Most Apple Users Haven’t Installed iOS 26 and the Reasons Are Clear

Back in June 2025, when Apple introduced iOS 26 to the world, it caused a stir among the iPhone fraternity. From the new Liquid Glass design language to heaps of software upgrades, fans were visibly excited until the update dropped. That's when the "glass shattered".

Over the past few months, it has managed to grab several eyeballs, and all for the wrong reasons. So, it is not surprising that iPhone users avoided iOS 26 like the plague.

iOS 26 adoption rate is astonishingly low

The latest January 2026 report of the popular web analytics platform StatCounter has revealed that only around 15 to 16% of iOS 26 eligible iPhones globally are running the brand-new software update. This is the lowest rate of adoption that Apple has seen in recent times for its software.

For context, more than 63% of iPhones were running the previous build, iOS 18, as of January 2025. This translates to a staggering 75% decline, where current iPhone owners are still on the older version of iOS. 

For those wondering, this is not an iOS rollout or update issue. This reflects the conscious choice of iPhone users to avoid updating their phones to iOS 26. The data has also revealed that only 1.1% of eligible iPhones are running the original iOS 26 update. As for iOS 26.1 and iOS 26.2, the installation rate stands at 10.6% and 4.6% respectively.

This shows an interesting pattern where even though the initial rollout was not that well-received, it gained some traction in between. However, there was a steep decline once again with every new update.

So, this begs the obvious question. Why are people running away from iOS 26? The answer is fairly simple. iOS 26 has been marred with bugs and inconsistent software experiences. Even during our testing of the iPhone 17, we were annoyed and irritated by how much half-baked iOS 26 feels.

From lockscreen bugs to overlapped clocks, iOS 26 has been one of the most underwhelming updates in recent times. Even Liquid Glass, which was supposed to become the gold standard of iOS design language, failed to impress all. It garnered mixed reviews, where users found text and design elements overlapping. Some users even called it an "accessibility nightmare".

So, with the usual polish and finesse lacking, iOS 26 failed to make its way to every iPhone out there. That said, it is not like iOS 26 will never receive the system stability that Apple is known for. However, in the present scenario, it is broken enough to make iPhone users stay on an older version of iOS rather than rocking the latest OS build. You can check our dedicated 100-day iPhone usage video below to know more.