What initial number of references does an object have when it is created?

In iOS, when using Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) or manual memory management (retain/release), an object typically has a reference count of 1 upon creation. This means that after an object is allocated, it is already retained once, and until the reference count drops to zero, the object will not be deallocated.

For example, when calling the alloc/init method, the object is created with a retain count of 1. If you want to keep the object, you increase the count (retain), and when the object is no longer needed, you decrease it (release). When the count reaches zero, the object is deallocated.

It is important to note that in modern versions of iOS with ARC, developers do not directly manage the reference count, but the concept remains the same: an object is created with one strong reference.