Last week, reports surfaced about the adoption rates for Apple’s iOS 26. The buzz suggests that users are installing it at much lower rates than previous updates. Some think iPhone owners might be avoiding the new Liquid Glass interface.
The stats tell a clear story. According to Statcounter from January, only 16.6% of devices are on iOS 26. In contrast, around 70% are on iOS 18. The iOS 18.7 update, which came out alongside iOS 26, has already claimed about one-third of all iOS devices.
The narrative that users are resisting the Liquid Glass design is intriguing. But our own analysis of traffic data tells a different story. While we found that iOS 26 adoption is slow, it’s not as dire as Statcounter reports suggest.
We looked at traffic across all Condé Nast websites for the last quarter of 2025 and compared it to the same time in 2024. In December 2024, around 76% of iPhone pageviews were from devices running iOS 18. In December 2025, that number dropped to about 45% for iOS 26. It’s definitely a decline, but not as alarming as it first appears.
Several factors contribute to this slower adoption. For instance, iOS 26 no longer supports the 2018 iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR models, while iOS 18 worked on all devices that could run iOS 17.
Interestingly, tech experts have pointed out that user interface changes often take time for consumers to adapt to. According to a recent survey by TechRadar, over 55% of users prefer sticking with familiar interfaces rather than upgrading to a completely new design right away. This could explain the hesitance to switch.
In summary, while the numbers show a slower shift to iOS 26, various factors are at play, including device compatibility and user preference. The story may not be about rejection of the Liquid Glass design, but a more complicated picture of adaptation and device support.
For more details on iOS trends, you can follow reports from Statcounter here or explore updates from TechRadar here.
