Survey: One in five may be poised to make jump to 'iPhone 7'

Posted:
in iPhone edited July 2016
If it comes to pass, a potential 20.7 percent shift to Apple's "iPhone 7" would roughly match the migration to the iPhone 6 after six months of release, according to a new online poll.




A Quartz poll of 525 iPhone users suggests that upgrade levels could be similar even if Apple doesn't redesign the exterior casing of the new iPhone. 20.7 percent of respondents said that they were likely -- in varying degrees -- to move to the iPhone 7, regardless of exterior design.

However, 70 percent of the respondents suggested they might change their personal upgrade patterns to match Apple if it switches to a three-year redesign cycle, as has has been rumored. Apple and carriers cite two years as the current normal for upgrades.




Quartz's survey group included people with demographics similar to that of the U.S., but how well the it might match Apple's specific user demographic isn't clear. Not included in the survey were responses from people whose phones were in too poor a material condition to continue significantly past a potential September or October release timeframe.

Compounding potential aggravation with the lack of a major redesign in the iPhone 7 is the likely removal of the industry-standard 3.5mm headphone jack. Another common complaint about leaked designs includes the enlarged camera protrusion.

In April 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that the iPhone 6 series had already sold 61 million units, which led to a record $13.6 billion in profits for the quarter. In response to a question after the earnings report, Cook noted that even with upgrades hitting 20 percent, there was "room to grow" for the next iteration of the phone, which turned out to be the iPhone 6s family. Overall market conditions and currency exchange considerations have softened the market since then.

In May, the UBS evidence lab conducted an international poll to gauge interest in an iPhone 7 with 6,336 smartphone users. In that poll, interest in the iPhone 7 -- sight unseen -- exceeded that of the iPhone 6s prior to launch, with nearly half of respondents found to be holding off on buying a new iPhone until the next model was available. Interest in the iPhone 7 was found to be less than that of the iPhone 6 prior to its launch.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18
    TurboPGTTurboPGT Posts: 355member
    AI,

    WTF guys? Can you seriously not see that the poll question is incredibly disingenuous and designed to mislead and create a specific result?

    "If the iPhone isn't redesigned"...guess what, the iPhone 7 is a new design.

    "Will you switch to every 3 years if Apple does"...that's not what Apple is doing.

    Can somebody please fucking explain to me how the tech blog universe managed to shove its collective head up its ass in support of this narrative? Why does the iPhone 7 have to look dramatically different, instead of just mostly different, to qualify as "New"?

    This poll is literally trying to say that the iPhone 7 will not be new, and you're supporting that bullshit.
    d.j. adequatenolamacguyanomeSpamSandwich
  • Reply 2 of 18
    GuxmanGuxman Posts: 2member
    I'm not making the upgrade I'll keep my iPhone 6s for now. I'll enjoy everything about iOS 10 plus the headphone jack and my decent camera. I'm good for now.
    rogifan_newkermit4krazy6Sgoldfish
  • Reply 3 of 18
    mubailimubaili Posts: 454member
    you could definitely learn a wrong lesson. just because there is a huge interest in iPhone SE with old design that costs $0 (with a contract), or sub-$400 doesn't mean people would be interested in buying a $700 above device with a 2-year old design. Especially in the important Chinese market(and other Asia market) where Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, Le etc are doing big updates and iPhone not only serves as a functional smart device but also as a status symbol. Apple seems to understand the Chinese market s and Asia markets when they unveiled the teeth gnashing gold and rose gold color phone. Have they lost? Did Apple's retail chief Ahrendts tell Apple it would be ok? Apple cannot afford to go to a 3-year cycle in those markets. This would be a huge mistake. They should instead lower the entry price on the top line of their phone a bit and expand their user base and make their services accessible to more people.
  • Reply 4 of 18
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    TurboPGT said:
    AI,

    WTF guys? Can you seriously not see that the poll question is incredibly disingenuous and designed to mislead and create a specific result?

    "If the iPhone isn't redesigned"...guess what, the iPhone 7 is a new design.

    "Will you switch to every 3 years if Apple does"...that's not what Apple is doing.

    Can somebody please fucking explain to me how the tech blog universe managed to shove its collective head up its ass in support of this narrative? Why does the iPhone 7 have to look dramatically different, instead of just mostly different, to qualify as "New"?

    This poll is literally trying to say that the iPhone 7 will not be new, and you're supporting that bullshit.
    To most people the design changes won't even be recognizable. But who cares, right? Everyone here slaps their iPhone in a case so the external design doesn't matter right?
    kermit4krazy6Sgoldfish
  • Reply 5 of 18
    I find the focus on external design changes baffling. Other than screen quality, perhaps, I'm far more interested in functional updates. I'm not yet bored with having faster processors, better cameras, and added functionality. Eventually, radical design changes just for their own sake will make things worse. 
    TurboPGTviames
  • Reply 6 of 18
    JohnDeeJohnDee Posts: 50member
    May I respectfully suggest to stop using the term"somewhat likely" and replace it with "probably" ?
  • Reply 7 of 18
    TurboPGTTurboPGT Posts: 355member
    I find the focus on external design changes baffling. Other than screen quality, perhaps, I'm far more interested in functional updates. I'm not yet bored with having faster processors, better cameras, and added functionality. Eventually, radical design changes just for their own sake will make things worse. 
    Neither are the people who actually buy them. Only the people that make a living commenting on it.
    nolamacguyd.j. adequateSpamSandwich
  • Reply 8 of 18
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    TurboPGT said:
    I find the focus on external design changes baffling. Other than screen quality, perhaps, I'm far more interested in functional updates. I'm not yet bored with having faster processors, better cameras, and added functionality. Eventually, radical design changes just for their own sake will make things worse. 
    Neither are the people who actually buy them. Only the people that make a living commenting on it.
    And yet Apple has an industrial design team reporting directly to the CEO. Funny how design mattered when they were putting out industry leading designs.  It matters to some people because let's face it external design changes signify something new and people want everyone else to know they have the latest and greatest. And with the iPhone 6 series I think there are some who plain don't like the design and would like to see something different.
    kermit4krazy6Sgoldfish
  • Reply 9 of 18
    TurboPGTTurboPGT Posts: 355member
    TurboPGT said:
    Neither are the people who actually buy them. Only the people that make a living commenting on it.
    And yet Apple has an industrial design team reporting directly to the CEO. Funny how design mattered when they were putting out industry leading designs.  It matters to some people because let's face it external design changes signify something new and people want everyone else to know they have the latest and greatest. And with the iPhone 6 series I think there are some who plain don't like the design and would like to see something different.
    I think the point is, who are you to say the iPhone 7 is not an industry leading design? Apple has gotten the size and shape of the iPhone nearly perfect with iPhone 6. Customers agree. They are making some aesthetic improvements to it, like the new antenna design, and some majorly functional changes like replacing the legacy analog jack with a speaker, and overall better water resistance. 

    If that doesn't impress you, that's your problem. It's no excuse to start toting out the comments about their industrial design and industry leading status.
    edited July 2016 d.j. adequateSpamSandwich
  • Reply 10 of 18
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member
    JohnDee said:
    May I respectfully suggest to stop using the term"somewhat likely" and replace it with "probably" ?
      You can suggest, but the actual equivalent of somewhat likely is 'not so likely'.  Probably would be closest to 'very likely' in equivalence.
  • Reply 11 of 18
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member
    Survey - over 90 percent of respondents unlikely to be interested in taking a tiny little step to the iPhone 7.

    That would be a more accurate headline.


    kermit4krazy6Sgoldfishsingularity
  • Reply 12 of 18
    anomeanome Posts: 1,545member
    TurboPGT said:
    AI,

    WTF guys? Can you seriously not see that the poll question is incredibly disingenuous and designed to mislead and create a specific result?

    "If the iPhone isn't redesigned"...guess what, the iPhone 7 is a new design.

    "Will you switch to every 3 years if Apple does"...that's not what Apple is doing.

    Can somebody please fucking explain to me how the tech blog universe managed to shove its collective head up its ass in support of this narrative? Why does the iPhone 7 have to look dramatically different, instead of just mostly different, to qualify as "New"?

    This poll is literally trying to say that the iPhone 7 will not be new, and you're supporting that bullshit.

    Yeah, some serious loading of the questions there. How about asking "If Apple were to cover the iPhone 7 in razor wire and broken glass, would you consider buying it?" and "If Apple decided to only ship fish heads every third year instead of phones, would you move to a 3 year cycle?"

    The fact is we don't know what Apple are going to ship yet. We've only seen some dodgy pictures and video which may or may not be real. Plus we have no real information on the internals beyond "A10 processor" - an assumption based purely on numerical progression. Even whether the 3.5mm jack is going to be removed doesn't come with any clear information on how the Lightning or Bluetooth headphones will be configured or what they will look like (apart from, again, a rather dodgy photo).

    TurboPGT
  • Reply 13 of 18
    6Sgoldfish6Sgoldfish Posts: 108member
    TurboPGT said:
    Why does the iPhone 7 have to look dramatically different, instead of just mostly different, to qualify as "New"?
    Because that's what Apple has accustomed us to expect every two years? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 
  • Reply 14 of 18
    I find the focus on external design changes baffling. Other than screen quality, perhaps, I'm far more interested in functional updates. I'm not yet bored with having faster processors, better cameras, and added functionality. Eventually, radical design changes just for their own sake will make things worse. 

    This, this and more this.  Yeah, the iPhone looks cool, but that's not why I buy them.  Especially since mine goes in a case as soon as I find one I like.
    TurboPGT
  • Reply 15 of 18
    TurboPGTTurboPGT Posts: 355member
    TurboPGT said:
    Why does the iPhone 7 have to look dramatically different, instead of just mostly different, to qualify as "New"?
    Because that's what Apple has accustomed us to expect every two years? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 
    Well that's idiotic. You don't just change things just to change them. If you achieve the best possible design, would you change to something worse just for the sake of change?

    The iPhone is still a rectangle with a glass screen and a home button. Hard to argue that the obsession with their design evolution is anything but trite and obnoxious.
  • Reply 16 of 18
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Personally, I'd like the on/off button moved to the top of the phone again. The current location, opposite the volume controls, more often than not results in accidental triggering of volume adjustment. Jony's team should avoid future design choices that sacrifice function in favor of purely aesthetic considerations.
    6Sgoldfish
  • Reply 17 of 18
    6Sgoldfish6Sgoldfish Posts: 108member
    TurboPGT said:
    Because that's what Apple has accustomed us to expect every two years? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 
    Well that's idiotic. You don't just change things just to change them. If you achieve the best possible design, would you change to something worse just for the sake of change?

    The iPhone is still a rectangle with a glass screen and a home button. Hard to argue that the obsession with their design evolution is anything but trite and obnoxious.
    Your know-it-all attitude is what's trite and obnoxious. Apple has an industrial design team reporting directly to the CEO, and aesthetically pleasing designs seemed to matter plenty as they were churning out one exciting new release after another. Now it doesn't? "You don't just change things just to change them"? Well, Apple does. Did, at least.

    Besides, the gen 6 design is not what you'd call "the best possible design" that's exempt from change or criticism, certainly not in the way the gen 4 was perceived. You seem automatically inclined that any change to a new direction would result into something worse. Funny because those recent casing leaks you seem to be OK with truly are SOMETHING WORSE.
    edited July 2016 mjhnl
  • Reply 18 of 18
    The jack 3.5 removal in the new iPhone 7 is an arrogant claim by Apple. The lightning connector doesn’t implement an open standard, it’s not the connector of everyone’s future, is just an Apple connector made for mobile products only. I’m not gonna buying lightning headphones for € 300 that require an iPhone. I could not even use them on my Apple MacBook. I think it’s ridiculous, isn’t it?
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