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OS X upgrade adoption rate half that of iOS despite going free

xOSX-Distribution-Chitika_Insights.png.pagespeed.ic.EA5e2Pm8gCChitikia is out with a report today with OS X adoption numbers for the five months since Apple released its latest major software update to the desktop and notebook last October. According to the report, a record 40% of Mac users have upgraded to OS X 10.9 Mavericks since its release. For perspective, that’s 6% higher than OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion reached in a 14-month period.

The acceleration in adoption is largely attributed to Apple adopting the iOS upgrade model and making OS X Mavericks a free software update for users rather than charging between $20 and $130 as previous updates had seen.

But despite adopting the iOS upgrade model, Apple is still struggling to reach a number of users with its latest OS X release in comparison to iOS upgrade adoption which was last marked above 80% in the same time span.

The difference is likely due to features introduced in iOS 5 that prompt the user to update the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch through the system’s Settings application.

Apple has marketed OS X Mavericks within the Mac App Store on its desktop computing platform, but the prompts are less consistent than on iOS.

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Comments

  1. pucagaeilge - 10 years ago

    Yep, I agree the difference is because it’s not automated on older versions of OS X, like it is on iOS.

    Wasn’t the update rate from iOS 4 to 5 much slower than 5 to 6, because 4 didn’t automatically prompt you to upgrade and you had to do it through iTunes? Future upgrades will probably happen much faster for OS X.

    People love free.

  2. I’m still running 10.8 on my iMac, no hurry to upgrade to Mavericks. I updated my Macbook Air though, as some of the coolest features of 10.9 involve battery life.
    Anyway OS X is not iOS, you don’t rely completely on the app store and there are few compatibility issue with apps, so it’s ok to run 10.8 or 10.7

  3. NQZ (@surgesoda) - 10 years ago

    Because it’s not fully automated…duh…

  4. John H Smith - 10 years ago

    Do the numbers exclude the Macs that cannot upgrade because they are not supported anymore?

    • axsanford - 10 years ago

      yeah, I mean there are plenty of computers out there that cannot support Mavericks.

    • Matt Ranzenberger - 10 years ago

      I can’t agree with and promote this enough! I have MLpostfacto for my old MacBook, which runs great, and I’d love to upgrade, but it’s not going to happen unfortunately.

  5. crichton007 - 10 years ago

    All of the people I know who haven’t updated to Mavericks tell me they are waiting on an app they use to support the new OS. It’s not that they don’t know or find it too difficult to upgrade but they aren’t willing to upgrade and lose their personally killer app.

  6. jacksonhenneyyy - 10 years ago

    We have both Mac and PC at our University, about 90% of the computers are Mac’s, however due to stability and time, effort, as well as compatibility, we are still on 10.8.0/10.8.2 – I guess these computers would be included into the list of who hasn’t updated?

    Also, my families 2010 Polycarbonate MacBook is still on 10.6.8, simply because it works just fine, and if upgraded may have a better experience, but it would be “Different” which I know my family wouldn’t agree with.

  7. Michael Wright - 10 years ago

    Mavericks is one of the biggest pieces of crap I have ever seen Apple release. Most of my apps crash AND I HAVE OVER 340 OF THEM, it is one of the most insecure OS, easily snooped on, the server versions can’t even run a single version upgrade without going haywire, the imaging and graphic support layers were poorly written. I have an 8 core Mac Pro that can’t even render simple JPEG or GIF images without scrambling the images. This has got to be the worst experience I have ever had from an Apple branded OS.

    I took the chance and my God I am sorry for it. I wouldn’t even call the release BETA. Call me in another three or four versions and maybe by then I’ll have a machine I can throw out the window.

  8. macmaniman - 10 years ago

    i blame lion for ruining trust for early adopters….

  9. scumbolt2014 - 10 years ago

    Mavericks is much better for me than Mountain Lion and Lion combined. I’ve been lucky, I guess.

  10. Tim Grant - 10 years ago

    Most DJ’s & VJ’s are sticking with 10.8 right now because DJ Controllers and Mixers and sound cards are not yet by OS Mavericks.

Author

Avatar for Zac Hall Zac Hall

Zac covers Apple news, hosts the 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast, and created SpaceExplored.com.