I'm pretty sure most of the iPhones have monthly plans or their parents got brainwashed to pay more than $200 a month for phone service. iPhones are also great since you can track your kids.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone Continues to Be Most Popular Smartphone Among Teens, Apple Watch Ownership Growing
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Nope. My wife and I both use Android, but all of our kids use iPhones. None of them have any demanding use for it - primarily Snapchat, Tiktok and BeReal, which can be done on any platform. It's about being 'cool' and fitting in.
One of my daughters commented about a girl in her class that uses a Nokia, and how rare it is - about 2/3 of her class have iPhones, the rest mainly Samsung, and then there's that 'poor unfortunate' with the Nokia. As someone said earlier, the iPhone is one of the few luxuries that are attainable for teens to show their status - rich kids have 13's or newer, others have 11's or maybe 12's A Pro Max is a big deal...
Peer pressure, or more accurately, the desire to fit in is driving it, not confused parents...
I guess it doesn't hurt that the Apple ecosystem is pretty well-established in the US. I imagine it's a pretty good deal for the entire family to subscribe to the Apple One bundle, and this only works when everyone is using iPhones and iPads. So Apple is pretty smart to use cheap software and services to further add value to expensive hardware, and increase the stickiness of the overall ecosystem.
iPhones also get 5-6 years of software updates, further enhancing their longevity.
iPhones also get 5-6 years of software updates, further enhancing their longevity.
All of these "free with trade-in" promos that the carriers do (at least American carriers) make it easy to give your child a colorful new iPhone that they'll stick with for two to three years.
Not to mention iMessage and FaceTime is practically a must, and you're only getting that with an iPhone.
Especially if they get one for free. Everytime my wife gets a new iPhone, my teen daughter gets a hand me down iPhone.
I use Spotify because of the customizable equalizer feature and you’re able to turn off audio normalization in Spotify which is a big thing for sound quality. 🫨
I'm starting to see many more here in Italy as well, especially among teens, while historically only a few people had them.
It's still a 70-30 split between Android and iOS, but 10 years ago iOS was less than half.
I'm glad to see more people jumping ship, however the "prestige" of having a Mac/iPhone has kinda been lost 🤣.
I know...a firstest world problem, there.
It's still a 70-30 split between Android and iOS, but 10 years ago iOS was less than half.
I'm glad to see more people jumping ship, however the "prestige" of having a Mac/iPhone has kinda been lost 🤣.
I know...a firstest world problem, there.
10 years ago I'd walk through the Starbucks on campus where maybe 33% of students were working on Mac laptops. Nowadays, it seems 80% or more have Mac laptops. iPhones are a very effective gateway to the Apple ecosystem.
Personally, I find it very slow. Not really an Apple Music problem per sé, but it’s really annoying that Siri seems to default to trying to play something from Apple Music no matter what you say.
Also it’s just lacking basic features. They just now implemented a favorites playlist, for example.
Me = "Hey teen, do you know what private relay is?"
Teen = "is that when you run on the track by yourself?"
Let's stop acting like kids (and most iPhone owners) know what private relay is or what it does.
Teen = "is that when you run on the track by yourself?"
Let's stop acting like kids (and most iPhone owners) know what private relay is or what it does.
Last edited:
Same here. My daughter had a watch w/cellular with its own phone number as well. For about a year as she proved herself as well. Now she has an iPhone as well as a watch. She could have chosen an Android and still worn her Apple Watch, but she didn't.
I've seen several of my friends at school switch from Android to iPhone. Only one has gone the other way.
That said I don't think any of them know what Private Relay is, and I think I'm the only one with an Apple Watch 😅
That said I don't think any of them know what Private Relay is, and I think I'm the only one with an Apple Watch 😅
Last edited:
I doubt teen parents are actively choosing the product versus offering their kids a smartphone and letting them choose which they'd rather have. It's a bit like clothing. Sure, the parents are likely the ones buying the majority of it, but I figure it's the kids actually choosing what they want to wear. Admittedly I base that on my own social circles, which might not represent the majority.
Is artists don't want to be ripped off by Spotify, they can choose any other platform to publish their music. if I couldn't find some artists I want to listen to, I'd get used to AM. But the library is quite similar, so maybe artists are not ripped off so much.
BTW. Tidal pay artists twice than Apple. How do you feel as rip off streaming service supporter?
I agree with you 100% social circles play a larger role than adults (no matter your age) sometimes realize. I think as adults we like to think that we have matured out of social pressures (majority), but who we hang around can and does very well influence us whether you are willing to admit it or not.
As others have mentioned carrier deals will also do buy one get one or whatever so when the options for a teenager is basically just pick which you want especially if you can get an iPhone or Android for a similar or same price of course they will go with the one that fits the social circle. You hit the nail on the head with the clothing comparison, if your from a wealthy family and your social circle are similar teens then having designer clothing probably isn't even a second thought, but the average person especially parents getting their teens clothing probably isn't even a consideration which is fine because that teen probably has a similar social circle.
I was very close to giving my daughter an Android phone, but Screentime and the rest of the family having iPhones pushed me to get her a phone. Now Screentime is absolute garbage, the settings reset all the time (as in daily) so I can't track or limit the kids activities and there is a bug where I don't get screentime requests on my AW. I'm about fed up enough about it to consider Android for them but don't think I'm ready for the green/blue bubble crap.
It’s funny you mention that, because at the Starbucks near me, it’s the opposite. I guess it depends on where you live. I do, however, see iPhones everywhere.
That doesn't mean they couldn't afford a different or better phone. You keep misunderstanding the statistics you're linking to.
Affordability matters to most of us who are limited to it.
iOS version as of September 2023
% in IN | % in GB | % in US | % in WW | % in CA | % in PH | iOS version | Oldest supported iPhone Chip | 1st iPhone with oldest supported iPhone Chip | Release Year | Age as of 2023 |
12.68 | 4.78 | 4.36 | 4.93 | 4.49 | 5.91 | iOS 17.x | A12 | iPhone Xs | 2018 | 5 |
72.31 | 80.28 | 85.48 | 77.49 | 81.54 | 70.73 | iOS 16.x | A11 | iPhone X | 2017 | 6 |
9.71 | 9.3 | 6.84 | 10.49 | 8.46 | 14.31 | iOS 15.x | A9 | iPhone 6s | 2015 | 8 |
1.86 | 1.48 | 1.4 | 2.53 | 1.93 | 2.47 | iOS 14.x | A9 | iPhone 6s | 2015 | 8 |
0.61 | 0.28 | 0.34 | 1.59 | 0.33 | 0.5 | iOS 13.x | A9 | iPhone 6s | 2015 | 8 |
97.17 | 96.12 | 98.42 | 97.03 | 96.75 | 93.92 | iOS 13-17 | - | - | 2015-2023 | 8-5 |
| 2.83 | 3.88 | 1.58 | 2.97 | 3.25 | 6.08 | iOS 1-12 | - | - | 2007-2014 | 16-4 |
Last edited:
If you keep dumping random stats that you then misinterpret, I'm just going to block you. Make an actual argument. Explain how these numbers have anything to do with the thing you're trying to say. I'm not going to click your random links and make your point for you.