Though the iPhone 4S is now more than two and a half years old, it continues to be a strong seller for Apple, with one new estimate suggesting it accounted for 25 percent of iPhones sold by the company last quarter, drawing in nearly 10 million new users to the ecosystem.
Apple on Friday launched an iPhone upgrade promotion that sweetens the deal for iPhone owners looking to step to a new iPhone 5s or 5c. Specifically, owners of iPhone 4S models can net greater trade-in incentives than usual — up to $199.
FreedomPop, which recently launched a cellular service to go along with its "free mobile data" plans, will be getting its first batch of Apple handsets with the iPhone 5 to sell as part of the firm's "freemium" service.
During its quarterly conference call for the second quarter of 2014 on Wednesday, Apple announced huge growth for its iPhone lineup, while iPad sales were
Apple's new low-end 8-gigabyte iPhone 5c debuted on Tuesday in major markets across the globe, including the U.K., China, France, Germany and Australia, though it did not replace the iPhone 4s, which remains the company's cheapest smartphone available [updated].
According to the latest statistics from analytics firm Mixpanel, Apple's iPhone 5s is about to breach the 20 percent mark in overall iPhone marketshare and will soon overtake the venerable iPhone 4S, while the counterpart 5c model languishes at about 6 percent.
After persuading major Russian cellular providers to sign on as partner carriers, Apple's iPhone sales doubled in 2013 to some 1.57 million units.
Accessory maker Incipio on Friday officially launched the Cashwrap, an NFC-enabled case that adds support for the ISIS mobile payment standard to the iPhone 4, iPhone 4s, iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s.
Another iPhone electrocution has been reported in East Asia, this time from Thailand, where a 28-year-old man was reportedly killed while lying on an iPhone 4S connected to what is believed to be a knockoff third-party charger.
The newly released iPhone 5s is outselling its 2013 counterpart, the iPhone 5c, by a factor of more than two to one, though the iPhone 5c has carved out a respectable share of overall sales, according to new data.
iPhone 4S owners have taken to Apple's support forums by the hundreds with complaints that iOS 7 has caused a new round of problems with the phone's Broadcom Wi-Fi and Bluetooth controller, echoing issues that reared their head during iOS 6's release.
The evolution of Apple's iPhone — from the original model through the new 5s and 5c — was shown off recently in a new video that pits all eight released versions of the bestselling handset against each other in a test of speed.
In introducing its new iPhones on Tuesday, Apple both adhered to tradition and shook things up, dropping the iPhone 5 but keeping the iPhone 4S alive as the low-end model.
This fall, Apple's newly revamped iPhone lineup is expected to include the high-end "iPhone 5S," a plastic "iPhone 5C," and a low-end option with the legacy iPhone 4S, according to a well-connected insider.
Net profits at Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn were up by 41 percent in the company's second quarter, boosted by stronger than expected sales of the existing iPhone lineup.
The resale value of iPhone 4 in the U.S. has actually grown by more than 10 percent since April, a new survey has found, while Samsung's smartphone lineup can't command the same used prices as Apple.
Though executives with Apple said they are pleased by sales of the legacy iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, they also noted that the iPhone 5 remains "by far the most popular iPhone" they sell.
More than half of all smartphones sold by Apple in June were the latest-generation iPhone 5, according to new data, while the iPhone 4S, first released in 2011, accounted for 30 percent of sales.
iPhone activation figures from Verizon, the largest carrier in the U.S., suggest that Apple could have sold as many as 34.7 million iPhones in the just-concluded June quarter.
America's second-largest wireless carrier AT&T on Friday announced it will be pushing out an update to subscribers who own an iPhone 5 or 4S, with the new software supporting an FCC-mandated Wireless Emergency Alert system.
{{ summary }}
Neil Hughes
AppleInsider Staff
Mikey Campbell
Shane Cole
Kevin Bostic
Sam Oliver
