Apple has shared its final iOS 26 adoption figures ahead of the launch of iOS 27, and the numbers reveal an interesting trend. While iOS 26 is installed on the vast majority of compatible iPhones, it has not matched the adoption rate of iOS 18 at the same point last year.
According to Apple’s latest App Store data, iOS 26 is now running on 79% of all compatible iPhones. Among iPhones released within the last four years, adoption rises to 86%. Those figures are impressive on their own, but they fall slightly short of iOS 18’s performance. In June 2025, Apple reported that iOS 18 was installed on 82% of all compatible iPhones and 88% of devices released within the previous four years.
The gap is relatively small, but it means the iOS 26 adoption rate remains about 2 to 3 percentage points behind its predecessor. The same trend extends to the iPad. Apple says iPadOS 26 is now installed on 68% of all compatible iPads and 79% of iPads introduced within the last four years. By comparison, iPadOS 18 reached 71% of all compatible iPads and 81% of newer models during the same period last year.
The numbers suggest that users are still upgrading at a healthy pace, but not quite as quickly as they did with the previous generation of software. Apple’s latest figures are based on devices that completed an App Store transaction on June 7, 2026, making this effectively the company’s final adoption report before attention shifts to iOS 27, which is now available in developer beta.
Adoption also remains strongest among newer devices. Of iPhones released in the last four years, only 14% remain on older software versions. Across all compatible iPhones, however, 21% of devices have yet to move to iOS 26. That suggests most of the resistance is coming from owners of older hardware rather than users of newer iPhone models.
Apple did not provide a reason for the slower adoption rate, and there is no clear evidence explaining the gap. Some observers have speculated that iOS 26’s Liquid Glass redesign may have discouraged certain users from upgrading, while others point to longer device replacement cycles and increased satisfaction with existing software. At this stage, however, those remain theories rather than confirmed explanations.
Regardless of the reason, the difference is unlikely to be a major concern for Apple. Nearly 8 out of 10 compatible iPhones are already running iOS 26, a figure that remains far ahead of software adoption rates typically seen on competing mobile platforms.
The bigger question is whether iOS 27 can reverse the trend. Unlike some previous updates, iOS 27 does not drop support for any iPhone models that currently run iOS 26. Apple is also emphasizing performance improvements, claiming apps can launch up to 30% faster on older devices. Combined with Siri AI, Apple Intelligence enhancements, and other new features announced at WWDC 2026, the update may give more users a reason to install the latest software sooner.
