Only 10% Of iPhone Owners Say They’re Likely To Upgrade This Year

Megalith

Megalith

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Surveys and other chatter would suggest that most people are going to skip what Apple is releasing this year, as there is plenty of evidence to indicate the iPhone 7 is too similar to its predecessor. More importantly, the iPhone 8 is rumored to be a huge overhaul, potentially incorporating a brand-new design and even OLED screens.

It’s not entirely clear why Apple is potentially changing its upgrade cycle, but one theory seems the most plausible: There simply isn’t anything left to innovate on in the short term. As Nikkei put it in May when reports first surfaced that Apple might switch its cycle: “The move is largely due to smartphone functions having little room left for major enhancements.” So Apple appears to be making a series of minor upgrades in 2016, and go with what Apple reporter Mark Gurman called on a recent podcast a “total reset” in 2017.
 
i'm more curious of the need to upgrade phones every year...

or is it a need to spend money?
 
hesho said:
i'm more curious of the need to upgrade phones every year...

or is it a need to spend money?
Click to expand...

A couple of years ago the hardware and software were improving at such a rate, a yearly upgrade did gain some noticeable improvement. Similar to PC tech did ~10 years ago.

Now I think the hardware has reached a point that for the most part meets most needs and requirements, upgrades are more about replacing a failing or struggling device rather then to "upgrade" alone.
 
I still do not own a smart phone in any form myself, the wife has a basic one and I see her on it like a zombie too often. Have resisted the urge to throw her tablet in the toilet now and then. I use my phone for a phone, have enough computers in the house I can go online with for general use, streaming, gaming, etc.
 
No iPhone for me!! If it isn't good enough for Spongebob, not good enough for me!!

tumblr_liz3arn_DO11qeop0ko1_400.gif


And, as that great tech pundit the Tech Grouch says..



TIM
 
No need to upgrade if you've got a 6/6s or 6+/6+s. My 6+ works just fine and is plenty fast, though it's been demoted since I switched to Android. Only iPhone that interests me is the 8.
 
They will still probably keep most of the same internals, just create a new look on the outside, just to shame the smart people holding on to their still decent existing models into upgrading to the "latest fashion" :p

Apple...
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
They will still probably keep most of the same internals, just create a new look on the outside, just to shame the smart people holding on to their still decent existing models into upgrading to the "latest fashion" :p

Apple...
Click to expand...

Get out of your bubble, literally no one in the day to day real world gives a shit about what smart phone you have.

I am not sure if this is some big news. My 6 is still running really well, not sure if I will upgrade either. It will probably depend on the camera.

If you have a galaxy 6 or 7 I am not sure they can release anything that will compel upgrades either. Aside from the fact that the you miss many software updates due to shit update support.
 
XvMMvX said:
Get out of your bubble, literally no one in the day to day real world gives a shit about what smart phone you have.

I am not sure if this is some big news. My 6 is still running really well, not sure if I will upgrade either. It will probably depend on the camera.

If you have a galaxy 6 or 7 I am not sure they can release anything that will compel upgrades either. Aside from the fact that the you miss many software updates due to shit update support.
Click to expand...

Why does everyone always compare Apple to Samsung? I don't really care for Samsung phones either.

For me, phones are Nexus or bust.
 
Smartphones depreciate like melting ice cubes, and I don't see much point in ownership vs leasing. Yes, I know it's technically cheaper to buy and sell every 2 years than to lease but that assumes that your time is worthless and avoiding little moments of frustration throughout the day by having a faster and newer device is also worth nothing. To save significantly over leasing with yearly upgrades, you would have to hang onto each device for 3 or more years, and even then you're not saving much. Personally, I'd rather just pay the ~$30 / month and always have the latest device.
 
I think Apple is lazy as fuck if they release another phone like the 6 and 6S. They have the vast majority of cell manufacturer profits and they can't come up with anything?!? Have they ever walked into a store and seen how badly the current design compares side by side to the Galaxy 7 and 7 Edge??? There is a ton of shit they could do to improve the current design, I dont believe they just ran into of ideas. The reality is likely that they hit the point at which a company is too big to make decisions and now they are fucking up by releasing the same design for the third year in a row. Surely they are all circle jerking each other declaring that the 6 design is so good it doesn't need an update. Meanwhile Samsung is curb stomping the shit out of Apple on look and feel, too bad it runs Android. Most iPhone users in know would love a Samsug phone running iOS.

If they do nothing impressive I may skip the 7 and then use a cheap Android phone until the 8 comes out (presuming the 8 has new features).
 
Insula Gilliganis said:
No iPhone for me!! If it isn't good enough for Spongebob, not good enough for me!!

tumblr_liz3arn_DO11qeop0ko1_400.gif


And, as that great tech pundit the Tech Grouch says..



TIM
Click to expand...


I still do not want one.

I dial numbers on my current phone and it works.

Have several computers already that handle anything else...
 
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They are just admitting they are out of ideas.

Guess they will have to wait for one of the android manufactures to come up with something new they can copy..... :eek:
 
And so phones are becoming like PCs, no need to updated to the latest and great constantly.
 
arthur_tuxedo said:
Smartphones depreciate like melting ice cubes, and I don't see much point in ownership vs leasing. Yes, I know it's technically cheaper to buy and sell every 2 years than to lease but that assumes that your time is worthless and avoiding little moments of frustration throughout the day by having a faster and newer device is also worth nothing. To save significantly over leasing with yearly upgrades, you would have to hang onto each device for 3 or more years, and even then you're not saving much. Personally, I'd rather just pay the ~$30 / month and always have the latest device.
Click to expand...

Leasing is always the more expensive solution. People who always have to have the latest stuff use the excuse that it's cheaper than buying something new all the time.

I would never spend $30 month for a phone. My last phone was an S3. I paid $300 (actually my work paid the $300 so my cost was zero), and I used it for over 3 years. That comes out to less than $8/month

I replaced it with a Note 4 at the beginning of the year. $475 (work paid most of that). Unless it's damaged, I plan to also use it for at least 3 years. That's around $13/month.
At $30/month my break even point would be 15 months, everything after that is pure savings.
 
heatlesssun said:
And so phones are becoming like PCs, no need to updated to the latest and great constantly.
Click to expand...

They have been, for a very long time now, IMHO.

Unless they invent one that cleans your house and feeds your pets, my old one makes phone calls just fine.

Just getting texts from the wife bothers me, I always ask her why she does not phone me directly so we can have an actual conversation if she is not at work.

Texting without a full size keyboard I find very annoying. Even on a straight keyboard I find annoying, have gotten used to the Microsoft Ergo over the decades.

I do not have tiny little hands.
 
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I find myself not using many apps - the handful I do are Waze, Withings health app (for my blood pressure device), mail, photo apps, texting apps. I don't really want to try out new apps - they are annoying and don't do anything for me. Can't remember the last time I played a game on my phone. Hell, I for one want to get more use out of my phone and not have to upgrade it every two years.
Watching Apple's iOS10 announcement left me bored to tears. There was nothing that interested me. If the new iPhone has a better camera, maybe that would be interesting.
However, I use a lot of Android phones. They do everything an iPhone can do. I can also buy replacement batteries for some of them. Samsung has the GearVR (which I probably would not use - but its more innovative than anything I've seen from Apple in a while).
Yawn. Smartphones are boring now.
Anyone else sick of paying for data? Hell, these damn phones are costing me at least $1000 a year between my phone and my wife's phone.
 
I look forward to the exact same article next year, and the year after and the year...

Seriously we hear this EVERY FUCKING YEAR about Apple and every year Apple experience record sales. Boo effin hoo if they slide marginally one year, they will still have the #1 phone on the market.
 
Trimlock said:
I look forward to the exact same article next year, and the year after and the year...

Seriously we hear this EVERY FUCKING YEAR about Apple and every year Apple experience record sales. Boo effin hoo if they slide marginally one year, they will still have the #1 phone on the market.
Click to expand...

Apple hasn't released three phones in a row with the same form factor before.
 
I don't care either way... I just want a fucking phone with a 7500mAh battery and decent fall and scratch resistance... boohoo if its 11mm thick, all the new phones all seemingly bend in a stiff breeze anyway and we mostly put them in huge cases... figure it out.
 
XvMMvX said:
Get out of your bubble, literally no one in the day to day real world gives a shit about what smart phone you have.

I am not sure if this is some big news. My 6 is still running really well, not sure if I will upgrade either. It will probably depend on the camera.

If you have a galaxy 6 or 7 I am not sure they can release anything that will compel upgrades either. Aside from the fact that the you miss many software updates due to shit update support.
Click to expand...

I think you may have missed the sarcasm. Yeah, there are a LOT of people who will buy the latest and greatest just because it looks different, thus being able to show the world that they have the latest and greatest. You apparently aren't concerned with the looks(and happen to be sane), and it's not necessarily even the majority of iphone users that give a damn that their phone looks different than the older models, but those buyers do exist.
 
Ocellaris said:
The leaks for the 7 and 7 Plus show a nearly identical design to the current phone :(
Click to expand...
Yea when have leaks ever been accurate with with the iPhone? Remember how the 5 was supposed to be completely transparent?
 
MongGrel said:
They have been, for a very long time now, IMHO.

Unless they invent one that cleans your house and feeds your pets, my old one makes phone calls just fine.

Just getting texts from the wife bothers me, I always ask her why she does not phone me directly so we can have an actual conversation if she is not at work.

Texting without a full size keyboard I find very annoying. Even on a straight keyboard I find annoying, have gotten used to the Microsoft Ergo over the decades.

I do not have tiny little hands.
Click to expand...


We get it, you don't like smart phones. What I don't understand is why you entered a thread about a new iPhone just to say you don't like them, over and over and over...

Isn't there something else you don't like that you could be talking about? ;)
 
MongGrel said:
I still do not own a smart phone in any form myself, the wife has a basic one and I see her on it like a zombie too often. Have resisted the urge to throw her tablet in the toilet now and then. I use my phone for a phone, have enough computers in the house I can go online with for general use, streaming, gaming, etc.
Click to expand...

Shouldn't you be out shaking your fist at those damned kids on your lawn?
 
I am sure the trend is the same for ALL phones, especially those who don't have a plan that subsidies the cost of hardware. I use an iPhone 5 and it is 3.5 years old.

I am not compelled to spend $750 on a phone to replace the one I have that works perfectly fine.
 
Last year was the first year I didn't upgrade my phone annually since my first smart phone. There just wasn't enough improvements in the current generation to make it worthwhile, even when I manage to cover most of the cost by ebaying the previous phone. Still not very pressed to upgrade this year, other than needing more space on my phone with how much bigger mobile apps (especially games) have been getting.
 
If the rumor about no headphone jack is true I don't blame people for not wanting it. Plus as others have said smartphones are sort of reaching the "good enough for mainstream use" that PCs hit years ago. I actually wish they'd just make them a bit thicker now with bigger batteries. That is the most limiting thing in most smartphones IMO.
 
hesho said:
i'm more curious of the need to upgrade phones every year...

or is it a need to spend money?
Click to expand...

I guess some people have this need. Most don't. In the early days of smart phones, you would see compelling features added/missing features finally included that motivated early adopters to keep buying.

Then you ran into the fact they were subsidized and on 2 year contract cycles.

Now they are being pushed into 30-36 month unsubsidized, zero interest financing. And everyone wonders why the majority of people are pushing their new phone purchases out to three years. Analysts need to pull their heads out of their asses, but they won't, so you have apple cranking up the perpetual lease option. to try and stabilize annual demand.
 
I wouldn't have upgraded my 4s at all if IOS 8/9 hadn't made it run so slow to be useless. Now that I have a 6, I wont do any major OS upgrades until I absolutely have to.
 
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