Hearing

The revolutionary iPhone delivers a variety of innovative features that make it easier to use by those who are deaf or have hearing disabilities.

Closed Captioning logo

FaceTime

iPhone 4 or later feature FaceTime video calling via Wi-Fi. Thanks to its high-quality video and fast frame rate, FaceTime is ideal for those who communicate using sign language or by lip reading. You can clearly see hand and finger gestures in detail, as well as facial expressions. So you can communicate from afar with the same range of emotion as when you’re face to face. FaceTime also lets you place and receive video relay and text relay calls using services like zVRS.com and HOVRS.com. Some of these services can connect you to others using instant messaging or videophones. Learn more about FaceTime on iPhone

Closed Captioning

iPhone supports the playback of open captions, closed captions, and subtitling. Captions appear onscreen just like the closed captions you see on TV. You can buy or rent captioned movies on the iTunes Store and sync them to iPhone to watch on the go. You can also create your own using a variety of tools and applications, including Compressor (sold separately).

Two iPhones. The iPhone in the background is  displaying a list of messages, the iPhone in the foreground shows an active MMS chat session.

Messages with iMessage

Sending messages with iMessage is even better than texting. Because it’s unlimited.* And it works between you and anyone on an iOS device or Mac. So text all you want. Send videos, photos, locations, and links to friends. And keep everyone in the loop with group messaging.

Mono Audio

iPhone can route both right- and left-channel audio source material into both earbuds, enabling users with hearing loss in one ear to hear both channels in each ear. You can also adjust the volume balance between the left and right channels.

Sound waves emanating from an iPhone

Visible and Vibrating Alerts

Turn the ringer on and iPhone delivers both visual and vibrating alerts for FaceTime calls, new text messages, new and sent mail, and calendar events. Choose to have an LED light flash for incoming calls and alerts. Or set incoming calls to display a full-screen image of the caller.

In silent mode, iPhone vibrates instead of playing a tone. For incoming FaceTime calls, you can select from different vibration patterns or create your own by tapping out custom patterns.

Two iPhones. The iPhone in the background is displaying a list of VoiceMail messages, the iPhone in the foreground shows a phone call in progress.

Visual Voicemail

The innovative Visual Voicemail feature lets you view all your voicemail messages at once, then listen to them in the order you prefer. Use the Play/Pause button to control playback of your voice messages. The scrubber bar even lets you replay portions of a message you find hard to understand.

TTY Support

You can use iPhone in TTY mode with standard teletype machines. Use of TTY requires the iPhone TTY Adapter, sold separately on the Apple Online Store. TTY customers can obtain telephone technical support by calling Apple’s support number, 1-800-SOS-APPL, using a relay service.