MergelineWhy are my email open rates inaccurate?
Updated October 29, 2026
Because an “open” is just an image loading, and Apple Mail Privacy Protection loads those images for its users whether they read the email or not. That inflates your open rate. Mailchimp’s help page says open metrics are unreliable for people using it. Replies and clicks you can confirm are far better signals.
How opens get counted
A tracked email contains a tiny hidden image with an address unique to that person. When the image loads, the tool records an open. It cannot tell whether a human or a machine loaded it.
Apple Mail Privacy Protection fetches remote content in the background through Apple’s servers. Every Apple Mail user with it on looks like they opened your email, sometimes within seconds of delivery. Twilio’s notes on Apple as an inbox provider describe the same effect.
The other direction
Opens can be undercounted too. Some people read email with images turned off, so the pixel never loads. One Reddit thread sums up the mood among cold emailers: “open tracking is not accurate anyway.”
What to measure instead
| Signal | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Replies | A person read it and cared enough to answer |
| Reply rate by subject | Which subject line works, in an A/B test |
| Bounces | How clean your list is |
| Unsubscribes | Whether you are reaching the right people |
That is the set Mergeline reports, using your own Gmail to find replies and bounces. It adds no pixels, so there is no open rate to mislead you.
What to do with old reports
If past reports showed open rates that seemed too good, they probably were. Do not compare a new campaign’s opens with old ones, and do not pick a winning subject line by opens alone. Compare replies instead, even if the numbers are smaller, because each one is real. Over a few campaigns you will build a reply-rate baseline that tells you far more than any open rate did.
Read the full guide: Open tracking pixels
Related answers
Sources
- Mailchimp: Apple Mail Privacy Protection FAQ
- Twilio: Apple inbox provider insights
- r/coldemail: why some say don’t track open rates
Facts checked October 29, 2026. Google and other vendors change their limits and prices, so check the source before you rely on a number.
Mergeline does this from your own Gmail. Free for 60 emails a day with merge tags and no branding. Pro is $12 a month or $99 a year for follow-ups, scheduling and attachments.