Apple posted iOS 18 adoption rates on Friday, which show only slight differences from the figures for iOS 17 a year ago. According to the company, iOS 18 has been installed on 68 percent of all iPhones (as of January 21) and 76 percent of models from the last four years.
Last year, 66 percent of all iPhones ran iOS 17, leading to a two-percent increase for iOS 18 this year. An identical statistic to today’s data was noted: 76 percent of iPhones from the prior four years were running iOS 17 in January 2024.
iPad users aren’t demonstrating significant changes either. Apple reports that 53 percent of all iPads are operating on iPadOS 18, matching the figure for iPadOS 17 a year ago. Furthermore, 63 percent of tablets from the past four years are running iPadOS 18, slightly up from 61 percent devices from the previous four years operating on iPadOS 17 early last year.
Could the slight increase stem from Apple Intelligence enticing a few additional curious users? Unfortunately, the company remains silent on the number of users who have opted into its suite of generative AI features.
Nonetheless, we can conjecture that Apple is keen on increasing Apple Intelligence adoption: in the latest iOS 18.3 beta, Apple is enabling its AI features by default during onboarding. (While you can still opt out later, you need to navigate settings to do so.) Previously, this was an opt-in feature requiring explicit agreement during setup. That software might be available as soon as next week.
