Nearly 300 Million Devices Running iOS 6, 60% of All iOS Devices Ever

In its iOS 6.1 press release today, Apple disclosed some impressive usage numbers for iOS 6 and the iOS platform. As of today, nearly 300 million iOS devices -- iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch -- are running iOS 6, with nine billion photos uploaded to Photo Stream, 450 billion iMessages sent and over four trillion notifications received.

iphone ipad ipad mini update
Of these, perhaps the most impressive is that 300 million devices are currently running iOS 6. That is, as EdibleApple points out, roughly 60 percent of all iOS devices ever sold:

During Apple’s most recent earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Apple to date has sold over 500 million iOS devices. If we put those pieces together we see that over half of every iOS device ever sold is now running the most recent version of Apple’s mobile operating system. Contrast that of course to Android where a scant minority of users are ever caught running the most recent iteration of Android.

The Next Web notes that Apple sold some 75 million iOS devices in the December quarter alone, all of which are running iOS 6, plus 100 million upgrades to iOS 6 in its first week of availability back in September.

Apple has clearly been successful in keeping devices upgraded to the latest version of iOS, particularly through the over-the-air update feature that was introduced last year in iOS 5. This keeps iOS devices secure, and keeps users up to date with the latest new features to come out of Cupertino.

Popular Stories

Apple Shopping Event 2025

Apple Announces 2025 Black Friday Event, Here's What You Can Get

Thursday November 20, 2025 6:28 am PST by
Apple's annual four-day Black Friday through Cyber Monday shopping event is returning on Friday, November 28 through Monday, December 1 in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand, and others. During the shopping event, customers can get an Apple gift card with...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These New Features to Your iPhone

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:50 am PST by
iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics for Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date. Keep reading...
hikawa phone grip stand apple%402x

Apple Launches Second Limited-Edition iPhone Accessory in a Month

Friday November 21, 2025 3:53 am PST by
Apple has begun selling the Hikawa Phone Grip and Stand, a new limited-edition iPhone accessory designed with accessibility in mind. Designed by LA-based Bailey Hikawa to celebrate the 40th anniversary of accessibility at Apple, the grip uses magnets to securely snap onto any iPhone with MagSafe. Apple says it can be removed with ease, and doubles as a stand with two different viewing...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Wednesday November 19, 2025 4:00 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
ipad black friday 2025

The Best Early Black Friday iPad Deals

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:20 am PST by
Black Friday is just over a week away, and iPad deals have finally started to flood in at retailers like Amazon and Best Buy. Below we're tracking discounts on every current generation iPad, including lowest-ever prices on M3 iPad Air and M5 iPad Pro, plus steep markdowns on iPad and iPad mini. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a ...
watchos 26 workout app

Apple Watch Users Claim Workout App Is Now Worse in Every Way

Thursday November 20, 2025 7:01 am PST by
Apple Watch owners have been voicing their frustration online over changes to the Workout app that Apple introduced in watchOS 26, with many finding the redesigned interface makes starting exercises difficult and exasperating. When Apple launched watchOS 26 in September, the Workout app went from large, easily tapped workout tiles to a scrolling, corner-button interface. Instead of tapping a ...
ipad mini 7 feature red and blue

iPad Mini 8: Four Major New Features to Expect

Wednesday November 19, 2025 7:50 am PST by
Apple's eighth-generation iPad mini is highly likely to arrive next year, offering a significant refresh of the device with at least four major new features. OLED Display The next-generation version of the iPad mini could feature an OLED display, as part of Apple's plan to expand the display technology across many more of its devices. Apple's first OLED device was the Apple Watch in 2015, ...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

Two More U.S. States Commit to Offering iPhone Driver's Licenses in Apple Wallet App

Thursday November 20, 2025 8:21 am PST by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Apple Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, and then use it to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Earlier this week, Illinois became the 13th state in the U.S. to offer the feature. Subsequently, we shared a list of additional states that are committed...
android iphone airdrop quickshare

iPhone Users Can Now AirDrop Files to Android Devices

Thursday November 20, 2025 9:47 am PST by
Google today announced a new cross-platform feature that allows for file sharing between iPhone and Android users. With AirDrop on the iPhone and QuickShare on Pixel 10 devices, there is a new file transfer function available. The file sharing option works on Apple devices that include iPhone, iPad, and Mac, along with the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL, and Pixel 10 Fold....

Top Rated Comments

phillipduran Avatar
167 months ago
Contrast that of course to Android where a scant minority of users are ever caught running the most recent iteration of Android.

They probably just cant find the right download link, for the right provider, for the right version of phone they are using and after they confirmed that the version in question is approved by the various providers of cell service.

Man, I love this Open OS stuff! :D
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hello12 Avatar
167 months ago
IOs 6 is already the best OS for a phone. But iOS 7 needs to be revolutionary (by that I mean introduce a lot of the features users are dying to have). I hope they listen.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Peace Avatar
167 months ago
If only it was ''all'' the latest features...

Well there seems to be about 299,999,000 people that don't come on macrumors and complain about it.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
agaytime Avatar
167 months ago
:eek:

And people say Android is fragmented!?!

Android is fragmented. :apple:
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
slffl Avatar
167 months ago
What do you mean? I have a Samsung Galaxy S, released at the same time as the iPhone 4, that runs Android 2.2 which is the latest version of Android right? Right? Because that's all it supports and it never says it has any updates.

----------

Clean up the GUI, better keyboard (i.e. Swype), Haptic feedback for starters.

I could go on.

OMG are you kidding me? GUI is way better than androids. So is keyboard. Apparently you dont know how the iPhone keyboard works in the background. Haptic feedback is useless.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Casiotone Avatar
167 months ago
What counts, is that Apple can use these ambiguous numbers to put in a chart to brag about in their press conferences. And what about the developers of Apple products? They used to have to make only one app for the iPhone, now you have the 4/4S resolution, 5 resolution, iPad Mini/iPad 2 resolution and iPad 4 resolution. Plus like I said, not all products have the same features, yet it's all gathered under the same name. That's also fragmentation, but Apple doesn't seem to admit it.
Why would anyone care about these numbers if not in the context of app development?

Obviously Apple brags about them to show that iOS is (still) a huge market for developers. The fact that the 3GS/4 can't do panoramas or Siri doesn't change anything about that. (If anything, it means more sales for panorama apps).

I like how you tried to make the screen issue bigger than it is. There's really only 3 screens form factors to target on iOS, as retina versions run on non-retina displays without any additional work.

1 - 960x640 (works on 480x320 displays without modification)
2 - 1136x640 (doesn't take really much more work than 960x640 as it can use the same icons/assets)
3 - 2048x1536 (works on 1024x768 displays without modification)

Having 3 different screen formats to target is nothing compared to dealing with APIs from multiple OS versions. Do you know anything about mobile development? OS updates are more than user-end features.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)