我子类化UITextField来处理这个，它支持左，上，右和底部的插入，以及清除按钮的定位。

MRDInsetTextField.h

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

@interface MRDInsetTextField : UITextField

@property (nonatomic, assign) CGRect inset;

@end

MRDInsetTextField.m

#import "MRDInsetTextField.h"

@implementation MRDInsetTextField

- (id)init
{
    self = [super init];
    if (self) {
        _inset = CGRectZero;
    }
    return self;
}

- (id)initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)aDecoder
{
    self = [super initWithCoder:aDecoder];
    if (self) {
        _inset = CGRectZero;
    }
    return self;
}

- (id)initWithFrame:(CGRect)frame
{
    self = [super initWithFrame:frame];
    if (self) {
        _inset = CGRectZero;
    }
    return self;
}

- (void)setInset:(CGRect)inset {
    _inset = inset;

    [self setNeedsLayout];
}

- (CGRect)getRectForBounds:(CGRect)bounds withInset:(CGRect)inset {

    CGRect newRect = CGRectMake(
                         bounds.origin.x + inset.origin.x,
                         bounds.origin.y + inset.origin.y,
                         bounds.origin.x + bounds.size.width - inset.origin.x - inset.size.width,
                         bounds.origin.y + bounds.size.height - inset.origin.y - inset.size.height
                         );

    return newRect;
}

- (CGRect)textRectForBounds:(CGRect)bounds {
    return [self getRectForBounds:[super textRectForBounds:bounds] withInset:_inset];
}

- (CGRect)placeholderRectForBounds:(CGRect)bounds {
    return [self getRectForBounds:bounds withInset:_inset];
}

- (CGRect)editingRectForBounds:(CGRect)bounds {
    return [self getRectForBounds:[super editingRectForBounds:bounds] withInset:_inset];
}

- (CGRect)clearButtonRectForBounds:(CGRect)bounds {
    return CGRectOffset([super clearButtonRectForBounds:bounds], -_inset.size.width, _inset.origin.y/2 - _inset.size.height/2);
}

@end

*_someTextField*来自nib/storyboard视图，带有MRDInsetTextField自定义类的用法示例

[(MRDInsetTextField*)_someTextField setInset:CGRectMake(5, 0, 5, 0)]; // left, top, right, bottom inset

这是我发现的最快的方法，不需要做任何子类:

UIView *spacerView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 10., 10.)];
[textField setLeftViewMode:UITextFieldViewModeAlways];
[textField setLeftView:spacerView];

迅速:

let spacerView = UIView(frame:CGRect(x:0, y:0, width:10, height:10))
textField.leftViewMode = UITextFieldViewMode.Always
textField.leftView = spacerView

下面是在Swift 3中编写的相同子类UITextField。它与之前的Swift版本有很大的不同，正如你将看到的:

import UIKit

class MyTextField: UITextField
    {
    let inset: CGFloat = 10

    // placeholder position
    override func textRect(forBounds bounds: CGRect) -> CGRect
        {
        return bounds.insetBy(dx: inset, dy: inset)
        }

    // text position
    override func editingRect(forBounds bounds: CGRect) -> CGRect
        {
        return bounds.insetBy(dx: inset, dy: inset)
        }

    override func placeholderRect(forBounds bounds: CGRect) -> CGRect
        {
        return bounds.insetBy(dx: inset, dy: inset)
        }
    }

顺便说一句，如果你只想控制一侧的插入，你也可以像下面这样做。如果你把一个图像放在UITextField的顶部，但你想让它在用户看来是在文本框中，那么这个只调整左边插图的特殊例子就很方便了:

    override func editingRect(forBounds bounds: CGRect) -> CGRect
        {
        return CGRect.init(x: bounds.origin.x + inset, y: bounds.origin.y, width: bounds.width - inset, height: bounds.height)
        }

Swift 5版本的克里斯托弗的答案与额外的用法示例

import UIKit

private class InsetTextField: UITextField {
    var insets: UIEdgeInsets

    init(insets: UIEdgeInsets) {
        self.insets = insets
        super.init(frame: .zero)
    }

    required init(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
        fatalError("not intended for use from a NIB")
    }

    // placeholder position
    override func textRect(forBounds bounds: CGRect) -> CGRect {
         return super.textRect(forBounds: bounds.inset(by: insets))
    }
 
    // text position
    override func editingRect(forBounds bounds: CGRect) -> CGRect {
         return super.editingRect(forBounds: bounds.inset(by: insets))
    }
}

extension UITextField {

    class func textFieldWithInsets(insets: UIEdgeInsets) -> UITextField {
        return InsetTextField(insets: insets)
    }

}

用法:-

class ViewController: UIViewController {

  private let passwordTextField: UITextField = {

        let textField = UITextField.textFieldWithInsets(insets: UIEdgeInsets(top: 10, left: 15, bottom: 10, right: 15))
     // ---
   
        return textField
    }()

}

抛出另一个不需要子类化的解决方案:

UITextField *txtField = [UITextField new];
txtField.borderStyle = UITextBorderStyleRoundedRect;

// grab BG layer
CALayer *bgLayer = txtField.layer.sublayers.lastObject;
bgLayer.opacity = 0.f;

// add new bg view
UIView *bgView = [UIView new];
bgView.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
bgView.autoresizingMask = UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleHeight | UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleWidth;
bgView.userInteractionEnabled = NO;

[txtField addSubview: bgView];
[txtField sendSubviewToBack: bgView];

在iOS 7和iOS 8上测试。这两个工作。苹果仍然有可能修改UITextField的层层次结构，把事情搞砸了。

如果你只需要左边空白，你可以试试这个:

UItextField *textField = [[UITextField alloc] initWithFrame:...];
UIView *leftView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 10, textField.frame.size.height)];
leftView.backgroundColor = textField.backgroundColor;
textField.leftView = leftView;
textField.leftViewMode = UITextFieldViewModeAlways;

这对我很管用。我希望这能有所帮助。