Demand for the next generation iPhone remains strong in the months before its expected fall debut, claims a report from RBC Capital Markets analysts. According to a 4,000 person survey conducted by RBC, half of consumers who plan to upgrade their phone in the next three months intend to buy an iPhone and a quarter of those would be willing to pay $100 more for their iPhone to have a 5.5-inch screen over the other rumored size of 4.7 inches.
Customers know about and are interested in the next iPhone, with 74 percent of survey respondents stating they are aware of Apple's possible fall iPhone launch and fifty percent claiming they are interested in buying an iPhone for their next phone. Primarily, customers are looking for performance improvements and a large screen in their next iPhone handset.
While ~49% of smartphone purchasers are inclined to buy the next Apple product, we learned that the main driving factor for sales surround performance improvements (battery life 33%, processor 18%, camera 12%). In our view, these results are positive for AAPL, as we would not be surprised to see improvements to both battery life and processing speed with the iPhone 6. Finally, beyond performance improvements, we also learned that screen size could materially impact sales, as 23% of participants surveyed are inclined to purchase a larger screen iPhone.
These customers not only want a larger phone, they also are willing to pay for it, with more than one quarter of respondents willing to pay a $100 premium to buy a 5.5-inch iPhone for $299 instead of the current $199 for the 16GB iPhone 5s and presumably the 4.7-inch iPhone 6. This echoes an earlier report from Raymond James analyst Tavis McCourt, who also says consumers are showing an increasing willingness to pay a $100 price premium for a larger device.
Analysts expect the next iPhone to cause iPhone sales to surge as consumers upgrade to the large-screened handset. This demand could translate into a 15 to 20 percent jump in unit sales, year over year, claims RBC. Besides the iPhone 6, Apple also is expected to unveil the iWatch and refresh its iPad lineup later this year in what Eddy Cue says is "the best product pipeline that I've seen in my 25 years at Apple."
I think a lot of iPhone fans will finally discover what many other Android/WP users have long known:
1) Larger screens rock for everything. Email, games, browsing, video playback, reading, typing... etc. The list can go on and on. The benefits are great.
2) Using larger screen devices with one hand is not impossible, and in fact, quite manageable. You'll learn to adjust. Those that used to claim it's impossible will eat their words when they learn just how quickly they'll adjust.
3) Larger devices can still fit in pockets. Of course, the larger you go, the harder it'll be, but again, people will adjust.
4) There is no "perfect size" -- choice will be great. I do hope Apple continues offering a 4" option, though, for those who want to stay there. And ideally, a next-generation 4" option (not just the previous generation's 5S or anything). If not, people will just have to adopt to the trends if they want the latest.
Am I the only person who does NOT want a bigger screen? Sheesh.
No, you are one of the very few. And I salute your ability to have a mind of you own, well done, and good on you for not doing what most others are doing now.
Not that long ago, any mention of larger screen was met with waves and waves of people on these forums saying no way. Don't need it, don't want it, Apple won't make it.
Now, in recent days, it's almost full of people saying YAY, I want BIG screen, take my money, can't wait.
It's utterly amazing, how, yet again, Apple fans totally 180 degree change their mind from hating and not wanting something to shouting, I want it, I want it.
I respect you for having a brain that has independent thought. Well done to you.
Wednesday April 24, 2024 2:05 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....
Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Saturday April 27, 2024 12:41 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
There are widespread reports of Apple users being locked out of their Apple ID overnight for no apparent reason, requiring a password reset before they can log in again. Users say the sudden inexplicable Apple ID sign-out is occurring across multiple devices. When they attempt to sign in again they are locked out of their account and asked to reset their password in order to regain access. ...
Best Buy is discounting a collection of M3 MacBook Pro computers today, this time focusing on the 14-inch version of the laptop. Every deal in this sale requires you to have a My Best Buy Plus or Total membership, although non-members can still get solid second-best prices on these MacBook Pro models. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a...
Apple used to regularly increase the base memory of its Macs up until 2011, the same year Tim Cook was appointed CEO, charts posted on Mastodon by David Schaub show. Earlier this year, Schaub generated two charts: One showing the base memory capacities of Apple's all-in-one Macs from 1984 onwards, and a second depicting Apple's consumer laptop base RAM from 1999 onwards. Both charts were...
Top Rated Comments
1) Larger screens rock for everything. Email, games, browsing, video playback, reading, typing... etc. The list can go on and on. The benefits are great.
2) Using larger screen devices with one hand is not impossible, and in fact, quite manageable. You'll learn to adjust. Those that used to claim it's impossible will eat their words when they learn just how quickly they'll adjust.
3) Larger devices can still fit in pockets. Of course, the larger you go, the harder it'll be, but again, people will adjust.
4) There is no "perfect size" -- choice will be great. I do hope Apple continues offering a 4" option, though, for those who want to stay there. And ideally, a next-generation 4" option (not just the previous generation's 5S or anything). If not, people will just have to adopt to the trends if they want the latest.
Very much looking forward to the new iPhones.
I just don't want something massive in my pocket. I already have something like that. :p
There are others, but, I'm not one of you! ;)
Not that long ago, any mention of larger screen was met with waves and waves of people on these forums saying no way. Don't need it, don't want it, Apple won't make it.
Now, in recent days, it's almost full of people saying YAY, I want BIG screen, take my money, can't wait.
It's utterly amazing, how, yet again, Apple fans totally 180 degree change their mind from hating and not wanting something to shouting, I want it, I want it.
I respect you for having a brain that has independent thought. Well done to you.
Only 2% of people here wanted a 5" plus phone:
https://forums.macrumors.com/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=6243
Another Poll here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1407517&highlight=screen+and+size
And Another:
https://forums.macrumors.com/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=9852
Looks like virtually no one here will be buying the 5.5" one if it comes out then huh?
:)