SF Pro is the documented iOS system sans serif
Apple’s Design Resources identifies SF Pro as the system font for iOS and iPadOS, alongside macOS and tvOS. Its font catalog places SF Pro within the San Francisco family and describes support for Latin, Greek and Cyrillic scripts. For ordinary iPhone system sans-serif typography, SF Pro is therefore the useful documented name. That statement does not identify every word in a photograph, website, document or third-party app as SF Pro.
The system chooses a design for the role and script
Apple’s fonts documentation says the system font is a related family selected according to platform, locale and text role. It distinguishes rounded, monospaced and serif designs: SF Pro Rounded, SF Mono and New York respectively. It also identifies language-specific designs including SF Arabic and SF Hebrew. SF Compact is associated with watchOS, so it should not be substituted as a universal iPhone answer merely because it belongs to San Francisco. Apple recommends retrieving system fonts through system APIs rather than hard-coding their names.
Record the screenshot context before comparing letters
For an identification request, retain the app name, approximate date, screen language and a crop wide enough to show surrounding interface elements. Separate a navigation label from a headline inside an image or article. Compare repeated lowercase forms, numerals and punctuation across several words; a short clock reading offers much less evidence than a paragraph. If a label and the content beneath it look different, record them separately instead of forcing one name onto both. Inter and Source Sans 3 are independent comparison specimens here, not Apple system-font files.
Keep identity, size and font installation as separate tasks
Knowing a family name is not the same as changing the appearance of the phone. For a reading-size adjustment, continue to the iPhone text-size guide. For a design mockup, review Apple’s official font resources and their terms; Apple distinguishes design-time font downloads from runtime system-font selection and warns app developers against bundling the system font files. If the task concerns the Lock Screen clock or a custom document, use the guide for that specific context rather than assuming a system-font name chooses its settings automatically.
Your questions, answered.
What is the usual iPhone system font name?
For iOS system sans-serif typography, Apple identifies SF Pro within San Francisco. The system also chooses other designs for particular roles and scripts, so this is not a claim about every visible text element.
Is New York another name for SF Pro?
No. Apple identifies New York as a serif option and SF Pro as a sans-serif design. A particular app or reading view must be identified in context rather than treating the two names as interchangeable.
Sources & background
Sources supporting this page’s explanations. Practical examples are our editorial suggestions.