Apple releases iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 adoption data for the first time

Apple's latest adoption statistics for iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 reveal how many iPhones and iPads are running the latest software update. The usage, according to Apple, is "measured by devices that transacted on the App Store on February 14, 2023."

Speaking of which, 81% of all iPhones released in the last four years, and 72% of all iPhones are running iOS 16. The adoption rate of iPadOS 16 is slightly lower as 53% of all iPads introduced in the last four years and 50% of all iPads are running the latest update.

The numbers become more interesting when considering that iOS 16 was released just a few months ago in September 2022 and iPadOS 16 a month later in October. The latest software update is supported on iPhone 8 and above, including the flagship iPhone 14 series. Meanwhile, iPadOS 16 is supported on all iPad Pro models and a number of iPad Air, iPad, and iPad mini models.

For reference, we also have an unofficial figure from the analytics company Mixpanel, whose data suggests that iOS 16 is running on 78.68% of devices.

Apple's iOS 16 adoption numbers have come out alongside the release of the iOS 16.4 beta update which brings 31 new emojis that are part of Unicode 15.0. The update also changes the way people can enroll in the Developer Beta and Public Beta programs. Now, there is an inbuilt option in the iPhone's software update settings to get enrolled and there is no need to install a profile manually.