Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'Demand Was Stronger Towards iPhone 7 Plus Than We Expected'

Apple did not expect so many people to choose the iPhone 7 Plus over the iPhone 7, according to statements made by Apple CEO Tim Cook during today's second quarter earnings call.

"One of the things we didn't get right was the mix between the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus," said Cook. "Demand was much stronger towards the iPhone 7 Plus than we expected." Apple's misestimation of the popularity of the iPhone 7 Plus led to some shortages of the bigger-screened device during the December quarter.

iphone7plus lineup
Apple sold the highest number of Plus models in the first half of fiscal 2017 than ever before, higher than the iPhone 6 and 6s lineups. Cook says it took Apple a while to "bring the iPhone 7 Plus into balance," something that occurred early in the second quarter.

According to Cook, Apple learns from its mistakes. "Every time we launch something, we learn something, and we brush up our models and apply everything we learn for next time," he said.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

WWDC25 Live Coverage Feature 1

WWDC 2025 Apple Event Live Keynote Coverage: iOS 26, macOS Tahoe, and More

Monday June 9, 2025 9:00 am PDT by
Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) starts today with the traditional keynote kicking things off at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. MacRumors is on hand for the event and we'll be sharing details and our thoughts throughout the day. We're expecting to see a number of software-related announcements led by a design revamp across Apple's platforms that will also see the numbering of all of...
maxresdefault

Everything Apple Announced at WWDC 2025 in 9 Minutes

Monday June 9, 2025 5:21 pm PDT by
At today's WWDC 2025 keynote event, Apple unveiled a new design that will inform the next decade of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS development, so needless to say, it was a busy day. Apple also unveiled a ton of new features for the iPhone, an overhauled Spotlight interface for the Mac, and a ton of updates that make the iPad more like a Mac than ever before. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...
liquid glass

Apple Announces All-New 'Liquid Glass' Software Redesign Across iOS 26 and More

Monday June 9, 2025 10:13 am PDT by
Apple today announced a complete redesign of all of its major software platforms called "Liquid Glass." Announced simultaneously for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, visionOS, and CarPlay, Liquid Glass forms a new universal design language for the first time. At its WWDC 2025 keynote address, Apple's software chief Craig Federighi said "Apple Silicon has become dramatically more powerful...
iPadOS 26 Apple Newsroom

Apple Says iPadOS 26 is Compatible With These iPad Models

Monday June 9, 2025 11:22 am PDT by
Apple today announced that iPadOS 26 will be compatible with the iPad models listed below. iPadOS 26 features a new Liquid Glass design, a menu bar, improved app windowing, and more. iPadOS 26 supports the following iPad models:iPad Pro (M4) iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later) iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later) iPad Air (M2 and later) iPad Air (3rd generation and...
iPhone Car Key WWDC 2025

Apple Says These 13 Vehicle Brands Will Soon Offer iPhone Car Keys

Monday June 9, 2025 2:38 pm PDT by
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further. During its WWDC 2025 keynote today, Apple said that 13...
AirTag Backpack

New AirTag With Three Upgrades is 'Nearly Ready' to Launch

Sunday June 8, 2025 11:44 am PDT by
Apple's long-rumored AirTag 2 might be coming soon. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman briefly mentioned that a new AirTag is "nearly ready" to launch. Last year, he said that it would be released around the middle of 2025, and the midpoint of the year is just a few weeks away. "The new AirTag is nearly ready, having been prepared for launch over the past several...

Top Rated Comments

delonholmes Avatar
106 months ago
I mean when you have device specific features, dual camera, portrait mode, bigger display etc, people will want it..
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Asarien Avatar
106 months ago
What then, does Tim Cook know?
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
meaning-matters Avatar
106 months ago
Could have sold a lot more iPhone 7 if it had the same features as the Plus
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aaronhead14 Avatar
106 months ago
Hey Tim, I don't think the demand was all that big for a plus-sized phone. Although, there's definitely a demand for the better camera. So when you pull an annoying move by restricting the nice camera to the plus-sized model only, then of course more people are going to buy that one.... duh. What you should be doing is making the same phone in 2 different sizes. That's what people actually want. I'd love to have the iPhone 7 Plus features in the iPhone 7 size.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fortimir Avatar
106 months ago
You'd think they'd have a market research budget second to none in order to address these sort of things.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nwcs Avatar
106 months ago
I wonder how the mix would be if they had put the same features (sans screen size) into all the iPhones. Is it the big screen that is the lure or the features not available elsewhere?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)