How can we programmatically detect which iOS version is device running on?

Best current version, without need to deal with numeric search within NSString is to define macros (See original answer: Check iPhone iOS Version)

Those macros do exist in github, see: https://github.com/carlj/CJAMacros/blob/master/CJAMacros/CJAMacros.h

Like this:

#define SYSTEM_VERSION_EQUAL_TO(v)                  ([[[UIDevice currentDevice] systemVersion] compare:v options:NSNumericSearch] == NSOrderedSame)
#define SYSTEM_VERSION_GREATER_THAN(v)              ([[[UIDevice currentDevice] systemVersion] compare:v options:NSNumericSearch] == NSOrderedDescending)
#define SYSTEM_VERSION_GREATER_THAN_OR_EQUAL_TO(v)  ([[[UIDevice currentDevice] systemVersion] compare:v options:NSNumericSearch] != NSOrderedAscending)
#define SYSTEM_VERSION_LESS_THAN(v)                 ([[[UIDevice currentDevice] systemVersion] compare:v options:NSNumericSearch] == NSOrderedAscending)
#define SYSTEM_VERSION_LESS_THAN_OR_EQUAL_TO(v)     ([[[UIDevice currentDevice] systemVersion] compare:v options:NSNumericSearch] != NSOrderedDescending)

and use them like this:

if (SYSTEM_VERSION_LESS_THAN(@"5.0")) {
    // code here
}

if (SYSTEM_VERSION_GREATER_THAN_OR_EQUAL_TO(@"6.0")) {
    // code here
}

---

Outdated version below

to get OS version:

[[UIDevice currentDevice] systemVersion]

returns string, which can be turned into int/float via

-[NSString floatValue]
-[NSString intValue]

like this

Both values (floatValue, intValue) will be stripped due to its type, 5.0.1 will become 5.0 or 5 (float or int), for comparing precisely, you will have to separate it to array of INTs check accepted answer here: Check iPhone iOS Version

NSString *ver = [[UIDevice currentDevice] systemVersion];
int ver_int = [ver intValue];
float ver_float = [ver floatValue];

and compare like this

NSLog(@"System Version is %@",[[UIDevice currentDevice] systemVersion]);
NSString *ver = [[UIDevice currentDevice] systemVersion];
float ver_float = [ver floatValue];
if (ver_float < 5.0) return false;

For Swift 4.0 syntax

below example is just checking if the device is of iOS11 or greater version.

let systemVersion = UIDevice.current.systemVersion
if systemVersion.cgFloatValue >= 11.0 {
    //"for ios 11"
  }
else{
   //"ios below 11")
  }

Update

From iOS 8 we can use the new isOperatingSystemAtLeastVersion method on NSProcessInfo

   NSOperatingSystemVersion ios8_0_1 = (NSOperatingSystemVersion){8, 0, 1};
   if ([[NSProcessInfo processInfo] isOperatingSystemAtLeastVersion:ios8_0_1]) {
      // iOS 8.0.1 and above logic
   } else {
      // iOS 8.0.0 and below logic
   }

Beware that this will crash on iOS 7, as the API didn't exist prior to iOS 8. If you're supporting iOS 7 and below, you can safely perform the check with

if ([NSProcessInfo instancesRespondToSelector:@selector(isOperatingSystemAtLeastVersion:)]) {
  // conditionally check for any version >= iOS 8 using 'isOperatingSystemAtLeastVersion'
} else {
  // we're on iOS 7 or below
}

---

Original answer iOS < 8

For the sake of completeness, here's an alternative approach proposed by Apple itself in the iOS 7 UI Transition Guide, which involves checking the Foundation Framework version.

if (floor(NSFoundationVersionNumber) <= NSFoundationVersionNumber_iOS_6_1) {
   // Load resources for iOS 6.1 or earlier
} else {
   // Load resources for iOS 7 or later
}

I know I am too late to answer this question. I am not sure does my method still working on low iOS versions (< 5.0):

NSString *platform = [UIDevice currentDevice].model;

NSLog(@"[UIDevice currentDevice].model: %@",platform);
NSLog(@"[UIDevice currentDevice].description: %@",[UIDevice currentDevice].description);
NSLog(@"[UIDevice currentDevice].localizedModel: %@",[UIDevice currentDevice].localizedModel);
NSLog(@"[UIDevice currentDevice].name: %@",[UIDevice currentDevice].name);
NSLog(@"[UIDevice currentDevice].systemVersion: %@",[UIDevice currentDevice].systemVersion);
NSLog(@"[UIDevice currentDevice].systemName: %@",[UIDevice currentDevice].systemName);

You can get these results:

[UIDevice currentDevice].model: iPhone
[UIDevice currentDevice].description: <UIDevice: 0x1cd75c70>
[UIDevice currentDevice].localizedModel: iPhone
[UIDevice currentDevice].name: Someones-iPhone002
[UIDevice currentDevice].systemVersion: 6.1.3
[UIDevice currentDevice].systemName: iPhone OS