iPhone owners are taking longer to install iOS 17

iOS 17 is installed on 76% of iPhones released in the last four years, according to data released by Apple. The number represents a drop in the pace of updating: as of February 2023, 81% of iPhones released in the previous four years already had iOS 16.

Also in the data released this Monday (5), 20% of iPhones released in the last four years run iOS 16. The remaining 4% are with earlier versions of the operating system.

This is the first time Apple has released data on iOS 17 adoption. However, figures from other sources already indicated this same picture.

According to Mixpanel, within four weeks of release, iOS 17 was on 28.6% of compatible devices. Last year, at this same point, iOS 16 had been installed on 37.2% of compatible devices.

There is no data on the reasons for a slower pace of updating. Some hypotheses are the few new features of iOS 17 and the bugs in the update, in addition to the worsening of keyboard suggestions.

On iPad, update pace increases
iPadOS 17 is present in 61% of Apple’s tablets released in the last four years. iPadOS 16 is on 29% of devices, and the remaining 10% run previous versions of the system.

Compared to last year, the situation is the opposite of that of iPhones, as the adoption rate has grown. As of February 2023, 53% of iPads were running iPadOS 16. That is, iPadOS 17 is 8 percentage points higher in update speed.

This has an explanation: in 2023, Apple delayed the release of iPadOS 16 by a month. Instead of being released in September, with iOS 16 as usual, that year’s update for iPads didn’t arrive until October, at the same time as macOS Ventura.