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Apple has published new adoption rate numbers for its mobile operating systems, revealing interesting results. First and foremost, it’s worth saying that iOS 17 adoption is slower than iOS 16’s was.
The adoption of iOS 17 is slower than iOS 16’s was a year ago
We’re comparing them in similar time spans, as Apple released such numbers a year ago. iOS 17 has hit 76% of iPhones introduced in the last four years. iOS 16 was on 81% of iPhones in the same period last year.
It’s also worth noting that 20% of iPhones that were announced in the last four years are still running iOS 16. 4% of them are running one of the earlier iOS versions.
The situation is reversed with iPadOS
If you’re wondering about iPadOS, well, the story is completely opposite. The adoption of iPadOS 17 is actually higher than it was for iPadOS 16 last year. It is currently installed on 61% of iPads introduced in the last four years. iPadOS 16 runs on 29% of devices, and 10% of them are running earlier versions.
If we compare this adoption to the same period last year, iPadOS 17 has higher adoption. Apple’s iPadOS 16 was running on 53% of devices (in the previous four years) at the same time period last year.
Now, Google doesn’t exactly publish its numbers anymore, but Apple does have the upper hand here, it always did. You have to remember that Apple releases its software for its own devices only, while Android is running on tons of phones out there.
It will be interesting to see what will happen with iOS 18, as it’s expected to be a huge update
The difference in adoption rates between iOS 17 and iOS 16 is not big, but it’s still interesting. It will also be interesting to see whether the same will happen around the same time next year, with iOS 18, or if will we see higher adoption rates.
It’s not exactly a secret that iOS 17 wasn’t a huge update, but iOS 18 is tipped to be. In fact, it’s tipped to be one of the biggest iOS updates in history.