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Report: iPads Retained and Repurposed Much More Often Than iPhones
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Anyone know the source of CIRP's data?
Unfortunately, the link provided goes to a CIRP report that is virtually a copy of what was presented here — short, just a couple of paragraphs long ‼️ — and it embeds a link to a comparison report that was even shorter.
Nowhere here or there were methods discussed, who was surveyed, how the sample was created, whether it was representative of i-device owners, or what the questions were!
In short, a thin reed for us to be speculating upon!
By the way, I trust CIRP granted permission for its multi-colored graph to be reproduced. Simply including its logo is insufficient action from my experience with copyright law.
By the way, we're an household that shows how risky sweeping generalizations are. We still own 3 generations of iPhones in use — and 2 generations of iPads. We've never sold or traded in iPhones, but have sold several different iPads and returned another!
Unfortunately, the link provided goes to a CIRP report that is virtually a copy of what was presented here — short, just a couple of paragraphs long ‼️ — and it embeds a link to a comparison report that was even shorter.
Nowhere here or there were methods discussed, who was surveyed, how the sample was created, whether it was representative of i-device owners, or what the questions were!
In short, a thin reed for us to be speculating upon!
By the way, I trust CIRP granted permission for its multi-colored graph to be reproduced. Simply including its logo is insufficient action from my experience with copyright law.
By the way, we're an household that shows how risky sweeping generalizations are. We still own 3 generations of iPhones in use — and 2 generations of iPads. We've never sold or traded in iPhones, but have sold several different iPads and returned another!
Be that as it may:
Please bring multiple user profiles to iPadOS for complete data segregation / security/ privacy.
Also an apple watch app to sync apple watch with iPad. If you still need to "ball and chain" apple watch to iPhone, continue requiring iPhone for apple watch activation, but after initial activation, at least let us *sync/manage* apple watch from iPad.
Thank you.
Please bring multiple user profiles to iPadOS for complete data segregation / security/ privacy.
Also an apple watch app to sync apple watch with iPad. If you still need to "ball and chain" apple watch to iPhone, continue requiring iPhone for apple watch activation, but after initial activation, at least let us *sync/manage* apple watch from iPad.
Thank you.
Huh, this makes no sense. People retain something MORE because it’s LESS useful? I would say the opposite. Old phones are as useful as dirt after moving on to another phone. What good is a phone without cellular service? iPads, on the other hand, have all sorts of usefulness. I have two of them hanging on my walls as HomeKit monitoring devices, a 6th gen iPad mini and a first gen iPad Pro, showing all my cameras and the battery status of every HomeKit device that has a battery.
I routinely pass down my iPads to my kids. My wife and I each bought a 2024 13” iPad Pro this year. My daughter gets my old 2021 iPad Pro with mini-LED while my son gets my wife’s old M1 iPad Air 5’th generation. My daughter does a lot of drawing while my son uses his for college. My family is the classic hand-me-down iPad family. Meanwhile the iPads replace by all this, two 2018 iPad Pros, get to sit on top of my closet until I can figure out who to give them to. A lot of my old hardware goes to close friends who don’t have enough money to buy such luxuries.
Older iPads work flawlessly for content consumption, provided the iOS version they’re in has a decent battery life (or the user tolerates whatever it’s left). It’s not surprising.
My 9.7-inch iPad Pro is on iOS 12 and it works very well. I’ve kept it, even though I’ve since upgraded to the iPad Air 5.
Also, support issues are less ubiquitous. I wouldn’t be able to use iOS 10 on an iPhone 6s, as flawless as it is, as a main device. But I’d be fine with a 10.5-inch iPad Pro on iOS 10.
I think that due to the nature of the iPhone, it suffers more from compatibility issues.
My 9.7-inch iPad Pro is on iOS 12 and it works very well. I’ve kept it, even though I’ve since upgraded to the iPad Air 5.
Also, support issues are less ubiquitous. I wouldn’t be able to use iOS 10 on an iPhone 6s, as flawless as it is, as a main device. But I’d be fine with a 10.5-inch iPad Pro on iOS 10.
I think that due to the nature of the iPhone, it suffers more from compatibility issues.
Because iPad didn’t depend on telco providers.
iPad owners are more likely to keep or repurpose their old devices compared to iPhones, according to data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP).
The data, covering the twelve months ending in March 2024, shows that 67 percent of repeat iPad buyers keep their old iPads or pass them on to family and friends. This is a notable contrast to iPhone users, where only 41 percent keep or hand down their previous phones. About one-third of old iPads are handed down to family members or friends, compared to about 10 percent of old iPhones.
This suggests that iPads, even when they are replaced, remain highly desirable and usable, which diminishes the urgency to upgrade to a newer model. This behavior contrasts with iPhone users, who are much more likely to trade in their old devices. Nearly half of iPhone upgraders trade in their previous phones, taking advantage of the secondary market and higher trade-in values. In contrast, fewer than 10 percent of iPad upgraders opt for trade-ins.
23 percent of iPad upgraders report replacing their old devices due to loss, theft, or damage, whereas only six percent of iPhone upgraders cite these reasons. This indicates that iPads are frequently replaced out of necessity rather than a desire to upgrade.
CIRP's report also sheds light on the upgrade cycles for these devices. Forty percent of iPad users wait three years or more before upgrading, a figure that has steadily increased over recent years. This is in stark contrast to iPhone users, who typically upgrade more frequently and are influenced by a much stronger trade-in market.
These trends suggest that iPads continue to serve valuable roles within households even after being replaced by newer models. The secondary market for refurbished iPads appears to be much less developed than that for iPhones, possibly due to the high retained value that old iPads provide to their owners. While Apple may prefer customers to be motivated to upgrade to the latest models for their new features, the data indicates that many iPad upgrades are still driven by necessity rather than desire.
Article Link: Report: iPads Retained and Repurposed Much More Often Than iPhones
iPads do last a long time. My 2020 11" Pro is working wonderfully well and don't see a reason to upgrade immediately though battery life is not as good as day 1. My Air 2 is still working and can be used for some basic tasks.
The iPad is not really a product that changes enough to warrant a regular upgrade cycle and I am not at all surprised people use secondhand devices and gift them to family and friends. My old iPads have always been given to someone once I have finished with them. I only use mine as a consumption device for watching Netflix, Youtube and browsing the net and social media. I would imagine a significant percentage of users are also like me.
I have been reading the iPad Pro M4 threads here where a few suggest OLED and other features are must haves, but in reality the vast majority of iPad users out there are not rushing out for these and are happy using iPads for 4+ years.
I have been reading the iPad Pro M4 threads here where a few suggest OLED and other features are must haves, but in reality the vast majority of iPad users out there are not rushing out for these and are happy using iPads for 4+ years.
I got my M4 Pro a couple of days ago, my 2020 Air went to my dad, and his iPad 9 may go to my mum. Easy peasy, iPad squeasy
I bought my M4 Pro with the intention to hold on to it for 5+ yrs so I get you
I'd imagine by the time I upgrade my 2020 iPad Air, OLED and some of the Pro features we see now, will be available on the lower specification iPads too. Its a bit like when OLED came to iPhone, we didn't all rush out for it, but we now have it because thats the way the product evolves and features eventually trickle down. I generally keep my iPads for 5 or 6 years and only consider upgrading if the hardware feels like its starting to show its age, like a battery not lasting long enough. I am certainly not using my Air now and worrying that its not fast enough or lacking in quality. I think iPads are quite good value in that regard.
If Apple hadn't purposefully crippled it with OS updates, my nieces would still be watching YouTube and Netflix and playing games on my old iPad 3. The screen remains brilliant, and simple games worked well the day before the last update but not the day after. V suspicious.
I agree. I only updated because 1) when I bought the Air it was already 2 yo and I wanted maximum support, and 2) because I wanted to pass my Air to my dad
I see this as positive news. iPads retain their value as usable devices. Maybe some people replace them less frequently, but they will more likely buy a new iPad when it's time. And brand perception is positive when seeing people that happily use older Apple products. Similar to Toyota, Mercedes, Panasonic, etc. The long game is good.
Apple makes such great hardware, that even a first or second gen iPad mini has a nice screen, light weight, solid construction, and great touch sensitivity.
All it needs is a new CPU (so old it's 32-bit). If only you could replace the innards of an old iPad with a Raspberry Pi 4 (or 5!) Compute Module.
But Apple has proprietary connections to the screen, so it's not doable, even if you could unseal it gently. All those amazing iPads, heaped in the junk pile. Where's Mother Nature now?
All it needs is a new CPU (so old it's 32-bit). If only you could replace the innards of an old iPad with a Raspberry Pi 4 (or 5!) Compute Module.
But Apple has proprietary connections to the screen, so it's not doable, even if you could unseal it gently. All those amazing iPads, heaped in the junk pile. Where's Mother Nature now?