Four in ten plan iPhone 12 upgrade, survey claims

All eyes on Apple events in September and October

With Apple’s iPhone 12 likely scheduled for announcement later this month, subsequent to the September 15 Apple Watch and iPad Air reveals, it may be interesting to note that around 40% of existing iPhone users plan to upgrade to one of the new devices.

Four in ten iPhone users plan to upgrade

That’s the news from a SellCell survey of c.2,500 current iPhone users.

The results show that 58% of those planning to upgrade are doing so because they want to begin to use 5G, which is the most important feature prompting upgrades.The speculated upon “compact form factor” and “new design” are also exciting interest at 51.5% and 41% respectively.

In further detail, 41% polled 5G connectivity as ‘Very Important’ when deciding whether to upgrade to the iPhone 12, while 23% marked it as an ‘Important’ factor; 15% think it is ‘Somewhat Important’; 21% voted 5G as ‘Not Important’ in their decision-making process.

Upgraded cameras and a faster processor are generating 33% and 19% (respectively) of interest in upgrades, while 26% want the new iPhones to come out with a 120Hz display.

Just 15% want the LiDAR scanner, reflecting that technologies current early adopter status.

A large upgrade cycle

Size matters

We expect three different iPhone screen sizes this year: 5.4-inch, 6.1-inch, and 6.7-inch. The survey reveals a majority (~54%) prefer the smallest 5.4-inch display, while around 19% want the 6.1-inch model, and 27% are interested in the largest member of the family.

Among potential buyers, a majority (44%) want the smallest device, while the iPhone 12 Max (6.1″ display) comes next at 25%, followed by iPhone 12 Pro Max (6.1″ display) at 18% and iPhone 12 Pro (6.7″ display) at 13%.

Why existing iPhone users want the upgrade

Upgrade pattern

We also get some insight into anticipated upgrade velocity. The survey shows that despite the pandemic, 41% of existing iPhone users plan an upgrade to the new models, with an additional 25% saying that ‘maybe’ they will upgrade. One third of users have no current plan to do so.

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