iOS devices accounted for 44 percent of all U.S. smartphone activations during the first calendar quarter of 2020, the highest number of activations Apple has seen in a single quarter since 2016.
According to the data sourced from Consumer Research Intelligence Partners, Google's Android operating system was responsible for 56 percent of all activations due to the higher number of Android smartphones out in the wild.
Market share numbers for iOS and Android have largely remained stable over the course of the last few years with just minor fluctuations in activations due to operating system loyalty.
In the quarter ending in March, 89 percent of Android users remained with Android, while 91 percent of iOS users stayed with iOS when activating a new mobile phone. iOS and Android loyalty rates have also fluctuated little over the course of the last three years as people tend to stick with the operating systems they're familiar with.
"Operating system loyalty is stable at very high levels," added Mike Levin, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP. "For the past four or so years, around 90% of new mobile phone activations stayed with the buyer's previous operating system. Despite Apple's efforts to attract Android users to iOS, and Android handset manufacturers' similar efforts to attract iPhone customers, operating system usage is among the stickiest of all consumer affinities."
CIRP's data was based on a survey of 500 U.S. subjects from April 1 to April 9 that activated a new or used smartphone in the January to March 2020 period. Given the small sample size, there is certainly some margin of error to these numbers, but the data provides a reliable look at activations and loyalty over time as it uses the same survey each quarter.
Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by Joe Rossignol
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week.
Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far.
Apple Intelligence for Siri
Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...
Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week.
Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19.
"Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19.
"Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag.
The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle.
Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
Wednesday February 12, 2025 6:49 am PST by Joe Rossignol
As the wait continues for Apple's long-rumored, fourth-generation iPhone SE, French electronics retailer Boulanger has prematurely published a product listing for a "new" model of the iPhone SE. The placeholder page says the device is "coming soon," but it offers no further information, and the price shown is obviously not real.
The listing was spotted by a reader of the French technology...
Thursday February 13, 2025 5:49 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro will feature three rear cameras arranged in a familiar triangular layout, but the cameras will be housed in an all-new rectangular camera bar with rounded corners, according to YouTube channel Front Page Tech.
iPhone 17 Pro camera design render created by Asher for Front Page Tech
In a video uploaded today, Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser said the camera ...
Thursday February 13, 2025 6:20 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple this week began selling refurbished Mac mini models with the M4 chip for the first time, but this has led to a pricing conundrum.
In the United States, Apple is offering a refurbished Mac mini with the base M4 chip, 256GB of storage, 16GB of RAM, and Gigabit Ethernet for $509, down from $599 new. This is the standard 15% discount that Apple offers on refurbished Macs.
The issue is...
Thursday February 13, 2025 2:45 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Last year, Apple tweaked iPhone 16 Pro screen sizes to make them bigger than 2023's iPhone 15 Pro models, and this year we are also expecting a change in the size of the displays in the iPhone 17 lineup. Here's what we know.
Standard iPhone 17
Apple could introduce a new display size for the standard iPhone 17 model in 2025. The iPhone 17 could measure in at 6.3 inches, up from 6.1 inches,...
Friday February 14, 2025 3:41 am PST by Tim Hardwick
There have been several alleged leaked details of the iPhone 17 Air, Apple's rumored new slim iPhone, but images have been limited to grainy shots taken in component factories. However, this hyper-realistic concept created by WEIS Studio gives us the best idea yet of what Apple's thin device might actually look like.
The concept design is inspired by recent leaks indicating that the device...
Wednesday February 12, 2025 2:18 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple this month started advertising on X for the first time in more than a year. The company had stopped advertising on the social media platform in November 2023 following controversial remarks made by its owner Elon Musk.
For example, the @Apple account is running an ad promoting Safari's privacy features. The ad was spotted by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The @AppleTV account has a...
It’s a nice phone, and it’s fully loaded. I don’t have any issues with the hardware, it’s the software longevity. If you’re paying over a $1000 for a smart phone, I would expect at least three years or more from android, which you don’t receive. Apple has always been dominant when preserving iOS with at least five years of software updates.
Phone OS loyalty is even more reason for Apple Watch to become smartphone dependent.
is this an "activation"? If so, is it meaningful?
According to the article, it’s based on activations of new mobile phone purchases and what the previous OS of that “activator” was on. The carriers would have that data.
It’s a nice phone, and it’s fully loaded. I don’t have any issues with the hardware, it’s the software longevity. If you’re paying over a $1000 for a smart phone, I would expect at least three years or more from android, which you don’t receive. Apple has always been dominant when preserving iOS with at least five years of software updates.
5s is getting almost 7 years of updates with iOS 12 updates.
So was the XR. Those two "mainstream" phones absolutely fly off shelves.
dislike them both ... they seem more “budget” like missing features. I hope the 5,4/5,8” iPhone 12 models don’t gimp on hardware features this year like the Xr/base 11.
I wonder what an activation signifies- If a family member gives me an iPhone 5 to add to my collection and I reset it and link it to my Apple ID- is this an "activation"? If so, is it meaningful?