As Apple gets ready to announce iOS 17 at WWDC 2023 on June 5, the company has now shared details about just how popular its iOS 16 software update has been.
Apple announced iOS 16 during its WWDC 2022 event in June of last year before making it available for download in September. Now, the company has shared details not only of how well iOS 16 is doing in terms of installed user base but also how the iPadOS 16 update is doing as well.
The figures show that both software updates have been well-received, while we can likely expect the figures to increase as the months roll on — Apple isn't expected to release iOS 17, the update that will replace iOS 16, for around three months.
Big big numbers
According to figures posted to the App Store portion of its developer website, Apple says that the iOS 16 update is now installed on 90% of all iPhones that were introduced within the last four years. That number falls to 81% when you look at all iPhones currently in use.
As for the iPad and iPadOS 16, the numbers aren't quite so high but are still impressive. The iPadOS 16 update is installed on 76% of all iPads that were introduced in the last four years. As you'd expect, that figure falls when you look at all active iPads — the figure is 71% in that instance.
Apple says that these figures were "measured by devices that transacted on the App Store on May 30, 2023."
These figures are largely in line with the numbers that iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 managed after a similar amount of time out in the wild, and we can probably expect the same with the new updates next year, too.
All of Apple's software updates will be detailed during the WWDC event next week but none will ship to the public until around September time.
iMore's iOS 16 review calls the platform "a beefy update that shows us the true potential of customization." Though iOS 15 was more about refinement, iOS 16 is a major overhaul of Apple’s mobile operating system, much like iOS 14 before it.
