How to Know Which iPhone You Have

Have you ever wondered what kind of phone you have? No, seriously. Have you held a phone in your hand that has no identifying marks on it and asked yourself, “What the hell is this?” before slamming it against the table like the meme of Patrick Star in the Spongebob Squarepants season 3 episode “Wet Painters?”

Believe it or not, yes, sometimes people need some help finding out what their phone is. Some folks, like my colleague and Android expert Florence Ion, could tell you what kind of phone you have just by looking at the curvature of the shell’s corners. For the rest of us, the much less technologically adept, it’s a far more involved process. Perhaps you have had your phone for so long that the name’s been lost to time (you should probably check if you’re still getting security updates). Perhaps you’re the beneficiary of a hand-me-down device of strange, alien origin.

Before you jump into the comments, remember we can’t all be experts.

How to tell what kind of iPhone you have

Apple makes it pretty easy to tell what kind of phone you have on you. If you can still turn it on and unlock it, you can find the phone’s model number by going into Settings and then hitting the General and About Tabs. The iPhone’s model should be displayed prominently, starting with an “A” and then another four numbers.

After that, go to Apple’s phone model page and hit CMD+F to find your specific model number in the list, or else scroll around until you find it. All iPhones are going back to the iPhone X before starting with an “A1,” while later models started to break into the “A2” category. If you want to find the right phone based on looks alone, the page is helpful by offering a few visual descriptors, such as the iPhone 3GS’s plastic back housing.

If you can’t actually open the phone, whether because you don’t have the access code or no longer have one of those 30-pin connectors, you can still find the model number pretty easily. The number should feature prominently on the iPhone 7 or earlier on the phone’s back plate right below the “iPhone” logo. It’s a little bit more complicated with an iPhone 8 or later model. First, open up the SIM tray and look directly into the slot. The model number should be on the top edge of the open slot, on the side closest to the screen.

The latest iPhones don’t have a SIM tray, so instead, you’ll need to look in the Lightning (for iPhone 14) and USB-C (for iPhone 15) ports for the model number. It should be on the side closest to the screen, and you’ll probably need a flashlight or even a magnifying glass to read off the numbers there.

How do you tell what kind of Android phone you have

It’s a lot more complicated to find out what kind of Android phone you have due to the sheer variety of devices available. There are ways to get your phone model’s number relatively painlessly, but sometimes, you’ll need to be more determined to discover your phone’s origins.

The most foolproof method is by looking into the phone’s settings. First, open up the settings window through the notification shade, then scroll down until you see the “About phone” tab. You can also find the phone’s IMEI numbers. This will list the product name, model number, or perhaps both. Pixel phones should display the name prominently in that same space, but for the model number, you’ll need to hit the “Regulatory labels” tab instead.

On a Samsung phone, the model name will start with a “SM,’ while Google Pixels will start with a “G.” However, other companies are much less consistent. OnePlus, Huawei, Motorola, and the other big phone makers have a variety of starting letters on their models depending on the year and variation.

There are so many devices there that if your phone doesn’t tell you the exact name right in settings, it’s best to search for that model number on Google to find the correct device.

But what happens if you’re unable to unlock your device? Well, then things get more tricky. The phone model might be listed directly on the device, such as with older Samsung models, but newer phones likely won’t have any easily available identifier. You could contact your carrier if it still has some connection, though you probably already have access to the device at that point.

If you still have the box your phone came in, you may be able to find the model number by looking around the original barcode area (or just looking at the front of the box, of course). Some phones, like some Huawei models, allow you to remove the backplate, which will prominently display the model number. Other phones might have that information available underneath the phone’s battery if they’re old enough for that part to be easily removable.

If all else fails, you can try sites like GSMArena, which include a handy phone finder for you to compare and contrast the look of your device, but that could mean digging through a mountain of devices to find the right one. If you’re at the end of your rope, try posting it here in the comments; perhaps we can help.

Need More Help?

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Want more of Gizmodo’s consumer electronics picks? Check out our guides to the best phones, best laptops, best TVs, and best headphones. If you want to learn about the next big thing, see our guide to everything we know about the iPhone 16.

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