iOS 17 Adoption is Slower Than iOS 16 Adoption

[MacRumors]

iOS 17 is installed on 76 percent of iPhones released in the last four years, according to newly released iOS 17 adoption statistics provided today by Apple. This is the first time that Apple has given us iOS 17 installation numbers since the operating system was released last September.

20 percent of iPhones released in the last four years are still running iOS 16, while four percent run an earlier operating system. Of all active iPhones, 66 percent are running iOS 17, 23 percent are running iOS 16, and 11 percent are running an earlier version of iOS.

Apple also shared iPadOS installation numbers. 61 percent of iPads introduced in the last four years have iPadOS 17 installed, while 29 percent have iPadOS 16, and 10 percent are running an earlier version of iPadOS.

Among all active iPads, 53 percent have iPadOS 17, 29 percent have iPadOS 16, and 18 percent run an earlier version of the iPadOS software.

Around this time last year, 81 percent of all iPhones introduced in the last four years had iOS 16 installed, so iOS 17 adoption has been slower. Only 53 percent of iPads were running iPadOS 16 in February 2023, however, so the pace of iPadOS 17 adoption has been faster than iPadOS 16 adoption.

iOS 17 was first released in September, and Apple has released three major updates so far. A fourth major update, iOS 17.4, is set to come out in March.

Article Link: iOS 17 Adoption is Slower Than iOS 16 Adoption

 

[Paddle1]

Most likely because it's a relatively small update.

 

[seek3r]

I'd bet part of this is people are hesitant across the board recently to install updates since so many (not Apple for the most part) have reduced functionality (looking at you, agilebits/1password for ex)

 

[nt5672]

Bugs, bugs, bugs. Maybe Apple will get the hint?

 

[nt5672]

Oh, and by the way, why install 17 when functionality announced in June 2023 is still not delivered and when it is delivered it will take multiple point releases to make it work correctly.

 

[Realityck]

Considering the talk of biggest update ever against iOS 18, I wonder how things will fare in a few months comparably?
Those still using iOS 16, might be perfectly happy with its feature set compared to iOS 17 changes/additions?

 

[TMRJIJ]

iOS 17 seems to be a pretty boring update for most high schoolers. Not many 'big' features in general

 

[turbineseaplane]

Good lord, could we stop with annual updates?

You can add features and fix bugs in existing versions

Stop this endless annual tail chasing

By the time they get things ironed out each year they release a whole new dump of bugs and issues with a "new" version.

 

[matttarantino]

I still wish Apple made all the core iOS apps as if they were installed from the app store. This way they could release updates for mail, contacts, calendar, phone, etc individually when they're ready

 

[biffuz]

iOS 16 was too good and didn't slow down the older iPhones enough, I guess...

 

[AlastorKatriona]

Most likely because it's a relatively small update.

No, mostly likely because there are 250 million more devices than there were the last time this was measured.

Every year Macrumors writes stories like this, with absolutely no sense of context. As the installed base of devices grows the percentage of devices that upgrade quickly (or at all) will decrease. It's simple math. Macrumors tries to paint it as there being a "reason" for it, like a conscious reason. There isn't. It's just what happens when the installed base grows, and this particular one grows by almost unimaginable numbers every year.

Edit: Allow me to clarify for the downvote brigade...each year, the number of users who update to the latest OS goes up, as the market grows with new users. However, the only statistic Macrumors focuses on is the percentage of total users that upgrade. This percentage can go down, while the number of users who update still goes up. There exists such a thing as statistically relevant data, and this one that Macrumors cites every year is not one of them.

 

[narenh]

Purely anecdotal here, but I live in SF and have had about a 30% success rate with NameDrop—most new people I meet, even techies, haven't updated to iOS 17

 

[AlastorKatriona]

I still wish Apple made all the core iOS apps as if they were installed from the app store. This way they could release updates for mail, contacts, calendar, phone, etc individually when they're ready

Those apps can do lot of things that no other app from the App Store can do, so no you really don't wish that.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Those apps can do lot of things that no other app from the App Store can do, so no you really don't wish that.

What can Mail or Contacts or Calendar do that is privileged beyond 3rd party App Store apps?

Safari fits your description -- not aware of anything those other mentioned apps can do like that though

 

[StellarVixen]

I forgot when was the last time I was excited for an iOS update.

 

[Jhingha]

Just release the new emojis already. The adoption will soar.

 

[sw1tcher]

iOS 17 is installed on 76 percent of iPhones released in the last four years, according to newly released iOS 17 adoption statistics provided today by Apple. This is the first time that Apple has given us iOS 17 installation numbers since the operating system was released last September.

Going to stay with iOS 16.7.2 for a little bit longer even if Apple won't provide us iOS 16 users with any more updates if our devices can be updated to iOS 17. Stop trying to get us to update! I still find iOS 17 too buggy.

 

[hybrid_x]

iOS 17 works great on my 13 mini, but I made the mistake of installing it on my 6th-gen iPad and it's pretty much unusable now. It's now constantly running out of RAM, apps freezing up, web pages not loading... and this was after wiping it and doing a clean install, putting nothing back on the device and turning off iCloud syncing. It can barely do its most basic functionality of email and web browsing.

 

[Saturn007]

People are responding as if iPhone and iPad users in general aren't updating — and giving reasons for that.

The fact is that most have updated — 76% are now running iOS 17 — and that figure is not that far off from the 81% that adopted iOS 16 at “around this time last year”.

A more precise time frame analysis of the OS release dates, Apple advertising, and news coverage might make them even more similar.

Key point is that there's little difference — so, sweeping claims of bugs, disenchantment, lack of features, etc. discouraging people writ large from updating are overblown!

Qualify it as things (plural, not just one) (the world is not monocausal, after all) that could be affecting some small minority of people could be a sustainable argument for the slight difference in uptake.

Bottom line — most people updated this year just as they did last year!

 

[JosephAW]

It will improve after it comes out of beta and they fix all the beta issues. 17.4.0 is going to be a hot mess since it’s being rushed.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Purely anecdotal here, but I live in SF and have had about a 30% success rate with NameDrop—most new people I meet, even techies, haven't updated to iOS 17

If I could uninstall iOS 17 and revert to 16, I would.

 

[chucker23n1]

So, iPhone slightly slower; iPad slightly faster. Doesn’t seem like cause for concern.

IME, 17 has been fairly solid.

 

[LoveToMacRumors]

can’t be happier to be on ios 15 on my iPhone 13 pro

 

[Fuzzball84]

Im not surprised by this... if your iPhone etc is working perfect.... why risk it until the next iOS is a bit more solid...

 

[AlastorKatriona]

What can Mail or Contacts or Calendar do that is privileged beyond 3rd party App Store apps?

Safari fits your description -- not aware of anything those other mentioned apps can do like that though

Quite a few things, namely they have access to Push protocols that no third party app has.