- Data suggests that only about 16.3% of iPhone users have iOS 26
- That’s a far lower percentage than other newer versions had at this point in previous years
- This is likely due to dissatisfaction with Liquid Glass combined with less pressure to upgrade than in the past
One thing you can usually count on with a new version of iOS is that most iPhone users will upgrade to it fairly quickly. Unlike Android, where rolling out new software versions can be a long, drawn-out period, with different phones getting them at different times, all compatible iPhones get access to new iOS releases on the same day, so no one has to wait to apply the update.
But despite that, many iPhone users seem to choose not to download iOS 26 – or subsequent minor releases like iOS 26.1 and iOS 26.2.
This is according to data from StatCounter (via MacRumors ), which found that in January 2026, 4.62% of iPhone owners were running iOS 26.2, 10.57% were running iOS 26.1, and 1.14% were running the original iOS 26 release. So together that’s approximately 16.3% of users on some version of iOS 26.
By comparison, at this time last year, about 63% of iPhones were running some version of iOS 18 (the previous major release), according to StatCounter, with about 54% running iOS 17 the year before, and about 60% running iOS 16 back in January 2023. So, in any case, that’s way more than we’re seeing here.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t official data – StatCounter estimates these numbers from web traffic analysis, but while it may not be entirely accurate, the differences they’ve found between this year and previous years strongly suggest that there’s a gap in how eager people are to update.
An unwanted update
So why is that? We can only speculate, but there are a few possible reasons. First, iOS 26 introduced a visual redesign called Liquid Glass, which has been met with a mixed reception at best. So after seeing this, many iPhone users may wait to update so they can stick with the old interface.
It’s also likely that some users will choose to stay on iOS 18 simply because there’s less pressure to upgrade this year, as Apple continues to support this version with security updates.
Finally, there might just be a little something in iOS 26 that tempts people to upgrade. Apart from Liquid Glass, there are quite a few new and improved features here, such as a new Apple Games app, a new Adaptive Power mode and improvements to Apple Intelligence. But how compelling these features are is another matter entirely – and given the relatively slow uptake of iOS 26, it’s likely that some users won’t be particularly interested in them.
We expect the percentage of users on some version of iOS 26 to continue to grow, but this is a clear sign that Apple may want to think carefully about what it includes in iOS 27.
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