos), extra storage options and voice control (the precursor to Siri).

The display was the same 3.5-inch 320 x 480 screen, and the device's appearance remained largely unchanged from the 3G model. TechRadar's take on the unit praised the multimedia and internet capabilities, while still finding niggles with the camera, call quality and battery life – this was the first of the more iterative updates to the iPhone, but did enough to keep users happy.

Launched: June 2010

If the 3GS was a minor upgrade, the iPhone 4 was a serious step up – a new, flat design with an integrated antenna (although questions were raised about how you held the device), a high-resolution Retina display (640 x 960 pixels) that showed the rest of the world how it was done and a superior 5MP camera (featuring HD video recording), on top of internal performance improvements.

The competition was catching up, and Apple had responded in brilliant fashion. We were certainly impressed, despite some reservations about the high price, saying "It's intriguing to see record-breaking numbers queuing up to pick up this device – but after playing with it for a few days, you can see why."

Launched: October 2011

Apple pulled out the "S" tag again for the fifth generation handset, indicating a minor upgrade rather than a major overhaul.

The design of the iPhone 4S was the same, but inside was Apple's new A5 processor, vastly improved graphics capabilities and an 8MP camera with 1080p video recording. iOS was evolving at the same rate as the hardware, of course, and Siri began life as an iPhone 4S exclusive.

The improvements were enough to persuade us to describe it as "the best thing Apple has ever created" in the official TechRadar review.

Launched: September 2012

After six handsets, Apple finally decided it was time to tweak the iPhone's screen size and aspect ratio.

Coming in at 20% lighter than its predecessor, the 2012 iPhone adopted a 4-inch screen, running at 640 x 1136 pixels.

Otherwise, despite the usual speed bump and a stronger antenna, it was very much business as usual in terms of the design and capabilities.

Our biggest gripe in our iPhone 5 review was with the aging iOS, but with iOS 7 arriving on September 18 that issue is very much negated, which will please a number of iPhone 5 users who've been holding onto the handset for nearly a year.

Launched: September 2013

The big step in the seventh stage of the iPhone's evolution was the arrival of the iPhone 5C, a slightly cheaper, plastic-backed model to help battle Android in the busy mobile middle market. The signs were there already – remember Apple kept the iPhone 4 and 4S on sale during the iPhone 5 era.

Apart from the plastic shell and larger battery, though, the iPhone 5C was, in terms of specs, a carbon copy of the iPhone 5 – which was retired to make way for the two new handsets.

As for the flagship iPhone 5S, it was a case of under-the-hood improvements again: more power, a better camera, and a fancy fingerprint reader hidden under the home button. The bigger changes arrived with iOS 7, the most radical revamp of the mobile operating system since the App Store arrived back in 2008.

Launched: September 2014

After the smaller changes that came with the iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S, Apple was back to its revolutionary best with the following generation, as the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus brought the biggest alterations in design and features since the leap from the iPhone 4S to the iPhone 5.

The most striking change the eighth generation iPhones ushered in was undoubtedly the screen size, with the iPhone 6's display leaping from the iPhone 5's 4 inches to 4.7 inches. Apple also upped the resolution from the 1136 x 640 of previous iPhones to 1334 x 750. This meant that the larger screen still had a high pixel density of 326ppi (pixels per inch), so image quality was incredibly sharp and detailed.

As the name suggests, the iPhone 6 Plus went even larger, with a whopping 5.5-inch display, marking Apple's first foray into the phablet market. The iPhone 6 Plus also got a resolution boost to full high definition, 1920 x 1080. With a pixel density of 401ppi, not only does the iPhone 6 Plus have the largest screen of any iPhone ever, but it also has the clearest.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus also benefit from Apple's use of "dual-domain pixels", which along with the 1300:1 contrast ratio makes the screen on the handsets look absolutely fantastic.

Both the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus also ditched the industrial and sharp-edged design that had been with the iPhone for four generations, in favour of a more ergonomically-pleasing chassis with a screen that curves into a body with rounded edges and corners.

Both handsets feature metal backs, and as we pointed out in our reviews, they take a lot of design language from the iPad Air, resulting in a product that looks and feels genuinely premium.

Another big change is that the boosted screen sizes and the corresponding increase in body dimensions have meant that the power button now resides on the right-hand side of the devices.

Along with the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus Apple, released iOS 8, which kept many of the flat aesthetics of iOS 7 and ushered in some neat new features.

It wasn't a completely smooth launch, however, and after only a few months Apple has already patched it to iOS 8.1.3 in a bid to squash bugs and fix problems.

The rocky launch of iOS 8 was in stark contrast to the assured releases of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, with Apple proudly announcing that the two iPhones broke the company's records for pre-orders in the first night they were available.

Launched: September 2015

Say hello to the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. So what can you expect from Apple's ninth generation smartphone? As the names suggest the 6S and 6S Plus don't exactly ring the changes. Rather they build on the solid base provided by the 6 and 6 Plus from 2014.

The keep the same 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays, with the same resolutions, and there's nothing new in the design department with Apple sticking with the well received look of its eighth generation devices. There is however a new color, with rose gold joining silver, gold and space grey. Lovely.

Both still sport all metal bodies, but they're now formed from 7000 series aluminum, which Apple says is super tough.

There is a new power unit under the hood, with Apple's new A9 chip boosting performance, while the rear facing camera is now an impressive 12MP offering with a new Live Photo feature which can capture a few seconds of video with each snap.

The big talking point here though is Apple's new 3D Touch technology. This allows the display on the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus to monitor how much pressure you're applying to it.

With the ability to measure the force of your finger, the new iPhones can provide additional functionality. Peek at content without the screen it's embedded in by lightly pressing on it, and press firmly to open it in a separate window.

Launched: March 2016

The latest cheaper release from Apple is the iPhone SE, which takes a lot of features from the iPhone 5S and brought them into a phone ready to face the market of 2016.

It's the perfect choice for you if you're looking for a smaller iPhone as it comes with a 4-inch screen. The body looks much like the iPhone 5S and while the design may seem a little tired, it still feels premium to the touch.

Plus the iPhone SE comes with a 12MP rear-facing camera, a 64GB storage option and iOS 9 software.

The screen technology on the iPhone SE is a little out of date but the iPhone SE is the cheapest Apple phone you can buy right now and it offers up a better battery life than any other iPhone you can buy today.

Launched: September 2016

Next up is the Seven Brothers from Apple - the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus. Launched in September 2016, the iPhone 7 Plus  received 4.5 stars out of 5 in the TechRadar review (although the 7 was a little less impressive).

We praised the camera on both of these devices, especially the iPhone 7 Plus, as that comes with a telephoto lens which allows you to take 2x lossless optical zoom photos with ease. 

The iPhone 7 still has a great shooter though, with fantastic low light skills and one of the best point and shoot rear cameras on the market.

This is also the time Apple embraced waterproof phone tech. Both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus come with IP67 ratings, which means you can submerge your phone in water for a few minutes or more without worrying about it getting damaged.

Perhaps the biggest headline of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus is the fact the company has said goodbye to the 3.5mm headphone jack. Apple called the decision "courageous" to lose the legacy tech, but many have been disappointed the company has ditched it.

Launched: September 2017

No you've not missed a slide, the iPhone 7S and 7S Plus simply do not exist. Instead, Apple offered us the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus during its September 12, 2017 launch event at its brand new Cupertino, California HQ.

Don't let the lack of the 'S' suffix fool you though, as these two new iPhones look incredibly similar to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus they replace - it's another incremental upgrade (but Apple did have something rather special alongside these two - move to the next slide to learn more!).

Back to the iPhone 8 handsets though, and this time around you get an all glass rear, which in turn has brought wireless charging to both phones while the screen has been improved color wise, but still has the same resolution as predecessors.

The rear facing 12MP camera on the iPhone 8 has also been improved, as has the dual snapper on the back of the iPhone 8 Plus, giving you brighter, clearer and more colorful snaps.

Both phones also benefit from Apple's brand new A11 Bionic processor and upgraded GPU, ensuring there's plenty of grunt under the hood.

• Read our in-depth iPhone 8 review
• Read our in-depth iPhone 8 Plus review

Launched: September 2017

The iPhone X was the phone that stole the show in 2017, pushing aside the incremental upgrades that are the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, and dazzling Apple fans around the world with a bold new look.

TechRadar's own Gareth Beavis went as far to say the iPhone X is "the most important iPhone ever launched" - no pressure then.

The main event was the bezeless 5.8-inch Super Retina HD display, packing in 2436 x 1125 resolution for a 458ppi pixel density. 

It was the first iPhone ever to use an OLED display, meaning it packed a more powerful punch, and it led to another iPhone first too.

The iPhone X does not have a home button. Repeat, the iPhone X does not have a home button.

Apple ditched the physical key in favor of a swipe up gesture from the bottom of the screen, while the fingerprint scanning Touch ID tech was also been kicked to the kerb.

In its place is Face ID, a facial scanner technology that accurately maps your face and - Apple claims - is much more secure than Touch ID.

All this comes at a cost - and the iPhone X was the most expensive iPhone ever when it launched, starting at an eye-watering $999, £999, AU$1,579.

• Read our in-depth iPhone X review

Launched: September 2018

The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max launched in 2018 as the then-leading smartphone duo to grace Apple's illustrious range.

The iPhone XS features merely incremental upgrades over the iPhone X, with improved rear cameras, a new gold finish and more power under the hood.

Meanwhile the iPhone XS Max is a next leap forward for Apple, offering up a massive 6.5-inch display as well as the same upgrades as the XS.

If you fancy getting hold of either of these handsets though, be prepared to pay. The iPhone XS inherits the starting price of the iPhone X, while the iPhone XS Max price is even loftier.

• Read our hands on reviews: iPhone XS | iPhone XS Max

Launched: September 2018

The iPhone XR arrived at the same launch event as the iPhone XS and XS Max, but offers something a little different.

It sits in a slightly odd position, as the 'entry-level' device of Apple's new trio and thus, logically, taking over the mantel from the iPhone 8. However, it has a much larger screen, no home button or Touch ID and includes Face ID.

It's certainly cheaper than the XS duo, but perhaps the iPhone XR price isn't quite as low as some where hoping for in the build up to launch when rumors suggested an affordable iPhone was on the cards.

• Read our hands on: iPhone XR review

 Launched: September 2019

The iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are the latest and greatest Apple phones, which expanded their rear camera suite to a third ultrawide lens. Both have new matte glass finishes on the back cover, which don’t hold fingerprints, and the front display is a new ‘Super Retina XDR’ screen.

But otherwise, not much has changed - including, sadly, the retention of the notch on the front display. Both come in a new color, Midnight Green, in addition to gray, silver and gold. 

The iPhone 11 Pro is an upgrade on the iPhone XS, featuring the same 5.8-inch screen and size. It’s the smallest of Apple’s flagship phones, and will use the extra lens to great effect with the refined camera app, which smoothly transitions between near and far photography. It also gets 4 more hours of battery life than its predecessor, Apple claims.

The iPhone 11 Pro Max, aside from a more confusing nomenclature, has the same size and 6.5-inch display as the iPhone XS Max. As with its predecessor, there’s nothing terribly different, though the new version gets 5 hours more battery life than the older one.

 Launched: September 2019

Rather than wait another month as it did with the iPhone XR, Apple has come out swinging with this year’s budget flagship, announcing the iPhone 11 on the same day as its pricier siblings, the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.

The iPhone 11 - rebranded as the ‘standard’ version, at least in nomenclature - adds a second ultrawide lens, which is a big improvement for its rear camera suite over its predecessor. 

The new phone cuts similar corners as the iPhone XR to be more affordable, like having an LCD display, one fewer lens, and being thicker than the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max. But Apple has managed to make it even cheaper than the XR on launch day, making the iPhone 11 the cheapest Apple flagship since the iPhone 8.

Google’s Transit Product Lead, Cayden Meyer, perhaps understands how mind-bogglingly difficult it is to keep tabs on Sydney’s public transport system, particularly during peak hours and rainy weather. 

Apps like TripView help, with the paid version offering real-time updates for trains, buses and ferries, but the free version doesn’t have that option, leaving plenty of commuters fuming if they’ve missed their ride.

There’s hope for Sydneysiders yet – starting today, Google has enabled the Google Transit feature in its Maps web and mobile applications (both iOS and Android).

The new feature provides real-time updates on light rail, trains, ferries and buses in New South Wales, alongside potential routes, when you search for directions.

Google has partnered with Transport for NSW to make this feature possible, with Sydney being the first city in Australia to have its public transport system updated on Google Maps.

If you live in New South Wales and need to get somewhere via public transport, simply open the application, choose the ‘get directions’ icon and fill in your destination. Google will do the rest. Anything marked in green is running on time.

• Looking to spice up your iPhone? Check out our ever-growing round-up of the best free iPhone apps.

If you're keen on one of Apple's tasty iPhones but need something with a bigger display, longer-lasting battery and better camera, then the iPhone 7 Plus is probably the go. Whether you're looking for huge data, the best budget option, or simply the best overall value, this page will help you choose the best plan to get you rolling with Apple's finest in Australia. If you're after plans in the UK you can visit the best iPhone 7 Plus deals in the UK page, or if you're hanging out for the upcoming model, check out everything we know about the iPhone 8.

iPhone 7 Plus were steep when it first launched, but they've come down considerably since the iPhone X and iPhone 8 family launched. there aren't too many deals left on this Apple handset, but check out what we've found below.

If it's just the handset you're looking for, then it's easy to compare prices for each of the iPhone 7 Plus 32GB, iPhone 7 Plus 128GB or the iPhone 7 Plus 256GB over at our sister site Getprice.

See also: iPhone 7 Plus review

The best iPhone 7 Plus plans

Here we've gathered three of the best plans across all the networks at the top of the guide, all of which are chosen purely on their respective values (as we don't manipulate the results for commercial gain). Below that you'll find the top plans section from the three major networks, Telstra, Optus and Vodafone.

Best iPhone 7 Plus plan for each carrier