In a new study performed by InfoScout, nearly half as many possible Apple Pay customers used the mobile payments system on Black Friday in 2015 as they did in 2014 on the same sales-laden holiday (via Quartz). The study polled a total of 300,000 people to gather the information, discerning the time around March 2015 as Apple Pay's peak, with another understandable resurgence in the fall surrounding the launch of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
The research organization found that Apple Pay was used for only 2.7 percent of total possible Apple Pay-eligible transactions on Black Friday this year. This is opposed to 2014, where new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus customers used Apple Pay in 4.9 percent of eligible transactions. As InfoScout points out, simple early adopter curiosity -- Apple Pay was barely a month old at the time -- could have helped in the service's early-on surge in numbers.
InfoScout's survey didn't track in-app payments made on Black Friday through Apple Pay, however, so customers who shopped on mobile devices in apps like Target and Best Buy were not included in the results. 300,000 participants is a large sample size, but given the popularity of mobile and online shopping, there's a good possibility that a large swath of Apple Pay's numbers were subsequently excluded from the poll.
Despite the tepid usage of Apple Pay on Black Friday this year as reported by the survey, Apple has been in full force behind the year-old service. With its launch in new countries like Canada and Australia, the company has continued to educate its customers on Apple Pay's various features with new guided tour videos. Other stores have launched loyalty rewards support and the service is available at more places than ever thanks to Square's $49 NFC and Chip reader.
Thursday November 20, 2025 6:28 am PST by Joe Rossignol
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...
Apple today announced an expansion of AppleCare+ coverage in India, with new options for monthly and annual plans, and the addition of Theft and Loss for iPhone for the first time.
Options for monthly and annual AppleCare+ plans in India provide more choice and flexibility, allowing users to keep coverage for as long as they require. Apple's vice president of Worldwide iPhone Product...
Monday November 17, 2025 3:20 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple provided developers with the third beta of an upcoming iOS 26.2 update, and there are still new features that are being added with each beta that we get. We've rounded up all of the changes that Apple made in beta 3.
AirDrop
Apple added new AirDrop functionality, providing a way for two people to share files temporarily without having to add one another as contacts.
iOS 26.2...
Wednesday November 19, 2025 4:00 am PST by Tim Hardwick
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...
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, ...
Tuesday November 18, 2025 8:47 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps.
Starting this Wednesday, November 19, the feature will be available to residents of Illinois.
The announcement confirmed that the...
Tuesday November 18, 2025 10:53 am PST by Joe Rossignol
A new study has revealed that the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air achieve significantly faster average Wi-Fi speeds compared to the iPhone 16 series, thanks to Apple's custom-designed N1 chip.
The study was conducted by Ookla, the company behind the popular Speedtest website and app. It said the results are based on global, crowdsourced Speedtest user data...
We're getting closer to Black Friday, which lands next week on Friday, November 28. In the lead-up to the shopping holiday, we're tracking a few lowest-ever prices on Apple's most popular Macs, including the M4 MacBook Air and brand new M5 MacBook Pro.
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,...
Tuesday November 18, 2025 1:05 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released updated firmware for several accessories, including the 140W USB-C Power Adapter, the Magic Trackpad 2, the Magic Trackpad USB-C, the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, and the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad.
There is no word on what's included in the updated firmware at this time, but it could offer performance improvements and security updates. Accessory...
Thursday November 20, 2025 7:01 am PST by Tim Hardwick
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 ...
Well, here is the thing with this survey. November 2014, the iPhone 6/6+ were the only devices with it, and it was only a month old (3 months for the phone). Today, there are 14 months worth of iPhone 6/6+ sales, Apple Watches, and iPhone 6s/6s+ sales. In other words, a larger pool of "eligible" transactions.
What are the raw numbers? How many transactions? Did it go from 100,000 to 1 million, but represent a decline % wise? And what defines an "Apple Pay" eligible transaction? Every transaction made at Apple Pay accepting stores, regardless if the customer has an Apple Pay ready device?
Lots of questions, very light on the facts, and the facts provided tell us almost nothing.
It's beyond frustrating because I can never remember which stores take it and which don't.
All these places have the NFC readers but only like 10% take Apple Pay. Even places like Best Buy, not all of their stores take it.
Bad job by Apple not getting this out to more customers. Why hasn't Starbucks signed up? Why haven't any grocery stores signed up?
I've only used it at BB, GameStop, McDs, and Panera Bread.
There's a pizza place that has Apple stickers everywhere saying they take it, but they don't have an NFC card reader. How is that possible? How can I report this to Apple?
I am sure that it is the retailers. Here in the States, effective 10/1, the retailers are now responsible for fraud if they don't support the "chip and pin" technology. I would say that 50% of the places I go? Still don't have terminals that accept the chip.
Of those that do? Their units largely also support NFC payments. But....
...not only do they have NFC turned off, they have tape and post-it notes covering the spot to insert your chip card. It's beyond ridiculous, but retailers, much like government agencies (schools, etc), are horrible at implementing technology, and often too cheap to hire the right people to do so.
I am sure that it is the retailers. Here in the States, effective 10/1, the retailers are now responsible for fraud if they don't support the "chip and pin" technology. I would say that 50% of the places I go? Still don't have terminals that accept the chip.
Of those that do? Their units largely also support NFC payments. But....
...not only do they have NFC turned off, they have tape and post-it notes covering the spot to insert your chip card. It's beyond ridiculous, but retailers, much like government agencies (schools, etc), are horrible at implementing technology, and often too cheap to hire the right people to do so.
Chip and pin would be nice but that is in Europe. We have chip and sign which is only more secure in the transmission. Its no more secure at the store level and its slower.
For some reason I envisioned that when October 2015 hit it would be like a switch was flipped, and all of these retailers would have updated terminals with NFC and chip support. Since October I've found very few additional retailers who support NFC unfortunately. Whenever it's available, I always use Apple Pay. Primarily for the security, but also because of the great offer from Discover (10% cash back through the end of 2015 and double cash back rewards for the first year of membership).
I've been really disappointed with retailers these past few months.
The laws changed so that most of them felt it was a good choice to replace their terminals with ones that could support chipped cards.
I expected that most of them would get terminals that support NFC at the same time. It just seems like a no brainer - if you're updating your terminals anyways, why not get all the features you'll likely want within the next decade? Now you'll just have to go through all the same hassle again in a few years.
Anyways, if it were feasible for me to make all my payments with Apple Pay, I'd ditch my credit card. As is, I find it's normally easier to use my credit card than Apple Pay (because I have a wallet case.)
I use it wherever I can. There are loads of UK retailers supporting Apple Pay but most are still restricted by the £30 limit which means it's not an option for a lot of my shopping.
