Overview
- StatCounter acknowledged its iOS detection error tied to Safari 26’s frozen OS token and now reports about 52.6% on iOS 26 after a January 19 patch, though past data remain wrong.
- Alternative baselines show similar levels, with Wikimedia near 50% and TelemetryDeck at about 54.8%, still below iOS 18 and iOS 17 at the same point.
- WebKit’s change removes the true OS version from Safari’s user agent, causing services that parse that field to misclassify iOS 26 as iOS 18.6 or 18.7.
- Developers’ telemetry and reporting indicate Apple is pacing upgrades through staged automatic-update waves, with a third surge starting in mid-January.
- Coverage highlights that iOS 26 point releases address early bugs and battery complaints and include security patches, while iOS 26.3 testing continues with some reports suggesting a later-than-expected arrival.