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.


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.

New Apple TV Has A5X Chip and Single WLAN + Bluetooth Antenna

AnandTech has found that new Apple TV will use the same WLAN+Bluetooth antenna/chip combo that the iPhone 5 uses as well as an A5X processor rather than the A5.

The unreleased Apple TV revision was first suggested by an iOS 6.1 firmware release for a previously unseen AppleTV3,2 model. Then, a new FCC application revealed that the new Apple TV would have slightly smaller dimensions than the currently shipping model.


AnandTech writes:

Instead of the A5R2 SoC (S5L8942) inside the Apple TV 3,1, this new device contains an A5X SoC (S5L8947) as shown in the screenshots I've taken of the Restore.plist file, though there are numerous others. It's entirely possible that Apple is again using different bins of the A5X, it's not possible to tell whether CPU or GPU cores are fused off at this point from my digging through the IPSW.

The A5X chip (with Quad-Core graphics) was originally introduced to power the new Retina Display screen of the iPad 3.

It was in the current Apple TV that Apple first used the 32-nm (die shrunk) A5 chip. It was believed at the time that Apple had used the Apple TV has a test platform to start ramping up that new 32-nm A5 processor before they started using it more broadly to power the still-for-sale iPad 2.

It seems likely that Apple will follow the same pattern with this new A5X -- first ramp up production in the Apple TV, and later extend its use to the new iPad mini. The next iPad mini is believed to include a Retina display. Apple will need to upgrade the iPad mini's CPU/GPU in order to be able to accommodate the extra pixels of such a display.

Rumored future iOS device evidence: sketchy iPhone parts photo, 128GB device code

Mockup by Falco

As the year progresses and as we get closer to the manufacturing and launches of Apple's next-generation iOS devices (iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches), claimed pieces of evidence for these devices will appear. Today, two rumored pieces of evidence have surfaced.

Purported future-generation iPhone speaker components:

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NoWhereElse, who has published accurate photos in the past, has posted images of what it is claiming to be speaker components for two future iPhone generations. The report claims that these components are for an "iPhone 5S" (a next-generation iPhone with an iPhone 5 body), and an iPhone 6 (a redesigned handset). The claim is that the iPhone 5S will arrive this summer while the iPhone 6 is set for early 2014.

We, nor the report, can vouch for the authenticity of these parts. It is important to note, that while NoWhereElse has published accurate photos in the past, the site has been frequently inaccurate with reports based on images.

Additionally, we find it more likely, that if the parts are indeed legitimate, that one would be for the "iPhone 5S" device and the other for the rumored "cheaper" iPhone. Based on several recent reports, it seems likely that Apple's 2013 iPhone strategy is a tweaked iPhone 5 and a cheaper iPhone, not a tweaked iPhone 5 and an iPhone revamp.

iOS 6.1 beta code purportedly points to 128GB iOS devices:

Following the latest beta release of the upcoming iOS 6.1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch operating system, developers have begun tearing away at the software to see what secrets it may hold about the future of Apple's devices. @iNeal made the discovery that iOS 6.1 beta 5 holds a reference to compatibility with 128GB iOS devices. Jeff Benjamin dug up the code that @iNeal is referring to, and he has provided screenshots of the evidence. He notes that iOS 6.0 does not include the "128″ system partition code.

Update: We understand that this 128GB code is also found in iOS 6.1 beta 3, which was released in early December.

Historically, Apple has doubled the available iPhone storage each time it provides a more minor "S" upgrade. For example, with the launch of the iPhone 3GS in 2009, Apple doubled the storage from 8GB and 16GB to 16GB and 32GB. With the iPhone 4S in 2011, Apple introduced a 64GB model. Following this pattern, it would not be far-fetched to assume that Apple is working on a 128GB version of the already-rumored "iPhone 5S" for this year. Additionally, with the aging iPod classic still on the market, it is plausible that Apple would like to introduce a higher-capacity iPod touch so it can finally discontinue the iPod classic.

Apple's "iPhone 5S" is rumored to include a faster processor, 13 megapixel camera sensor, a fingerprint sensor, and an improved camera LED flash system. Numerous reports have also claimed that Apple will introduce a cheaper iPhone this year for emerging markets. That device has been claimed to include a plastic shell, versus the glass and aluminum enclosure of the iPhone 5. A version of the iPad mini with a Retina display and a fifth-generation 9.7-inch iPad with iPad mini design elements have also been rumored to be in the 2013 Apple product roadmap. It seems that all of the devices will be launching in the second half of the year.