I stumbled across an interesting story from Cult of Mac today that offers a look at one of the less visible parts of an iPhone launch: how Apple can get newer software onto iPhones that have already been boxed and sent to stores.
It is an especially timely question with iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max reaching customers. The hardware has been in production well before launch, while the final public version of iOS 27 only arrived on September 14.
One part of the answer is a system known as Presto, which allows Apple retail employees to update an iPhone while it remains sealed inside its box. The system can power the device wirelessly, install an iOS update and shut it back down without an employee having to open the retail packaging.
Presto was first reported in 2023, with Apple subsequently rolling the system out to its retail stores. It effectively gives Apple another opportunity to bring boxed inventory closer to the latest software before it is handed to a customer.
That does not necessarily mean every new iPhone will leave the box running the absolute latest available build. As The Apple Post reported ahead of launch, some iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max units require an iOS 27 update during setup, with devices manufactured and prepared at different stages of Apple’s launch process.
Before an iPhone reaches a store, software can also be installed during manufacturing and preparation. New devices do not have a customer’s photos, apps or settings to preserve, allowing Apple’s production process to differ substantially from the familiar over-the-air update performed on an iPhone already in use.
The scale is what makes the process interesting. Apple begins producing and distributing huge numbers of iPhones before the software that customers will ultimately use on launch day is finalized. Systems such as Presto give the company more flexibility to narrow that gap without breaking the seal on finished retail units.
It is one of the largely unseen pieces of Apple’s annual iPhone launch operation, happening alongside the much more visible work of moving devices through distribution centers and preparing Apple Stores for customers. Images shared ahead of this year’s launch showed stacks of iPhone 18 Pro orders already moving through T-Mobile distribution centers before release day.