About

The iPhone is a line of smartphones produced by Apple that run on the iOS mobile operating system. The device features a touch screen interface, which allows users browse the web operating various applications downloaded from the Apple app store. The phones have gathered a substantial following online, bringing much attention, praise and criticism to many of its features.

History

On June 29th, 2007, former Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone at the Macworld conference in San Francisco.^[1] The device was met with largely positive reception, selling 270,000 units by the end of the 3rd quarter.^[2] The success of the iPhone brought about major improvements in the annually released generations of the devices, including a front facing camera, a personal voice assistant named Siri, faster processors and data support.

iPhone 6 Announcement

On September 9th, 2014, Apple held a press event to unveil the 4.7 inch iPhone 6 and 5.5 inch iPhone 6 Plus iterations of the device, each of which were updated with improved processing power and battery life. Video recording features were updated as well, including stabilization and continuous autofocus using the phone's iSight sensor.

iPhone 6 Bendgate

On September 21st, only days after the release of the iPhone6, Macrumors Forum^[8] user hanzoh published a new thread titled "iPhone 6 Plus slightly bent after 2 days" describing a potential durability issue with Apple's latest device:

"I received my iPhone 6 Plus 64GB spacegray at about 3pm on Friday and set it up, but haven't worn it out that day, so it wasn't in my pocket.

Yesterday, I left at 10am with the iPhone in my left FRONT pocket of my suit pants. I drove 4 hours to a wedding, which also involved a lot of sitting during dinner etc but also 2-3 hours of dancing. I left at 2am and went to bed, driving home 4 hours back.

So in total, the 6 Plus was about 18 hours in my pocket while sitting mostly.

As I lay it on the coffee table and sat down on the couch to relax from the drive (yes, sitting again ), I saw the reflection of the window in the iPhones slightly distorted. Now I lay it flat with the display side on the table, take a look."

That same day, Twitter user Wario64^[9] tweeted out a link to the Macrumors forum thread, to which Twitter user SeanPincombe^[10] responded by introducing the Twitter hashtag #bendgate. Within a week, the hashtag was tweeted^[11] out over 37,000 times.

On September 23rd, The Daily Dot^[12] published an article titled "Apple fans' tight pants are bending the iPhone 6 Plus," which highlighted several tweets diagnosing the issue as a byproduct of sporting skinny jeans and tight pants, while the gadget unboxing and review series Unbox Therapy uploaded a video testing the durability of iPhone 6 Plus (shown below). In less than 24 hours, the video garnered more than 7.4 million views. On the following day, the hashtag and problem were covered by Mashable^[13] and Newsday.^[14]

iPhone 6 Hairgate

On September 27th, during the height of Apple's #bendgate, iPhone 6 user Paul Peavler^[22] tweeted a complaint about his hair getting caught in the seam along the side of the device, using the hashtag #seamgate in a tongue-in-cheek reference to the concerns over its hardware durability. In the following days, a number of other iPhone 6 Plus users began tweeting similar complaints about their hair or beard getting pinched by the seam where the aluminum body meets the touch-screen glass.

On October 3rd, Apple-related news site 9to5Mac^[16] featured a collection of related tweets in an article titled "My iPhone 6 Plus is yanking out my hair," to which Twitter user Peter Phillips^[17] responded by dubbing the phenomenon #hairgate. In less than a week, the hashtag^[18] was tweeted out over 9,000 times, which also gave rise to a number of parody ads for Apple's iPhone 6 (shown below).

On October 5th, several smartphone and tech news blogs^{[15][19][21][24]} began covering the satirical hashtag, with the majority of the publications dismissing the phenomenon as an aftereffect of Apple's iPhone 6 #bendgate and its competitor Samsung Galaxy Note 4's #gapgate^[24], which emerged around the same time after several users discovered an unusual gap between the screen and the walls of the device. On October 6th, Mashable posted a video to their YouTube channel^[20] titled “#Hairgate is Not a Thing” in which several of their employees demonstrated how difficult it would be for an iPhone6 user to catch their hair on the phone.

On October 7th, Forbes^[21] echoed that sentiment publishing an article titled "iPhone 6 'Hairgate' Controversy Is Not The New Bendgate" which explained:

"Having reviewed the iPhone 6 and currently being in possession of an iPhone 6 Plus for Forbes’ upcoming longer term review, I can report the gap between the front glass and aluminium does not exist (photo above). There is a bevel, but the glass front panel is actually fused to the aluminium and the tiny gap you do see is significantly narrower than a human hair."

iPhone 7 Announcement

On September 7th, 2016, Apple announced the iPhone 7 at a special event.^[25] Improvements on the iPhone 6 included a 25% brighter screen, water and dust resistance, and a wider color gamut.^[26] They also announced an improved camera that allows users to choose between shooting with a wide-angle or telephoto lens.

Loss of Headphone Jack

One of the most drastic changes to the iPhone design for the iPhone 7 is the removal of the headphone jack. In its place, the company will rely on three alternatives: a Lightning-compatible pair of new included EarPods; a pair of $159 wireless Bluetooth AirPods that require no physical connection; and a free dongle to connect old, analog headphones to the device.^[27] Backlash to the announcement found customers complaining about the steep price of the BlueTooth AirPods, how seemingly simple it would be to lose the AirPods, and that there would be no possible way to use the pods and charge the iPhone at the same time.^[28]

Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller drew criticism by saying it took "courage" for Apple to remove the headphone jack, which sparked a shitpost on r/apple of people simply posting the word "courage."^[30]

Super Mario Run

Apple also paired with Nintendo and brought Shigeru Miyamoto onstage, where he announced the first traditional Mario game for iOS, Super Mario Run.^[29]

iOS10 Backlash

On September 13th, 2016, Apple launched the iOS10 update.^[31] Among the things it promised were a redesigned user-interface, a more capable Siri, and improved photo-organization. However, the update was generally met with backlash over some of the new features, particularly over the changes to the home page font and new emojis.^[32] Deadspin^[33] wrote a particularly scathing review of the new chat function, calling it "a bloated, app-centric, desperate attempt at a Facebook Messenger knockoff that renders something once pristine nearly unusable."

My Little Pony Porn

On September 14th, 2016, it was discovered that the default GIF library that appears when one types "butt" into the chat finds My Little Pony character Fluttershy in a compromising position. The story was picked up by Deadspin^[34] and The Daily Dot^[35] before Apple made "butt" an unsearchable term.

iPhone X

On September 13th, 2017, Apple unveiled two new iPhone models at their annual keynote event at the Steve Jobs Auditorium in Cupertino, California. First, the iPhone 8, an updated model of their standard smartphone. However, Apple CEO Tim Cook made surprise "one more thing…" announcement, another iPhone, the iPhone X (pronounced "iPhone 10"). The high-end smart phone comes with a number of features exclusive to this model, specifically no home button, bezel-less screen and Face ID security features.

Face ID

Online, people responded almost immediately to the release of "Face ID," a new security function that requires the phone take a map of your face, allowing the user to unlock the phone by looking directly at the phone. Shortly after the event, people on Twitter began posting jokes about the announcements. Twitter^[36] user @LetMicahDown posted a gif of actor Jack Nicholson devilishly nodding in approval with the caption "The CIA during this Face ID announcement." The post (shown below, left) received more than 1,400 retweets and 1,600 likes in two days.

Others made jokes about the Game of Thrones character Arya Stark, who frequently wears other people's faces on the series. Twitter^[37] user @SuperSaf posted a gif of Arya and the caption "Apple, 'Face ID can't be fooled easily.' Arya Stark, 'We'll see about that.'" The post (shown below, right) received more than 6,300 retweets and 10,400 likes in 48 hours.

That day, professional wrestler John Cena, who is known for waving his hands in front of his face and saying, "You can't see me," tweeted^[38] about the face ID. He captioned the post "Sooo #iPhoneX about #FaceID …ummmmm …. what do I do?" The post (shown below) received more than 330,000 retweets and 560,000 likes.

Notch Controversy

Due to the size of the screen, which encompassed the entire body of the phone, the front-facing camera created a notch in the screen at the top of the phone (shown below). The notch creates a black bar on video, when the phone is in full-screen mode, as well as white bars on the sides of the screen when viewing webpages. Because of this, many critics reacted negatively to the design of the phone. Business Insider^[39] called the phone "stunning," except for the "hideous" notch.

On Twitter, users also complained about the design of the notch. On September 12th, Twitter^[40] user @thomasfuchs tweeted (shown below, left) "iPhone X renders webpages with literal white bars on the sides," garnering 1,000 retweets and 1,300 likes in three days.

Other Twitter users made jokes about the notch. Twitter^[41] @ivdv posted a picture of Bert from Sesame Street with the notch serving as the puppet's unibrow. They captioned the post (shown below, center) "So here’s a nice wallpaper for your iPhone X, OWNING the notch." The post received more than 1,200 retweets and 2,900 likes in two days.

Twitter^[41] user @matthijsklaver made a mock-up of the device without the notch. He posted them to twitter (shown below, right) with the caption "I would have been just as happy with an iPhone X with slightly larger top and bottom bezels instead of a notch. Made these quick mockups."

Several media outlets reported on the controversy of the notch, including Business Insider,^[39] The Verge,^[43] Mac Rumors,^[44] BGR^[45] and more.

iPhone XS

On September 12th, 2018 Apple unveiled three new iPhone models: iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR. The announcement, made at Apple's campus in Cupertino, California, introduced the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, two sizes of the company's new flagship smartphone, boasting new cameras, processors and battery life. The iPhone XR replaces the iPhone X in the company's lineup as mid-priced model.^[46]

Following the announcement, many online joked about the name of the phone, particularly how to pronounce XS, which when spoken allowed sounds similar to the words "excess" or, in the case of "10 S," "tennis." Some made jokes on Twitter about the name (examples below).

Some took issue with the line of phones, particularly because none of the phones feature a headphone jack, and Apple would no longer be selling the adapter that allows a traditional eighth inch headphone jack to be used on the phone. Twitter^[47] @SomeGadgetGuy tweeted, "Apple: 'We were able to keep the price of the iPhone Xs the same as the iPhone X by courageously removing the dongle for your headphones! Now you don't need to worry about losing the dongle we never gave you!'" The tweet (shown below) received more than 760 retweets and 3,100 likes in 24 hours.

That day, Redditor^[51] hexcruncher posted about the lack of adapter in the /r/Apple subreddit. The post received more than 12,000 points (91% upvoted) and 2,700 comments in 24 hours.

Twitter^[48][49][50] published several Moments pages, cataloguing the reaction to the new phones.

Online Presence

On January 25th, 2008, the /r/iphone subreddit was launched for discussions about the mobile devices. On March 16th, the site iPhone Forums^[5] was created, featuring discussion boards, media gallery and a blog. On July 27th, the iPhone Wiki^[6] was launched to collect information about the devices. On September 29th, 2009, the /r/jailbreak^[4] subreddit was created for users to discuss ways of removing default limitations within the iOS operating system.

Cydia

Cydia^[7] is a software distribution platform developed by SaurikIT for jailbroken iOS devices. The application was released in February 2008 as an open-source alternative to the iOS Installer.app.

Related Memes

iPhone Whale

The iPhone Whale is the name given to an ad-hoc emoticon found within the iPhone's iChat app. A screenshot of the whale was spread around Tumblr and Reddit, and has spawned many derivatives.

iPhone 4 Death Grip

The iPhone 4 Death Grip refers to a design fault within the iPhone 4, by which the phone's antenna was blocked from receiving a signal as users held the phone in their hands. It was seen as a catastrophic mistake by tech experts and inspired a series of photoshopped images.

Shit That Siri Says

Shit That Siri Says is an expression that humorously refers to unusual responses made by Apple's voice-activated command program, Siri, which was introduced with the iPhone 4S.

iPhone 5's Extended Height

While the release of iPhone 5 in September 2012 had been regarded as a commercial success (with more than two million units pre-ordered within the first 24 hours), the phone garnered mixed reviews from the tech news blogosphere, many of whom described the fifth generation model of the smartphone device as "boring." Meanwhile, others on 4chan, Tumblr and Twitter began commentating on the slightly longer dimension of the device, dubbing the iPhone 5 with the nickname "LongPhone" through photoshopped images

Autocorrect

Autocorrection is a spell-checking function commonly found in word processors that automatically corrects spelling and/or grammatical mistakes made by the typist. Screenshots of iPhone text messages conversations featuring autocorrect failures are often posted in various community sites online.

Apple Maps

Apple Maps is an application packaged with Apple’s iOS 6 publicly released on September 19th, 2012. Due to the amount of errors in the app, many iPhone users began posting screenshots of the faulty application or creating parodies of it, criticizing the way locations are displayed.

iOS7 Waterproof Prank

Shortly after the release of Apple’s iOS7 in 2013, a group of pranksters on 4chan launched a hoax campaign to sabotage the early adopters by creating a series of Apple-esque advertisements claiming that the latest software update will make iPhone devices waterproof.

The fake advertisements were complemented by a fabricated Facebook status update from Apple's CEO Tim Cook confirming the false rumor that "the iOS7 can now survive 99% exposure to water accidents."

In the following days, a variety of facetious messages praising iOS7's waterproof feature emerged on Twitter, as well as several angry reactions from iPhone users who presumably fell victim to the prank.

Search Interest

External References