The adoption rate of iOS 16 is far from breaking the ceiling. By dint of deploying buggy updates, it seems that trust is crumbling between Apple and its customers.
Historically, the Cupertino company manages without difficulty to impose new versions of its mobile operating system on iPhone owners. But it seems to be struggling to repeat its previous prowess with the latest version, iOS 16.
iOS 16 is not popular
According to data collected by Mixpanel, iOS 16 reached 70% install on compatible devices around late December 2022 and early January 2023. Growth was extremely slow during December, with the update not convincing only a very small proportion of users over this period.
For comparison, iOS 12 had passed 70% adoption by mid-November while it was released around the same time as iOS 16, in mid-September.
The phenomenon is not new. Last year, iOS 15 had also experienced many difficulties in reaching this famous threshold of 70%. But why are the latest versions of iOS being adopted less quickly than a few years ago?
Bug-riddled updates
We can see that the first wave of adoption of iOS 16 (in the first weeks after its release) is much lower than that of previous versions. The slowdown that occurs afterwards is normal.
One of the possible explanations is the lack of new features of recent iOS updates. The iPhone system has reached maturity and needs to evolve less quickly than before. Without great features, there is therefore no real waiting effect for new versions, which are then ignored.
Another element to take into consideration is the fear of bugs, performance drops and reduced battery life. It must be said that Apple has rolled out a few “broken” updates in recent years. And iOS 16 is no exception. The Cupertino company has released three corrective patches since the update was launched to the general public. It is understandable that users favor a stable experience by not rushing the adoption of a new version.
Sources: Cult of Mac, mixpanel
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