AppleInsider Staff
In an update to its developer webpage ahead of Wednesday's iOS 9 release, Apple revealed that the soon to be replaced iOS 8 is currently running on 87 percent of compatible devices.
The statistic posted to Apple's App Store Support page shows 11 percent of devices are running iOS 7, while earlier iOS versions account for a two percent share. Apple drew its data from App Store visitations on Sept. 14.
Compared to the same time last year, when iOS 7 was about to be replaced by iOS 8, adoption for Apple's current-generation operating system is down three points. Despite booming iPhone sales and the release of Apple Music with iOS 8.4, uptake rates have been moderate. In April, Apple measured iOS 8 adoption at 81 percent.
After an official unveiling in June, Apple's iOS 9 is scheduled for release tomorrow. The new operating system will bring users a number of enhancements over iOS 8, including a tweaked UI, a News app, smarter Siri interactions, iPad-specific multitasking and Transit data for Maps, the latter being a much anticipated addition.
The new OS is designed to take full advantage of Apple's upcoming iPhone 6s and 6s Plus smartphones with support for pressure-sensitive 3D Touch finger input. Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro gets special attention with a subsystem for recognizing pressure- and tilt-sensitive Apple Pencil input, compatibility with Apple's new Smart Keyboard and support for big-screen multitasking.
Apple usually releases new iOS versions at around 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern, though an official launch window has not been provided for iOS 9.
Christine McKee
Andrew Orr
Charles Martin
Marko Zivkovic
Wesley Hilliard
38 Comments
This is awesome. There's a YouTube video of a guy who switched to iPhone from an iPhoney. During one part he says "I got an update like yesterday!!" Shocked at Apple updates. I almost felt sorry for iknockoff owners.
Corinthian leather and green felt have officially been added to the endangered species list. :smokey:
Should be interesting to see the adoption curve for iOS 9. There's a lot of reasons it might beat even iOS 7's record-
-it doesn't drop support for any hardware
-it only requires 1GB free space
-coincidentally, app thinning will free up 1GB over the coming days for many users
-it offers what people actually want- better battery life
I wonder what would be a real iOS 8 ratio across all iOS devices in the wild including "not compatible" ones
I wonder what would be a real iOS 8 ratio across all iOS devices in the wild including "not compatible" ones
Why would you wonder that? Apple's stats reflect exactly that, and correlate well with completely different methodologies such as this one. There is no legitimate reason to doubt Apple's numbers at all. Well, except for the confusion that AI introduced by using the term "compatible" which does not appear anywhere on Apple's website. Their stats are based on app store downloads which can come from any device.