Here is what really motivates the purchase of a new iPhone (and that’s not what you think)
New formats, new software functionalities or new technical components are highlighted by smartphones manufacturers at each new generation of products, very logically: it is the arguments that allow manufacturers to make the interest of their products heard. For more than a year, it is the functions related to artificial intelligence that are in the spotlight, all brands combined. The movement is a little more recent in the case of the apple, since the iPhone are not compatible with Apple Intelligence that since the end of 2024 in the United States, and since the Spring 2025 in Europe.
Does the arrival of AI on the iPhone constitute an argument pushing consumers in itself to renew their iPhone? Not frankly, if we believe the study carried out by the institute Cirp (Consumer Intelligence Research Partners), spotted by our colleagues from 9T5MAC. Led with iPhone buyers in the USA, it puts technology into perspective: because if nothing questions the interest of their technical characteristics in their eyes, it is not the functions of the new iPhones that push buyers to invest. Year after year, it is still and always very prosaic factors that push them to purchase: 40 % of respondents point to the dysfunctions of their iPhone, and 27 % go to the cashier due to a mobile flight.
The study, which must however be considered with caution (the sample of consumers is not specified), points to an interesting fact: the new features only motivate the change of mobile. Enough to reassure: iPhone holders mainly benefit from what their device is updated in the long term (at least five years, and often more) to renew it only in the event of an imperative need. The price of iPhone, always high, logically imposes it.
This study obviously does not say everything and does not indicate the criteria that allow buyers to choose a smartphone rather than another. All survey institutes are working on the subject and evoke, such Novatia In 2025, the importance of the quality of the camera, autonomy and power for a very large majority of users (70 %). It will be recalled that on the side of the iPhone, only the latest models (16 series and iPhone 15 pro And Pro Max) are compatible with Apple Intelligence functions.
