does iPhone have an audio limiter on its board that could possibly be overclocked with a program tweak?

unlikely. it’s easier and cheaper to limit volume in software, and so that’s most likely what’s going on. more likely, i think, is that the amplifier and speaker themselves are underpowered in the interest of keeping cost down and battery life long. i have been totally unimpressed with the volume of my iphone…

oops. meant to say that it’s easier and cheaper to limit volume in hardware.