This is a list and comparison of devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. that run a Unix-like operating system named iOS, often colloquially referred to simply as iDevices. The devices include the iPhone multimedia smartphone, the iPod Touch handheld PC which, in design, is similar to the iPhone, but has no cellular radio and other cell phone hardware, and the iPad tablet computer. All three devices function as digital audio and portable media players and Internet clients. The Apple TV, which ran iOS from the second generation of hardware onward, is a set-top box for streaming media from local sources and from certain internet services to a connected television set, and has no screen of its own. About 1.35 billion iOS devices have been sold worldwide as of March 2015.
The operating system on iOS devices can be updated through iTunes, or, on iOS 5 or later, using over-the-air (OTA) updates. A major version of iOS tends to be released every time a new type of iPhone is launched, (usually once a year) with minor changes throughout the year as needed. All updates are free to iOS devices (although iPod Touch users were formerly required to pay for the update). Apple upgrades its products’ hardware periodically (approximately yearly).
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