Yes, there's a calculator baked right into the iPhone. However, while the iPhone's calculator can do more than your old solar-powered Casio calculator, it may not be able to do enough, depending on your job or studies.
Check out these awesome calculator apps and let your inner Will Hunting shine through. How do you like them apples?
PCalc
PCalc's App Store tagline is "The Best Calculator," which may be true. It's one of the most fully-featured calculator apps around, and thanks to its availability on the best iPhones, plus iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac, it's ubiquitous.
It's the perfect calculator app for scientists and engineers, featuring buttons and options for advanced functions, like an optional RPN mode and multi-line display. You can choose your button layout, keep track of calculations with its paper tape feature, undo and redo as you please, and much more. So if you perform even the most complex calculations, including hexadecimal, octal, and binary, then PCalc is the way. Your iPhone 13 Pro will love this app!
EduCalc Classic
No sense in spending money on the TI-83 anymore (sorry, Texas Instruments) because the EduCalc Classic calculator is free (or you can spend a dollar and get rid of ads)! Free Graphing Calculator features a scientific calculator so you can get on all your scientific functions, like square root, cube root, natural log, log base 10, permutations, and more. Then there are its graphing capabilities, which allow you to graph up to four equations at once.
You have complete control of your graphs, with the ability to drag them around and utilize pinch-zoom capabilities. If you're looking for a robust graphing calculator app, look no further. The EduCalc Classic calculator has you covered — free of charge!
CALC Smart
CALC Smart is a good-looking app that lets you keep your calculations organized by separating them based on the date. You'll get real-time results while you type, even if you have open parentheses, and you can swipe to calculate conversions quickly.
You can share expressions with a link, and you can even quickly calculate tips with approximations and see live currencies to convert. You can also customize themes and layouts to make things work for you.
Calcbot 2
Calcbot is a decent calculator app and a better conversion app. It lets you convert units quickly and on the fly, with an easy-to-read history tape, enabling you to send old calculations to your current one. The handy Apple Watch app even lets you split bills right on your watch.
Numerical2
The award for the most beautiful calculator goes to Numerical2, a multicolor calculator that's all about speed. There is no equals button; you type and get your answers as you go. Numerical2 features a full scientific keypad, a fraction key for quick fractional math, and the ability to use pi and e to infinite places for accurate answers to any equations.
You can drag the keypad down to see your history while working, and Numerical2 fully supports iPad multitasking.
PowerOne calculator
PowerOne offers an excellent standard and RPN calculator with over 100 functions, including basic math, logs, powers, trigonometry, etc. The app is available across multiple devices, including iPhone, iPad, and the M1 Mac.
With a premium PowerOne subscription, you can unlock over 300 library templates, choose from 12 themes, etc.
IP Keypad - Subnet Calculator
For something different, consider this subnet calculator. It provides a dedicated keypad for IT professionals looking for subnet masks and prefix length. Use it to calculate addresses, including network, host, and directed broadcast, in classfull and classless mode.
i41CX
Go retro with this advanced programmable PRN scientific calculator. With lots of features, including 319 primary and 124 extended memory registers and RPN logic with a four-element deep memory stack, the calculator is available for iPhones and iPad. In addition, you can unlock even more tools with an in-app purchase.
Run the numbers
There are hundreds of calculator apps in the App Store. Our favorites are those listed above. Each serves specific purposes, so you might want to consider downloading more than one. Happy computing!
Bryan M. Wolfe has written about technology for over a decade on various websites, including TechRadar, AppAdvice, and many more. Before this, he worked in the technology field across different industries, including healthcare and education. He’s currently iMore’s lead on all things Mac and macOS, although he also loves covering iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Bryan enjoys watching his favorite sports teams, traveling, and driving around his teenage daughter to her latest stage show, audition, or school event in his spare time. He also keeps busy walking his black and white cocker spaniel, Izzy, and trying new coffees and liquid grapes.
