The iPhone you can hand your kid without the worry
Calls, maps, the camera, school apps. No App Store, no browser, no way around it from the phone. You hold the key, not them.
Free for the first phone · the old iPhone in your drawer is perfect
Messages
FaceTime
Photos
Calendar
Books
Duolingo 
What stays
Calls, Messages, FaceTime, Maps, the camera and Photos, Music, school and medical apps. The phone should be one the kid is proud of, not embarrassed by.
What goes
The App Store, the browser (or everything but an approved list), the feeds, open-chat games. Adding an app later is a parent decision at the Mac.
This is the kid phone mode; every list is yours to change, or build their screen yourself.
Why an iPhone, not a dumb phone
More and more kids can't use a basic phone: glucose sensors, insulin pumps, school apps, transit and 2FA all assume a smartphone. A locked-down iPhone is the one phone that is both safe and usable.
Why it holds when Screen Time doesn't
Kids get around Screen Time in an afternoon; there are whole guides, and they have read them. With real supervision the removed apps are gone, there is no store to reinstall from, and settings are locked. Changes happen at your Mac, not on the phone.
A phone they're proud of
Kid phones work when the kid likes the device. Their apps, their wallpaper, a clean home screen: a real iPhone they chose the look of, not a punishment device.
It grows with them
A mode for school, a mode for weekends, more freedom at 14 than at 10; adjust in minutes as trust grows. Coming with the cloud tier: switch modes and approve "15 more minutes" from your own phone.
Honest limits
- Setting it up erases the phone one time, and you need a Mac
- A determined teenager with a computer can factory-reset the phone back to normal. For teens, pair the lock with a conversation