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

iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket is Now Completely Sold Out Worldwide

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:16 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released. iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
New Intel Logo

Apple and Intel Rumored to Partner on Mac Chips Again in a New Way

Friday November 28, 2025 7:33 am PST by
While all Macs are now powered by Apple's custom-designed chips, a new rumor claims that Apple may rekindle its partnership with Intel, albeit in a new and limited way. Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said Intel is expected to begin shipping Apple's lowest-end M-series chip as early as mid-2027. Kuo said Apple plans to utilize Intel's 18A process, which is the "earliest...
iphone black friday gold

The Best Black Friday iPhone Deals Still Available

Friday November 28, 2025 6:24 am PST by
Cellular carriers have always offered big savings on the newest iPhone models during the holidays, and Black Friday 2025 sales have kicked off at AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and more. Right now we're tracking notable offers on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air. For even more savings, keep an eye on older models during the holiday shopping season. Note: MacRumors is...
apple store down feature

Here's Why the Apple Store is Going Down

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:01 pm PST by
Apple's online store is going down for a few hours on a rolling country-by-country basis right now, but do not get your hopes up for new products. Apple takes its online store down for a few hours ahead of Black Friday every year to tease/prepare for its annual gift card offer with the purchase of select products. The store already went down and came back online in Australia and New Zealand, ...
streaming black friday 2025

Best Black Friday Streaming Deals - Save Big on Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, and More

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:14 pm PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
Cyber Monday Deals 2025

Best Cyber Monday Apple Deals Include Big Discounts on AirPods, Apple Watch, and More

Sunday November 30, 2025 7:33 am PST by
Cyber Monday is here, and you can find popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more at all-time low prices. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running....
iphone air camera

iPhone Air Flop Sparks Industry Retreat From Ultra-Thin Phones

Thursday November 27, 2025 3:14 am PST by
Apple's disappointing iPhone Air sales are causing major Chinese mobile vendors to scrap or freeze their own ultra-thin phone projects, according to reports coming out of Asia. Since the ‌iPhone Air‌ launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales and manufacturing cuts, while Apple's supply chain has scaled back shipments and production. Apple supplier Foxconn has...
studio display purple february

M5 iPad Pro Could Hint at New Studio Display Feature

Sunday November 30, 2025 10:30 am PST by
The updated specs of the M5 iPad Pro may point toward a major new feature for Apple's next-generation Studio Display expected in early 2026. Apple's latest iPad Pro debuted last month and contains one display-related change that stands out: it can now drive external monitors at up to 120Hz with Adaptive Sync. The feature should deliver lower latency, smoother motion, and fewer visual...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: Apple's Big Plans for iPad Mini 8

Friday November 28, 2025 8:39 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through the latest rumors about Apple's upcoming iPad mini 8. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos The next-generation version of the iPad mini is expected to 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...

Top Rated Comments

phillipduran Avatar
168 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
168 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
168 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
168 months ago
:eek:

And people say Android is fragmented!?!

Android is fragmented. :apple:
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
slffl Avatar
168 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
168 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)