iOS 14 Security Updates Stop as iOS 15 Adoption Lags

A strange bit of turnabout for iOS. A piece from Apple Insider says uptick for iOS 15 is lagging behind its predecessors, while a piece from MacRumors says Apple may be shoving things along. First, let’s hit 15’s standing. 

According to Apple Insider, iOS 15 is currently installed on 72% of iPhones made in the last four years. Not bad, though it is behind the last two operating systems. At the same time during its release, iOS 13 was on 77% of compatible iPhones made in the prior four years, while last year’s iOS 14 was on 81%. 

What’s changed? The way Apple Insider sees it:

It's likely that the reduced adoption rates are because of a change in Apple's update stance. The company is no longer forcing users to install the latest operating system version to gain important security updates. 

Well, it wasn’t requiring that, though it seems now that it may be. That MacRumors piece mentioned earlier says Apple is “more aggressively pushing iOS 14 users to upgrade to iOS 15.” This it seems to be doing by removing the option to upgrade security features without updating the whole OS. “When ‌iOS 15‌ launched,” says the report:

…Apple said that iOS offered a “choice between two software update versions,” pledging to offer security updates for those who opted to stick with iOS 14.

Yeah, it looks like they’re done with that. Last fall, one could choose to move to iOS 15 or just download security components for iOS 14. Now MacRumors says, that option “appears to have been eliminated with the launch of iOS 15.2.” The report says:

Apple did not reintroduce the remain on iOS 14 option in the iOS 15.2.1 update that came out [this week], which seems to be a clear sign that Apple is now expecting people to upgrade. iPhone users who want to have the latest security protections must now update to ‌iOS 15‌.

The week started with folks jumping to conclusions around Private Relay. Makes me loathe to say “this is a thing Apple has done.” It does seem to be a thing that’s happening, though. One hopes the company will offer clarification at some point.