Few Smartphone Owners Care About Foldables or AI, Survey Suggests

A caller survey suggests astir U.S. smartphone owners are not motivated to upgrade by foldable telephone designs oregon AI features, a imaginable situation for Apple arsenic it prepares to motorboat some the rumored "iPhone Ultra" and an expanded suite of Apple Intelligence features this fall.


The survey, commissioned by CNET and conducted by YouGov crossed 2,407 U.S. smartphone owners betwixt April 29 and May 1, recovered that lone 13% of respondents would see upgrading for a telephone conception specified arsenic a foldable oregon flip phone, portion conscionable 12% cited AI integrations arsenic an upgrade motivator.

Among iPhone owners specifically, involvement successful foldable designs was somewhat higher astatine 14%. Apple is wide expected to launch its archetypal foldable iPhone alongside the iPhone 18 Pro this fall, with a starting terms of astir $2,000.

While a 13% involvement statistic successful foldable designs has been characterized arsenic grounds of constricted appeal, it whitethorn really correspond a larger addressable marketplace than anticipated for a merchandise astir consumers person ne'er utilized and whose apt terms was not disclosed to respondents. Interest could shrink considerably erstwhile a $2,000-plus terms tag enters the picture, and supply concatenation reports suggest creaseless availability whitethorn not hap until 2027.

Consumer sentiment astir AI integrations dropped sharply from 2024 to 2025 earlier edging somewhat higher successful 2026, though the fig remains debased astatine 12%. Previous surveys recovered that the bulk of iPhone users felt existing ‌Apple Intelligence‌ features added small to nary worth to their experience.

Price remains the overwhelming operator of upgrade decisions, cited by 55% of respondents, followed by longer artillery beingness astatine 52%, and much retention astatine 38%. Those apical 3 motivators are unchanged from 2025, erstwhile terms led astatine 62%, artillery beingness astatine 54%, and retention astatine 39%.

Camera features (27%) and show size (22%) ranked good up of either foldables oregon AI arsenic upgrade motivators. Smartphone owners are besides not peculiarly swayed by a telephone being thinner oregon disposable successful caller colors, findings that are applicable fixed Apple's caller accent connected the ultra-thin iPhone Air and expanded colour options crossed its lineup.
This article, "Few Smartphone Owners Care About Foldables oregon AI, Survey Suggests" archetypal appeared connected MacRumors.com

Discuss this article successful our forums