This archive report was first published on 17 October 2019.
On September 19th, Apple launched iOS 13, marking the latest iteration of the iPhone's operating system. Just 26 days later, the mobile OS has reached a remarkable milestone, with half of all iPhones now installed with the new version. According to Apple, this translates to 55% of iPhones launched in the last year.
Apple's advantage over Google lies in its ability to control both the hardware and software of its devices. This allows the company to distribute updates directly to the iPhone user base, giving it a significant edge in terms of adoption rates.
iOS 13 has not been without its challenges, with Apple pushing multiple update releases every few days to address bugs and issues. However, despite these setbacks, iPhone users have continued to update their devices to the latest version of the software.
According to Apple, 41% of iPhones are still running iOS 12, while 9% are running an older version of the OS. In contrast, 33% of iPads are running the newly released iPadOS, which is slower compared to the iPhone's rapid adoption of iOS 13.
Google, on the other hand, has not updated its Android dashboard since May 2019, making it difficult to compare the adoption rates of Android 10 to iOS 13. However, May's numbers showed that Android 9 had reached 10.4% adoption, nine months after its public launch.
While the differing business models of Apple and Google make direct comparisons challenging, Apple's success in controlling its own ecosystem has given it a significant advantage in terms of adoption rates.
Google has announced that all devices released in 2020 will run Android 10, but the process of rolling out updates to each manufacturer, applying customisations, and conducting regional rollouts is a complex and time-consuming process.
However, Android's monthly updates, which include bug fixes and security patches, help to keep devices secure and bug-free, even if they don't include major updates to the OS itself.
Considering the fewer variants of the iPhone and the direct relationship between Apple and its users, the company has a much easier time rolling out updates and achieving high adoption rates.
