Majority of iPhone users unimpressed with iPhone 13 lineup, study finds

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  • Reply 21 of 43
    My iphone 13 pro max is awesome !!!
    I upgraded from an iphone 11 and am impressed
    the Camera is incredible especially on microscopic shots
    The battery life last all day even with constant usage.
    These surveys are a bunch of negative hype trying to make it sound 
    that the people lucky enough to have this incredible phone is unhappy
    with it.  That is a bunch of malarkey.  Unfounded foolishness !!
  • Reply 22 of 43
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    MplsP said:
    I’m sure there are a lot of people like me. I have a Xs. A better camera would be nice, but I’m not making movies, I’m taking snapshots of family, pets, etc. smaller notch? Meh. Battery life? My current battery is still working fine. Processor speed? I’m sure I’d notice the difference, but I’m not unhappy with the speed of my Xs and I don’t play games or do anything else that taxes the processor. 5G might be nice now that they’re finally getting reasonable coverage, but my current speeds are fine. 

    In the end, is it worth it for me to shell out $1000? Not really. But that’s part of why I buy an iPhone and not an android - so it’s not obsolete and unusable in 6 months. 
    Well...I get all that.  However, you are talking about a vastly improved camera, processor, display, battery and connectivity.  And...it likely won't cost you close to $1000 if you trade in your Xs.  Carrier's are offering up to $800 off with an Xs trade-in.  We got my wife a 13 Pro, coming from an Xr.  It's like 10 bucks a month or less.  For me, I have a 12 Pro Max and it's not fully eligible for upgrade yet, so I'll be waiting.  
  • Reply 23 of 43
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    MplsP said:
    I’m sure there are a lot of people like me. I have a Xs. A better camera would be nice, but I’m not making movies, I’m taking snapshots of family, pets, etc. smaller notch? Meh. Battery life? My current battery is still working fine. Processor speed? I’m sure I’d notice the difference, but I’m not unhappy with the speed of my Xs and I don’t play games or do anything else that taxes the processor. 5G might be nice now that they’re finally getting reasonable coverage, but my current speeds are fine. 

    In the end, is it worth it for me to shell out $1000? Not really. But that’s part of why I buy an iPhone and not an android - so it’s not obsolete and unusable in 6 months. 

    Well said!
    But I would add:  Your Xs had it right.   They didn't call that the iPhone 11.   It was essentially the iPhone X with internal upgrades.

    Apple would have been better off retaining the "s" label in the second year after a major upgrade.  And, instead of an iPhone 13 put out the iPhone 12s and nobody would be complaining.  (Except the Android fanboys -- but whining & complaining  about Apple is their chief occupation).
    elijahgmacapfel
  • Reply 24 of 43
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    This survey is largely meaningless and not surprising.  Based on apparent demand, it doesn't seem like Apple has a problem here. The issue with the survey is being unimpressed or not excited by a line-up doesn't necessarily equate with the decision to upgrade.  If I were taking the survey, I'd likely say "not very" excited, too.  While I'm going to hold on to my 12 Pro Max another year, I personally know several people who upgraded from older phones.  Upon looking at the 13, they felt it was time.  It's a nice upgrade from anything other than an iPhone 12.  There is even value in upgrading from last year's model if your phone is paid off or eligible for trade.  Frankly, if I still didn't owe a few hundred bucks on my upgrade program, I'd have pulled the trigger myself.  


    tmay
  • Reply 25 of 43
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    As I remember, the same was said about the iPhone 7 after the mass upgrade to the iPhone 6 ( or more correctly, the 6+).

    It's a 2 part 'problem' (or whatever you want to call it):
    --  Apple did it's major upgrade last year and this is, effectively, what used to be called an "s" phone -- as in "12s".
    --  There was already a mass migration to the 12 last year.  So the market this year will be mostly those with older phones who have a need to upgrade rather than a want -- because those folks already upgraded to the 12.
  • Reply 26 of 43
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,753member
    MplsP said:
    I’m sure there are a lot of people like me. I have a Xs. A better camera would be nice, but I’m not making movies, I’m taking snapshots of family, pets, etc. smaller notch? Meh. Battery life? My current battery is still working fine. Processor speed? I’m sure I’d notice the difference, but I’m not unhappy with the speed of my Xs and I don’t play games or do anything else that taxes the processor. 5G might be nice now that they’re finally getting reasonable coverage, but my current speeds are fine. 

    In the end, is it worth it for me to shell out $1000? Not really. But that’s part of why I buy an iPhone and not an android - so it’s not obsolete and unusable in 6 months. 
    I'm one of those too. I've got an iPhone X, and after replacing the battery the other day myself for $25 (!! cue the anti-right to repair people rubbing their hands expectantly that it will explode) it's still great. Battery easily lasts all day, its CPU is plenty fast enough as is 4G, it plays casual games just fine, and for decent photos I have a dedicated mirrorless camera which is better than any smartphone camera will be for a very long time. Magsafe is a nice-to-have, as is UWB, but certainly nothing compelling enough to fork out $1000 for. If it was $799 however I would consider upgrading - but there's just not enough "better" for $1000.

    Nowadays most people (outside of the entirely unrepresentative populations of fora like this) seem to only upgrade when their phone is actually broken, or maybe when the battery gets too bad - that is somewhere around 5-7 years with iPhones. Much the same life cycle most people have with their PCs and Macs.
    edited October 2021
  • Reply 27 of 43
    AppleZuluAppleZulu Posts: 1,987member
    This is a dumb click-bait headline. The same survey also says that 25% of current iPhone users plan to upgrade anyway, with a ridiculously high brand loyalty. 

    That’s a lot of of upgrades to new iPhones, and it suggests a roughly four-year upgrade cycle, which sounds about right. 

    Also, the percentage who are “exited” about the newest line would only be meaningful if compared to the same question posed shortly after the releases of several past years’ iPhones. 

    Comparing to a survey earlier this year asking if (highly brand loyal) customers are “excited” about the future release of a device that includes whatever features they can imagine is meaningless. 

    Ask a bunch of kids how excited they are about Christmas presents before Christmas and then ask them again the day after, and I guarantee you’ll see a drop in those registering excitement. 
  • Reply 28 of 43
    multimediamultimedia Posts: 1,034member
    dk49 said:
    I suspect that people are going to feel the same for the Apple Watch Series 7. Probably worse. 

    Last year I bought a Blue Series 6 WATCH. But it looks like Black 90% of the time. I had  a Gold Series 5 before that. I prefer the Gold Aluminum color. Now that Apple dropped that color from the Series 7, I bought a Gold Aluminum Series 6 yesterday.

    As for the iPhone, I’m still running a 512 Xs Max. I don’t see the point in shooting all that great video without a USB-C port to move it to a Mac or iPad quickly. So I’m holding out for the switch from Lightning to USB-C before I “upgrade”.
    edited October 2021 elijahg
  • Reply 29 of 43
    neilmneilm Posts: 985member
    A "casual survey" does not constitute a "study."
  • Reply 30 of 43
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,753member
    macapfel said:

    MplsP said:
    I’m sure there are a lot of people like me. I have a Xs. A better camera would be nice, but I’m not making movies, I’m taking snapshots of family, pets, etc. smaller notch? Meh. Battery life? My current battery is still working fine. Processor speed? I’m sure I’d notice the difference, but I’m not unhappy with the speed of my Xs and I don’t play games or do anything else that taxes the processor. 5G might be nice now that they’re finally getting reasonable coverage, but my current speeds are fine. 

    In the end, is it worth it for me to shell out $1000? Not really. But that’s part of why I buy an iPhone and not an android - so it’s not obsolete and unusable in 6 months. 
    Same here – and couldn't agree more. I was excited for the Portrait-Mode on the XS, which is fantastic, but I don't use it a lot. I can't see any feature that would currently attract me to the 13 – nonetheless it is no doubt a great phone and better than its predecessors. Besides removing the notch – I can't see what more can be in store for the iPhone. It seems to have reached some level of sophistication that does not allow for much more real world development.

    I'd be really interested what people here think the iPhone (or any phone) might be missing, or what kind of development there might be for the iPhone. I would think: not a lot. The only real improvements might come from software and iOS developments.

    As for the AppleWatch – I believe it has potential for a long time, mostly towards health monitoring.
    This is where Jobs would have worked his magic: his vision, marketing, salesmanship and reality distortion field, not Cook's overused, scripted "mahgical" about every mundane feature; Jobs would ooze the energy, magic and passion that makes people say wow, I want that! Even with advanced hardware like the lidar sensor and UWB chip there just doesn't seem to be the vision to make them part of a bigger picture, so ultimately don't add to the desirability for the products because people can't see themselves using them. Apple really could do with some new blood in upper management whose primary motive isn't formulaic profit for Wall Street.
    macapfel
  • Reply 31 of 43
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,753member
    MplsP said:
    I’m sure there are a lot of people like me. I have a Xs. A better camera would be nice, but I’m not making movies, I’m taking snapshots of family, pets, etc. smaller notch? Meh. Battery life? My current battery is still working fine. Processor speed? I’m sure I’d notice the difference, but I’m not unhappy with the speed of my Xs and I don’t play games or do anything else that taxes the processor. 5G might be nice now that they’re finally getting reasonable coverage, but my current speeds are fine. 

    In the end, is it worth it for me to shell out $1000? Not really. But that’s part of why I buy an iPhone and not an android - so it’s not obsolete and unusable in 6 months. 

    Well said!
    But I would add:  Your Xs had it right.   They didn't call that the iPhone 11.   It was essentially the iPhone X with internal upgrades.

    Apple would have been better off retaining the "s" label in the second year after a major upgrade.  And, instead of an iPhone 13 put out the iPhone 12s and nobody would be complaining.  (Except the Android fanboys -- but whining & complaining  about Apple is their chief occupation).
    I agree - the s designation made sense, and the 13 seems more like a spec bumped 12 than a new version. The "s" gave them two years to get new tech right and to re-design the chassis rather than trying to cram in all the engineering every year, but still allowed them to release a phone that was an update on the previous generation. I imagine they stopped it though because sales were generally less in s years, and Cook didn't want the a two year boom, but an every year boom.
    GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 32 of 43
    xbitxbit Posts: 390member
    I kind of agree. My new iPhone 13 Pro Max isn't exciting, but it is near perfect.

    Great screen, great camera, great battery life, great silicon, great connectivity... it has virtually zero weaknesses. The only downside is the price and I can stomach that for a device that I use for several hours a day.
  • Reply 33 of 43
    gilly33gilly33 Posts: 433member
    viclauyyc said:
    Honestly compared to IP X and 12, the improvement on 13 over the previous generation is not that great. Especially if you are not going to makes a lot of video or a gamer. 
    Yep. I’m going to upgrade to a new iPad Pro 12.9 and wait till iPhone 14 Pro Max comes out. See what that looks like. 
    edited October 2021
  • Reply 34 of 43
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    elijahg said:
    macapfel said:

    MplsP said:
    I’m sure there are a lot of people like me. I have a Xs. A better camera would be nice, but I’m not making movies, I’m taking snapshots of family, pets, etc. smaller notch? Meh. Battery life? My current battery is still working fine. Processor speed? I’m sure I’d notice the difference, but I’m not unhappy with the speed of my Xs and I don’t play games or do anything else that taxes the processor. 5G might be nice now that they’re finally getting reasonable coverage, but my current speeds are fine. 

    In the end, is it worth it for me to shell out $1000? Not really. But that’s part of why I buy an iPhone and not an android - so it’s not obsolete and unusable in 6 months. 
    Same here – and couldn't agree more. I was excited for the Portrait-Mode on the XS, which is fantastic, but I don't use it a lot. I can't see any feature that would currently attract me to the 13 – nonetheless it is no doubt a great phone and better than its predecessors. Besides removing the notch – I can't see what more can be in store for the iPhone. It seems to have reached some level of sophistication that does not allow for much more real world development.

    I'd be really interested what people here think the iPhone (or any phone) might be missing, or what kind of development there might be for the iPhone. I would think: not a lot. The only real improvements might come from software and iOS developments.

    As for the AppleWatch – I believe it has potential for a long time, mostly towards health monitoring.
    This is where Jobs would have worked his magic: his vision, marketing, salesmanship and reality distortion field, not Cook's overused, scripted "mahgical" about every mundane feature; Jobs would ooze the energy, magic and passion that makes people say wow, I want that! Even with advanced hardware like the lidar sensor and UWB chip there just doesn't seem to be the vision to make them part of a bigger picture, so ultimately don't add to the desirability for the products because people can't see themselves using them. Apple really could do with some new blood in upper management whose primary motive isn't formulaic profit for Wall Street.

    Steve is often portrayed as some magical presenter who made everything seem like the greatest thing ever.

    I don't think so.
    Steve was not a great presenter.  What he did was present great products like a proud parent showing off their new child.   His pride and happiness gushed forth and made it a great presentation.

    How would he have pulled that off with the iPhone 13?  He would probably not have even tried.  Although he could be blinded to his baby's faults as any new parent can be, he was also generally pretty honest about Apple Products -- so he probably would have presented it exactly as it was:  an evolutionary, minor upgrade.
    dewme
  • Reply 35 of 43
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    longpath said:
    Both my oldest child and I have upgraded to iPhone 13. In her case, from an XR, and in my own from a 2nd generation SE. My wife remains on her 12. I would like to see how the surveyor carried out participant selection and how the actual questions were phrased.
    The survey included more than 5000 iPhone users, aged 18 years or older, based in the US.
     https://www.sellcell.com/blog/iphone-13-post-launch-survey/

    edit: Just for fun comparison, this is the survey that followed last years 12 series release:
    https://www.sellcell.com/blog/iphone-12-post-launch-survey-74-disagree-with-apple-removing-accessories-from-the-box/

    I guess they'll be doing these every year now, along with their brand loyalty surveys?
    edited October 2021
  • Reply 36 of 43
    nadriel said:
    Personally? I’m not buying iPhone 13, because of upcoming ASi MBP 16” that will run me dry. After that I’d go for new Apple Watch. But I’d still name the lack of USBC as the reason for not upgrading o iPhone 13 now, just so they’d make one that has the port. I hope the EU law passes quickly.Also, I don’t think there will be a portless iPhone within the next 5 years at least, but I wouldn’t bet any money on it (need that for the RAM & storage upgrades).

    Edit: But I very much like the 13 offering over my 7, I’d go for mini if it’d be a bit wider. But my 7 still works and, MBP 16” will take all my tech spending budget for the whole year.
    USB-C? People need to stop beating dead horses with this one. I'd almost wager the iPhone will go port-less before Apple takes it USB-C. With 5G expanding, and wireless in general getting much faster, cables will end up being a thing of the past within a few years. If you think the majority would be perfectly fine with the port changing again, they won't. MagSafe will be the next data transmission method. Also, if Apple is able to stop putting anything other than the phone in the box, that's the route they'd rather take. USB-C cables aren't all the same, and too many people end up buying cables that can't transfer data. Apple wants to avoid that with their best selling device. 

    I might plug in my iPhone twice per year, if that. I'm nearly 100% wireless already. 
    Agreed…..i only use to plug if i need super fast charging asap, otherwise the wireless charging while sleeping is a charm, you add the battery pack wireless, who needs a cable mess ???
  • Reply 37 of 43
    I have acquired the top model of iPhone every year since the iPhone 4. The last three years my wife has taken over the prior year model and the units trickle down through her family. So the cost is not that much when spread over four of five family members getting a "new" to them iPhone every year. There has to be some advantage to being the "senior Beagle" or the more realistic term of being the next to die.

    I find the photos and display light years ahead of my iPhone 12 Pro Max in low light. The battery life is much improved and there is really no need for an external battery like on my iPhone 11 Pro Max and prior year models. 

    Having the latest iPhone is far cheaper exercise than folks trading for a new car every year like some folks I have known.

    Have we got so lazy that entering the 6 digit access code at time of purchase is too much work?



    edited October 2021 BosaGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 38 of 43
    BebeBebe Posts: 145member
    Just wondering how many returned their iPhone 13/pro after realizing it is not impressive.
  • Reply 39 of 43
    AppleZuluAppleZulu Posts: 1,987member
    gatorguy said:
    longpath said:
    Both my oldest child and I have upgraded to iPhone 13. In her case, from an XR, and in my own from a 2nd generation SE. My wife remains on her 12. I would like to see how the surveyor carried out participant selection and how the actual questions were phrased.
    The survey included more than 5000 iPhone users, aged 18 years or older, based in the US.
     https://www.sellcell.com/blog/iphone-13-post-launch-survey/

    edit: Just for fun comparison, this is the survey that followed last years 12 series release:
    https://www.sellcell.com/blog/iphone-12-post-launch-survey-74-disagree-with-apple-removing-accessories-from-the-box/

    I guess they'll be doing these every year now, along with their brand loyalty surveys?
    Note that these are online surveys and that they don't indicate whether any efforts were made to account for or avoid self-selection bias, which is a death-knell for the statistical validity of any survey. Since they don't say, it's likely that all the reported numbers are statistically meaningless. It's a goat dressed up to look like a racehorse.

    Also, this post-release survey from a year ago doesn't include any information on consumer "excitement," nor does it register anything with regard to consumers' upgrade plans. As a result, there's no opportunity to compare or textualize this year's survey headlines. They appear to just be cherry-picking topics that will generate clicks. Last year it was 'what do you think of Apple's decision not to include a charge and earbuds in the box?' Unsurprisingly, the vast majority responded that they didn't like that. Also unsurprisingly, it was a banner year for new iPhone sales, so online survey responses don't seem to correlate with actual customer activity.
  • Reply 40 of 43
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,328member
    I can only speak for myself, but there was definitely a point in the iPhone's evolution and lifecycle where it finally did everything I ever could have imagined needing it to do, and did it very well. For me. The iPhone 6 Plus was the first iPhone to reach critical mass for me. There wasn't anything lacking in the iPhone 6 Plus other than normal wear-out stuff like having to replace the battery.

    Every iPhone since the iPhone 6 Plus is obviously better in most every way than the iPhone 6 Plus, as well as being better than all of its predecessors. But each release was only incrementally better for the things that really matter to me. This pattern was a clear sign that the iPhone 6 Plus, with its slab-o-glass, home button equipped, thick bezel design had reached a high level of maturity. Subsequent releases that held to that same formula were all about incrementally refining what was already very good. This was not a bad thing at all, it just meant that they got it right. The iPhone 6 Plus set the bar pretty high.

    The iPhone 10 brought some new ideas to the table and started to pique my interest. The iPhone 10s brought all of the accumulated incremental improvements from the iPhone 6s and later buttoned phones, refined versions of new-design iPhone 10 functionality, and the gorgeous iPhone 10s Max design. The combination of all of those things compelled me to jump. The iPhone 10s Max got over the bar set by the iPhone 6 Plus - handily. I'm as happy with my iPhone 10s Max today as I was the day I bought it.

    Just like all of the iPhones that came after the 6 Plus were better than the 6 Plus, every iPhone that has come after the 10s Max is better than the 10s Max. It's just that for the basic "supercomputer in your pocket" stuff the 10s Max still delivers in spades. No, I can't zoom the camera to perfectly image the baby nose hairs that are growing to replace the ones that I clipped out last week, but for everything I need it to do, it still rocks. I'm not a gamer and I'm not running benchmarks as a hobby. If I were, my perspective would be much different and I'd be rocking an iPhone 13 Pro or Pro Max - yesterday.

    They'll definitely come a time when I'll jump to a new iPhone. Maybe it will be a folding or rolling screen or perhaps some incredible new battery technology or satellite communication capability, or maybe my 10s Max will buy the farm or get dropped into a porta-potty honey bucket, but the day will come. If that day was today, I'd be all over the iPhone 13 Pro Max with zero hesitancy.
    edited October 2021 macapfelFidonet127elijahg
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