iOS 26 adoption slower than iOS 18, only 66% of active iPhones on iOS 26
Apple has revealed that roughly two thirds of all active iPhones are now on iOS 26. This comes as Cupertino has finally revealed iOS 26 adoption numbers based on iPhones and iPads that transacted on the App Store on 12 February 2026.
Specifically, Apple found that 66% of all active iphones are on iOS 26, with 24% still on iOS 18, with the remaining 10% on earlier versions. If you only take into account devices introduced in the last four years, 74% of those iPhones are now on iOS 26, with 20% on iOS 18 and the rest on earlier versions.
There are also numbers for iPads of course, with 57% of all active iPads using the latest version of iPadOS, while 26% remain on iPadOS 18 and the rest on even older software. If you only take into account iPads from the last four years, roughly 66% of them are on iPadOS 26, 28% on iPadOS 18 and the rest on earlier versions.
Compared to iOS 18 adoption figures released back in January 2025, it does seem pretty similar; Apple found that on 21 January 2025, 76% of all iPhones from the last four years were on iOS 18 with 68% of all active iPhones on iOS 18. As for iPads, 53% of all active iPads were on iPadOS 18, while that number rised to 63% when taking into account models from the last four years.
However, Apple only revealed its iOS 26 adoption rates on 12 February 2026 compared to 21 January 2025 for iOS 18, giving their newest version a three week gap for more users to hop onto their latest software. Even after those three weeks however, iOS 26 adoption rates remain lower than that iOS 18, with the saving grace being that more iPads are at least now on iPadOS 26.
While we can’t be sure as to why iOS 26 adoption is slower than before, a fair guess would be the rather polarising Liquid Glass UI. The transparent design overhaul wasn’t particularly well received, with some users complaining about eye strain, reduced readability and plenty of bugs in the early days of iOS 26.
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