At the time of writing, nearly half of all iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch devices out in the wild are now running Apple's latest operating system, according to new data.
This is an impressive uptick considering iOS 11 has only been out for a little over three weeks, and it also highlights just how much fragmentation penalizes Android's adoption percentages. As Tech Times previously reported, Android Oreo adoption is just at a startlingly low 0.2 percent, with Marshmallow, the highest, at 32 percent.
For the uninitiated, fragmentation is the result of various phones running different versions of Android between them, which happens because not every Android phone meets the technical requirements for the latest software, and not all manufacturers with custom Android skins are diligent on developing those software updates.
Apple also has this problem, but it's not as widespread as Android's. Just look at the data as of Oct. 12: According to Mixpanel, 48.50 percent of all iDevices are now running iOS 11; 48.55 percent are running iOS 10; and only 5.95 percent are iOS 9 or older versions. This is a staggering achievement, although not all that surprising because unlike Android, iOS isn't open-source — hence, everything about the software, like how it's optimized for hardware, is up to Apple. So there's less chance of fragmentation, if at all.
iOS 11 vs iOS 10 Adoption
A week after iOS 11 was launched, adoption had increased to about 25 percent. But that means it was being installed at a slower rate compared to last year's iOS 10 adoption. By contrast, iOS 10 hit 66 percent just 27 days after its official launch last year.
Why is this so? 9to5Mac speculates that iOS 11's slower adoption rate is the result of segmentation between iPhone 8 and iPhone X launches. In previous releases, new iPhones were released at the same time, meaning everyone who got them also received the latest software. This time, the iPhone X is launching over a month later than the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.
So, supposing the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and the iPhone X were all released simultaneously, the current adoption rate could be much higher.
iPhone X
Many people are either salivating over or hating on the iPhone X, with some calling it the most radically designed iPhone yet and some feeling displeased about the huge notch at the upper edge of the display. It's certainly polarizing, but many fans will surely line up for it next month.
The iPhone X arrives Nov. 3 and will start at $999, but reports say Apple might encounter some problems on the production side of things. Time will tell, though.
Thoughts about the iPhone X or iOS 11? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
