Apple devices accounted for just under half of new mobile device activations during the holiday season, according to a new report released today by mobile analytics firm Flurry. 49.1 percent of all new devices activated were Apple devices, and while that number is slightly down from last year's 51.3 percent, Apple still dominated all other mobile device companies.
Samsung devices, for example, were responsible for 19.8 percent of all device activations, while Nokia devices made up 2 percent and Xiaomi devices made up 1.5 percent of all device activations.
Larger-screened "phablets" like Apple's 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus were especially popular during the 2015 holiday season compared to prior years, representing 27 percent of new device activations. That's up from 4 percent in 2013 and 13 percent in 2014. Full-sized tablets have gone down in popularity, making up only 9 percent of new device activations in 2015.
Medium-sized iPhones like the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 were still the most popular Apple devices over the holiday period at 65 percent, followed by full-sized tablets, phablets, and smaller tablets like the iPad mini. Comparatively, only 35 percent of Android devices activated were medium-sized smartphones, while 50 percent were phablets.
Apple's phablet was introduced in September 2014, and in less than a year and a half has commanded 12% share of all Apple devices activated during Christmas week. This appears to be coming at the expense of medium phones and small tablets as more users opt for the size in between the iPhone and iPad Mini. You'll note we did not break out a "Large Tablet" category for the new iPad Pro. These are grouped into "Full-Size Tablets" and represented less than 1% of device activations.
As for app downloads, Christmas day saw customers downloading 2.2x as many apps as the average day in December across multiple platforms including the Apple App Store and Android's Google Play.
To gather its data, Flurry measured smart device activations and app downloads from the more than 780,000 apps it tracks. Data was collected from December 19 to December 25.
Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October.
There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
Thursday November 13, 2025 6:48 am PST by Joe Rossignol
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Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.2 this week, and it introduces a new CarPlay setting for turning off pinned conversations in the Messages...
Tesla is working to add support for Apple CarPlay in its vehicles, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
Tesla vehicles rely on its own infotainment software system, which integrates vehicle functions, navigation, music, web browsing, and more. The automaker has been an outlier in foregoing support for Apple CarPlay, which has otherwise become an industry standard feature, allowing users to...
Friday November 14, 2025 6:20 am PST by Joe Rossignol
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.
iPhone Pocket is available to order on Apple's online store starting today, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. However, it is already completely sold out in the United...
Friday November 14, 2025 10:02 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Starting with the upcoming tvOS 26.2 update, currently in beta, additional profiles created on the Apple TV no longer require their own Apple Account.
In the Settings app on the Apple TV, under Profiles and Accounts, anyone can create a new profile by simply entering a name and indicating whether the profile is for a kid. The profile will be associated with the primary user's Apple Account,...
Wednesday November 12, 2025 11:42 am PST by Joe Rossignol
While it was rumored that Apple planned to release new versions of the HomePod mini, Apple TV, and AirTag this year, it is no longer clear if that will still happen.
Back in January, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple planned to release new HomePod mini and Apple TV models "toward the end of the year," while he at one point expected a new AirTag to launch "around the middle of 2025." Yet,...
Tuesday November 11, 2025 9:48 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta last week. 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 in 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....
Monday November 10, 2025 1:08 pm PST by Juli Clover
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Apple silicon chip that replaced Intel chips in Apple's Mac lineup. The first Apple silicon chip, the M1, was unveiled on November 10, 2020. The M1 debuted in the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro.
The M1 chip was impressive when it launched, featuring the "world's fastest CPU core" and industry-leading performance per watt, and it's only ...
Walmart's Black Friday sale has officially kicked off today, with an online shopping event that's also seeing some matching deals in retail locations. There are quite a few major discounts in this sale, including savings on headphones, TVs, and more.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Walmart. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us...
Saturday November 15, 2025 2:40 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is preparing for Tim Cook to step down as CEO of the company "as soon as next year," according to the Financial Times.
The company's board of directors and senior executives "recently intensified preparations for Cook to hand over the reins," the report said.
While the report said that Apple is unlikely to name a new CEO before its next earnings report in late January, it went on to ...
I admit I was one of them. Got myself an iPhone 6s Plus 64GB and abandoned Android.
Honestly the 6s Plus is a great phone. Once you have used big screened phones, you just cannot go back to a smaller one. Everything looks crammed on a smaller iPhone 6s and on the 6s plus there is a whole lot of room.
I think what many of us would like is a small 5s-sized iPhone that can expand the display to 5" or 6" when necessary (like you sometimes see in science-fiction movies).
Or like the folding phone that Samsung keeps predicting each year that they'll put into limited production.
The poor sales of smaller smartphones is probably the result of a lack of stock. Few companies make them anymore. And people looking to buy an iPhone probably wouldn't want a 5s that has less storage, memory and a slower processor than Apple's other offerings. The 5c had the same issues. If Apple sold a 4" iPhone that equaled their other offerings except in display size, then we'd be able to accurately judge whether people really want that form factor.
I admit I was one of them. Got myself an iPhone 6s Plus 64GB and abandoned Android.
Honestly the 6s Plus is a great phone. Once you have used big screened phones, you just cannot go back to a smaller one. Everything looks crammed on a smaller iPhone 6s and on the 6s plus there is a whole lot of room.
Well i've been using a 4.7" iPhone 6/6s since the day the 6 came out and I yearn to go back to a 4" iPhone 5s sized phone still - so you can't blanked statement everyone with that theory i'm afraid.
