Apple reported huge quarterly earnings yesterday, and on the call with investors, CEO Tim Cook gave an update on how popular iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe are proving thus far.
Apple’s three flagship OS updates are proving extremely popular in beta
Whatever your opinion of the new Liquid Glass design coming in iOS 26 and Apple’s other updates, there’s no doubt it’s sparked a lot of interest.
As compelling as new features might be for your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, there’s nothing like a fresh design to spur upgrades.
And according to CEO Tim Cook, Apple has seen that prove out in the beta process so far.
Per Jason Snell’s transcript at Six Colors, here’s what Cook said on Apple’s earnings call:
iOS 26, macOS 26, and iPadOS 26 are by far the most popular developer betas we’ve had.
This isn’t altogether surprising. But it is noteworthy nonetheless.
It’s interesting that Cook called out not only iOS 26, but also macOS Tahoe and iPadOS 26 as being the most popular beta releases ever.
For iPadOS 26, that makes a lot of sense, since many iPad users were clearly eager to start using the release’s many productivity upgrades.
Developers tend to not be so quick to adopt macOS betas, however. But it seems Liquid Glass, or at least the desire to check compatibility of apps with the new update, spurred faster macOS Tahoe upgrades than usual.
It’s worth noting that Apple’s developer program used to require a $99/year fee for access to developer betas, and that’s no longer been the case the last few years.
But it seems a pretty safe bet that the trend of more popular developer betas extends to the public beta releases too. Again, there’s nothing like a new design to drive users to upgrade.
Have you noticed more friends and family members expressing interest in the iOS 26 betas this year? Let us know in the comments.
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