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ZDNET's key takeaways
A new iPhone works best after a few settings changes.
Some iOS features are annoying or battery-draining.
Hidden iOS tools can make your iPhone better to use.
I have a love-hate relationship with getting a new iPhone. It's shiny and new and oh-so scratch-free, and I want to set it up to run just perfectly. But that's the kicker: Setting it up is such a chore. I have to remember all the different toggles I switch on or off, and that's before choosing a new wallpaper and redesigning my home screen layouts. It's a lot.
Also: 12+ iPhone settings you can change to noticeably improve its battery life (iOS 26 and older)
I actually recently made a list of all the little settings I change first, since I got a new iPad, which runs iPadOS, a tablet-optimized version of iOS, and I had to go through this tedious exercise again. Apple gives you a good device out of the box, but some defaults are noisy and waste battery, and there are several buried tools that unlock cool features.
What I change first on a new iPhone
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