Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET
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ZDNET's key takeaways
iOS 26 adoption is split, with trackers showing sharply different results.
Design changes and early bugs are making users hesitant to update.
Security fixes may be the strongest reason to install iOS 26 now.
It's been a few months since Apple released iOS 26. Normally, new iOS versions spread like wildfire. Within a few months, most iPhone users have tapped that "Download and Install" button, right? Not so fast.
This time around, adoption seems unusually sluggish. There's evidence that many of us are dragging our feet and hitting "Remind Me Later" on iOS 26, even if the exact percentage is up for debate.
Also: How to clear your iPhone cache (and why it improves performance)
I personally updated my iPhone to iOS 26 on day one (the life of a tech writer, I had to for work), but I'll be the first to admit that my iPad Pro stayed on iPadOS 18 (the sister update to iOS 18) until very recently. Why the delay? For one, I don't use my iPad as often as my iPhone, and honestly, I didn't feel like spending an hour downloading and installing the update.
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