I was curious, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, I believe brought down a responsa saying that one is not allowed to own an iPhone without specific permission from certain Rabbinic authorities, and if you own one you can’t even sell it to a gentile but have to burn it.
What is the reasoning of this responsum, and why did he also say that those with iPhones couldn’t be valid witness to a ketubah, kiddushin, get, beit din case etc. and you can’t sell it to a non Jew.
I personally see it as impractical.
The reason behind this ruling is that the user of a mobile phone (abbr. iPhone - generic term for all mobile phones in certain cirlces) is a Rasha - a wicked person.
Why?
Because these Rabbis have been convinced that there's a constant stream of lewd acts being performed by undressed humans being streamed on the iPhones. This is true if you're trying to make a phone call or reading tehilim and obviously if you're surfing, since there's nothing else on the internet.
Numerous stories about up & coming Rabbis who become irreligious because they spent a few minutes looking over somebody's shoulder on the bus while the latter was using his iPhone helped create the Rasha status.
Based on this information, it's easy to see why you'd be a Rasha, handling such an instrument. And why you cannot sell it - even to a Goy - since it may be resold to a Jew.
Background:
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky only used a phone (landline!) once or twice in his lifetime. He did not have a phone in his home.
He obviously was not going to double-check this information. That itself would be wicked, and why would people lie to him about facts that can readily be checked.
Fun fact: there was a sign on the staircase up to his home forbidding people from entering his home with an iPhone in their possession. On your way out, you would get a WhatsApp with a picture of yourself meeting Rav Chaim. This is well documented.
Unrelated: some people make a living by selling iPhone alternatives, like ancient dumb-phones, kosher phones.
