A survey of current iPhone users found that 41% of them intend to upgrade to the iPhone 12 when it’s released this autumn.
What’s drawing in potential buyers the most is a faster connection via 5G. And there’s plenty of interest in the tiny 5.4-inch model. But survey respondents aren’t much interested in another rumored feature of the iPhone 12: a LiDAR scanner for augmented reality.
What iPhone 12 buyers want
The survey by SellCell polled 2,500 US-based iPhone users. Apple hasn’t unveiled the iPhone 12 yet, so it could only ask about which rumored features would convince people to upgrade.
5G tops the list, with 58% of respondents including it. Hopefully, buyers won‘t be disappointed because wireless carriers are still early in the process of building out their 5G networks. In late 2020, when the iPhone 12 will hit the market, there’ll only be a marginal increase in speed.
In second place in the survey is the new compact form factor offered by the rumored version of the iPhone 12 with a 5.4-inch display. This is expected to have an edge-to-edge screen, and a casing noticeably smaller than the 2020 iPhone SE. That caught the eye of 51.5% of respondents to this survey.
Unconfirmed reports indicate there’ll be three size options. One will be the largest iPhone ever, with a 6.7-inch display. There’ll supposedly be two that are 6.1 inches, and then the single 5.4-inch version. The SellCell survey asked a separate question to see which of these sizes potential buyers are most interested in.
The highest demand — 53.9% — is for the smaller one. The next most popular option is the 6.7-inch version, with 27% of buyers eyeing it. The 6.1-inch versions drew the interest of 19.1% of respondents.
Good news and bad for Apple
There’s moderate interest in the improved cameras (32.9%) and the faster A14 processor (19%) expected in the upcoming iPhone 12. But every new Apple handset has better cameras and a faster processor, so respondents may be taking these for granted.
There’s little demand for a feature Apple is rumored to be making a big deal of. The iPhone 12 is expected to include LiDAR scanner and new augmented-reality software. But, at this point, only 14.9% of potential buyers care about this.
