iPhone 16 Demand Dips Among Teens, But Interest in Apple Intelligence Could Still Spur Upgrades

[yukari]

Not just teens.

Totally over the upgrade treadmill. These devices are just too expensive to jump for no particular reason…

This + no new design. I used to upgrade every year. After 13 mini, I am still waiting for something different than just better camera. I have DSLR camera for my photography, I am not upgrading simply because they put better camera lens in a phone.

I want a phone that works without any problem. I don't want another camera with a phone function.

 

[Timo_Existencia]

While I realize my tiny little slice of this world is hardly representative, no one I know cares at all about Apple Intelligence. It’s seen as nothing more than a gimmick/novelty.

You can't simultaneously not care at all about a thing and think it is nothing more than a gimmick/novelty.

 

[Timo_Existencia]

My 16 year old nephew told me he didn't want it since it looks identical to the 15 Pro Max he already has.

This reasoning continue to baffle me, but is extremely prevalent here on MacRumors...

Rather than suggesting that there is a problem with the iPhone 16, perhaps your 16 year old nephew is extremely pleased with the quality of his iPhone 15 pro. Rather than Apple failing here, Apple has succeeded.

And really...a 16 year old with an iPhone 15 Pro is the measure of whether or not the iPhone 16 seduces them adequately?

 

[and 1989 others]

I think we are now over the precipice of technological innovation.

Most Smart phones are 90% identical and I would say 99% get put in a case on day 0 anyway, so there is now no status issue.

They are $800 and teens these days are more careful with their money.

They simply do not care about the superfluous tech in them. Solutions to problems we have invented for ourselves.

My nephew only wants a camera for insta-rubbish and thats about it really, still on iphone 14 with a battery upgrade. He is not interested in the slightest about anything AI. Says its a gimmick.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Wonder how many teens would want Apple Intelligence to cheat on their homework. Type up an essay in Google Docs and log in on the phone to use that "proofread" option.

Educators can't adapt fast enough.

 

[Timo_Existencia]

Ah MacRumors, stay golden!

This article works hard to suggest there's an actual dip in interest among teens. Yet the difference between last year is 1%, from 23% to 22%. Anyone here actually taken statistics? That's more than likely easily within the margin of error for the survey.

But hey, clicks! And an outlet for this mystifying crowd who bought an iPhone 15 Pro Max less than a year ago and now are disappointed that that the iPhone 16 doesn't come with a jet pack.

 

[JungleNYC]

We were 100% ready to upgrade, and were excited about these AI features. But the delay caused us to rethink… and now we're just going to wait till next year. We are not alone.

 

[Timo_Existencia]

We were 100% ready to upgrade, and were excited about these AI features. But the delay caused us to rethink… and now we're just going to wait till next year. We are not alone.

So, your current phone still works well for you? Isn't that a good thing?

 

[JungleNYC]

I asked my daughters about getting new phones, they have 13's. They are ready but it because the batteries are getting old. We could swap those and they probably would not care otherwise. I'm not negative on the 16, but even I was not compelled to get one and have been an every year type since the beginning. I dont care about a camera button so my 15 Pro Max is good for now. iPad mini, now thats what will see my attention next month.

I used to upgrade every year. Then, after the X we did every 2 years (lease/own cycle). This is the first time we're gonna stretch it to 3 years.

 

[JungleNYC]

So, your current phone still works well for you? Isn't that a good thing?

Absolutely. Not complaining. But it's a huge miss for Apple, and it's not surprising sales are not where they used to be.

 

[VisceralRealist]

Maybe I'm old (I'm 20), but like, do teens really make financial decisions about whether or not to upgrade their phones? For me it was "ask my parents if I can have a new phone, and they might say no".

 

[Timo_Existencia]

Absolutely. Not complaining. But it's a huge miss for Apple, and it's not surprising sales are not where they used to be.

Again, this article lists a 1% drop in interest from teens on upgrading this year. 1% is easily within any margin of error for such a survey.

I highly doubt Apple calculates the primary customer to be year-over-year upgrades. So, this supposed 1% drop among teens is probably not a huge miss for Apple.

 

[pdaholic]

Should be “interest to spend over $1000 to buy iPhones for teens dips among parents.”

 

[cjsuk]

Have you been living under a rock or something? Their parents get the phone they like on finance for them. At least that’s how things are in the UK.

Nah it doesn't work like that at all. I live in a fairly well off bit of London. The kids all have hand-me-down iPhones that the parents owned first. When I lived in the **** bit of London, kids had cheapest android from Amazon.

 

[Hank001]

Disagree. Apple Intelligence just isn't that interesting when there are already a few dozen companies, with apps, that do basically the same thing.

Fair point!

 

[Daul]

No one needs a new phone every year. It’s a mature technology. We aren’t going to see major changes year to year anymore like we did a decade ago. Just like we don’t with laptops or TVs. Either your current device works and meets your needs or it doesn’t. I’m keeping mine 4 years at minimum.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Wonder how many teens would want Apple Intelligence to cheat on their homework. Type up an essay in Google Docs and log in on the phone to use that "proofread" option.

Educators can't adapt fast enough.

Hey can already do just that with ChatGPT, meta ai, copilot, etc.

 

[macfacts]

You know you can turn it off if you don’t want it?

Go 1 step back, and don't even buy it.

 

[platinumaqua]

Played around the past couple of new generation phones in the Apple Store and honestly no compelling reasons to upgrade. I always pay in full because I need the phone to be unlocked so there are even less incentive (i.e. no financing/contract bill credits) to upgrade. Plus there's no SIM tray in the US models which I need for traveling

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Hey can already do just that with ChatGPT, meta ai, copilot, etc.

Not as convenient as something that's built in. Look at how prevalent iMessage is amongst American teens for an example of how far convenience gets you.

 

[attila]

Yah I sincerely doubt AI has that great weight on iPhone popularity.

 

[2540497]

Nearly 30% of surveyed teens indicated that they plan to upgrade their devices because of Apple Intelligence.

Sorry, but I'm just not buying it.

A poll by Piper Sandler tells us 30% of kids want to upgrade their phone for Apple Intelligence.

Per-lease.

Piper Sandler. AKA an investment bank. AKA poo-poo we've invested too much in the AI snakeoil and we are going to look pretty silly when the AI bubble inevitably bursts (certainly on the consumer element of it anyway, there are some opportunities in the business world, namely healthcare, farming and dare I say it military and the like).

But the hundreds of billions ploughed into consumer AI?

Nah, pants are down. Gonna get spanked. And these banker boys know it.

Wait for the headlines next year.... "Apple Intelligence fails to revive interest in iPhones, Apple stock plummets".

Mark. My. Words.

 

[Ramchi]

I just saw the outright purchase price of base iPhone 16 which is $900 (including tax) which is 6.1 inches screen size. This is just the base model of iPhone 16. There are better options available if you can pay $100 more from Samsung and wide variety of choices with far better specs. I am not surprised that smart younger generation is skipping this.

 

[JPack]

LOL

Still clinging onto that AI life raft.

CEOs may think AI will be the deciding factor, teens not so much. Some surveys place AI as the lowest deciding factor when buying a new phone. Performance and battery life are #1.

 

[klasma]

You know you can turn it off if you don’t want it?

That’s probably why they don’t want to upgrade. They don’t have to turn it off if they don’t upgrade.