On September 23rd, Apple reported an adoption rate of 46% for iOS 8.
As of October 5th (this past Sunday), Apple’s official numbers show that, in the ensuing weeks, the adoption rate crept up to only 47%. Interestingly, the iOS 7 rate went down from 49% to 47% (as you might expect), but the pre-iOS 7 adoption number actually increased from 5% to 6%.
The stagnation might be due to the public issues surrounding the iOS 8 release, including bugs that kept the Health App from running, as well as concern that adoption of iOS 8 might cause problems with iCloud Drive data.
Apple’s self-reported numbers are reflected by the most recent data from MixPanel (via MacRumors).
Look no further than the fact that many iPhone 5 devices do not have 5GB free for the OTA update to iOS 8.
Also note that by October 22 last year, Apple announced that 64% of devices were running iOS 7. There’s enough time for iOS 8 to reach that. But I suspect the slower rate can be attributed to increased storage requirements.
While you aren’t looking any further, think of the comrades using an 8 GB 4S or 5C and try not to shed a tear.
Nothing to do with bugginess. Solely to do with not enough free space. If Apple goofed up anywhere it’s in not making it clear how much space would be needed while simultaneously making that space freaking enormous.
Yes, a dear friend, but also an old friend I really don’t want to hang out with anymore because we’ve grown apart.
iTunes is very 2000-2009.
Agreed. I would like to add something though.
Hooking up again takes at least an half hour, just to get a more buggy experience that’s nowhere near finished. Not the kind of alternative I fancy.
Not too mention the usual iTunes errors with requires a reset, restore and resync which requires an additional hour. Again, just to have your smooth running iPhone 5 (7.1.2) wrecked.
I think 46% is pretty high.
Indeed this is the major reason for the stagnation.
Most people have no idea how to hook up w iTunes to update. And, even if they did, most wouldn’t anyway.
Wonder if Apple could break up the update into smaller pieces?
Everyone’s ignoring the real problem, which is that iOS users stopped using their PCs. As the numbers prove, only a minority of iPhone and iPad users are Mac users; the majority use Windows PCs, and a lot don’t have any type of PC. These people, especially recent iPhone buyers, only do OTA updates. They don’t update iOS through iTunes, and they don’t offload their photos. When their iDevice runs out of space, they believe their only option is to delete stuff. A lot of people, even techies, are not even aware you can offload photos from an iPhone like any other digital camera. Apple encourages interactivity between OS X and iOS, reducing this belief among Mac users, but not for everyone else.
Another factor could be corporate hardening for mobile devices. If you’re using an iPhone for business, you don’t update your OS until all the business critical apps have been updated and confirmed compatible with the new OS.
A whole class of devices is left waving goodbye from the train platform as iOS 8 moves on down the tracks.
Exactly. I have friends that never went from iOS 6 to iOS 7 because they didn’t have the space. They’ll only get iOS 8 (or iOS 9) when they get a new iPhone.
The iPhone 4!
From what I’ve seen it’s definitely the size of the OTA update that’s holding things back. The vast majority of people I work with are non techies and have no idea about Health App bugs or any other iOS 8 bugs, give them an update that’s too big for their device and they simply won’t update. Even if they do know they can update via iTunes they’re in no great rush to do so.
Give it time.. It’ll be 95% as was iOS 7 in a few short months.
Many people need to be alerted that it can be done, and for free, and if they heard it was buggy, be satisfied it’s really OK.
I think the Over The Air (OTA) update mechanism is quite valuable to iOS usability for most updates.
The issue is that OTAing these major point-zero releases requires a large percentage of the typical user’s storage space, especially if they’re using 8 or 16 GB phones.
Those of us who manage the heck out of our iOS devices may have seen what the OTA requirements were and said, “I’ll just connect to iTunes.”
When I was contacted by people who couldn’t get their heads around connecting to iTunes, I tell them to delete all of their games, movies, and any other big files while creating a list of what was deleted; Then upgrade, then re-download them. Most people can do that and upgrade successfully, but nobody likes it.
Just thought of a workaround:
1. Back up everything to iCloud
2. Perform full device wipe and reset
3. Install iOS update
4. Restore from iCloud.
No PC needed, but the free iCloud allotment won’t cover this for those who need it. Apple should create an app to do this full process automatically and waive the normal iCloud fee when you use it.
It’ll be fascinating to hear Tim talk about the adoption, if he does, at the iPad event. Between the awkward workarounds to get it onto low-capacity devices and the appearance of myriad issues for little immediate benefit, the numbers aren’t going to be moving much for a while.
When I get my 6Plus I’m getting 128GB. Ridiculous to not think ahead. You always get more than you think you’ll need. Including Applecare Plus,
Yeah, I’d love to know what the rate for devices capable of actually installing it is.
Obviously somewhat higher (since there are non-zero devices that can never upgrade), but how much so?
I simply could never understand getting an 8 or 16 GB phone. They shouldn’t even be for sale at this point.
If what some people here are saying is correct that this isn’t much different than the numbers of previous IOS upgrade installs, give or take some differences due to the size, then this is a tempest in a teapot. I’d like to see adoption rates for point-0 releases compared so we can get an actual picture instead of peoples’ feelings.
Personally, I’m waiting for Yosemite before I upgrade my iOS devices.
The clearest indication possible that keeping 8Gb phones in the line up is crazy and that refusing to double the entry level capacity of the iPhone 6 / 6+ as they did with the other models was a cheap short term move.
If it hurts Apple with slower adoption rate, I applaud it – hopefully the numbers will wake Apple up. It will be a shame if the screen size and OS fragmentation starts to deter developers though.
Another point may be the lack of real must have features, many are Mac only (handoff, continuity) or US only (Apple Pay). Extensions and third party keyboards are geek features, no normal person really understands them. There is not much more. Last year the incentive to get the new interface was appealing for most.
Add to that people with older devices expecting slowdowns… And you just get a lot less interest.
Yes, but updating a 4S makes it pretty unusable (hearsay, though, as I’ve not experienced it firsthand), just like updating a 4 to iOS 7 did.
i really, really wish I could revert my iPad 3 back to iOS 6. Skeumorphism or no, that OS was buttery smooth and very stable.
After being burned in updating an iPad 3 to iOS 7 with absolutely no way to revert, even with a factory reset, there’s no way I’m going to risk an update to iOS 8 because I know they won’t let me downgrade if there’s an issue. I like my Apple devices, but their refusal to allow customers to restore their devices to earlier versions of iOS that were actually designed for those devices is unconscionable.
I’ve experienced updating an iPad 2 to iOS 8 – same A5 processor as the 4S. Miserable performance afterwards, and I deeply regret having upgraded. It’s prevented me from upgrading other family members’ A5-based devices or recommending iOS to anyone similarly equipped.
Smart choice. GIven my recent experience with an iPad 2 and iOS 8, I will avoid upgrading a device by more than one major release (at least not without waiting a month to see how many performance complaints rack up).