If you've followed any of my writing here, you've probably seen me give Apple a lot of flak, most recently over the iPhone Air. I stand by my criticism. I'm not doing it just because controversy draws clicks — I'm doing it because Apple gets so many things right that it's frustrating when it goes off-course. Or what I consider off-course, naturally. “Other opinions are available,” as one of my favorite podcasters would say, and Apple has business considerations that even market analysts can't peek into. We may never know exactly why the Apple Car project was canceled.
For a change of pace, then, here are some of the things I genuinely like about iPhones that don't get the attention they deserve, in my opinion. You might feel that some of them are properly hyped, or even overhyped. But one thing's for sure — these aren't the first things Apple trots out to sell you an iPhone 17.
StandBy
Apple's first smart display
If you're not familiar with StandBy, that's understandable. The mode is only triggered when you slap an iPhone on a MagSafe/Qi 2 charger both upright and horizontally, and even then, it's largely pointless if your phone doesn't have an always-on display (AOD). Now that Apple is finally adding AOD tech to every iPhone — not just Pros — you may be experiencing StandBy for the first time.
Effectively, StandBy turns your iPhone into a smart display like an Echo Show or a Nest Hub. It…