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Smartphone Upgrade Motivators
Factors influencing consumer decisions to upgrade smartphones.
Primary Sources
Survey: Just 13% of smartphone owners would consider upgrading by a new phone concept such as a foldable or flip phone
This may not be good news for the rumored foldable iPhone (the “iPhone Fold” or “iPhone Ultra”): a new CNET survey reveals that just 13% of smartphone owners would be motivated to consider upgrading by a new phone concept such as a foldable or flip phone. Here are key points from the report: New Features and Designs are a Tough Sell: With rumors swirling of Apple announcing a foldable at the September Apple event, and generative AI remaining a priority for big tech companies, only 13% of smartphone owners would be motivated to consider upgrading by a new phone concept, while 12% would be motivated by AI integrations, a slight 1% increase from last year’s findings. Interest in Skinny Phones Also Remains Slim: AI isn’t the only marketing tactic consumers aren’t buying into. Despite a trend in slim phone releases such as last year’s iPhone Air, just 7% of respondents said a thinner phone would motivate them to consider upgrading. Battery Life Remains a Primary Upgrade Motivator: The biggest motivation for US adult smartphone owners to consider upgrading their devices is price (55%), followed by longer battery life (52%) and more storage (38%). Other motivations to consider upgrading include camera features (27%), display or screen size (22%), and maintaining the current ecosystem (17%). Less frequent drivers include phone color (9%), a thinner profile (7%), and changing ecosystems (4%). Battery Life Pain Points: Over half (58%) of smartphone users experience frustrations with their phone’s battery life, with nearly 1 in 3 (31%) smartphone users expressing that their battery doesn’t hold a charge like it did when it was new. Other commonly expressed battery life frustrations include percentage drops even during light use (18%), the phone getting uncomfortably hot during use or when charging (18%), the newer battery not being any better than the old one (10%), battery performance not improving even with a newer phone (10%), and the device taking too long to get a meaningful charge (9%). About the ‘iPhone Fold/Ultra’ Here’s a round-up of rumors about the foldable iPhone, which is expected to arrive late this year or in early 2027: ° It will use a dual-layer, ultra-thin glass structure to reduce display crease visibility. ° Apple will offer the iPhone Fold/Ultra in three different storage capacities. ° The foldable smartphone will purportedly be offered in 236GB, 512GB, and 1TB options for US$2,320, $2,610, and $2,900, respectively. ° It will feature ...
The iPhone Fold could finally solve the biggest headache with foldable phones — here is how Apple is redesigning foldables from the inside out | Tom's Guide
A new leak claims that the forthcoming foldable iPhone, which may become one of the best foldable phones, could be the easiest-to-repair foldable phone in the industry. Following the MacBook Neo, Apple finally seems open to making repairability a feature of its new devices.The leak comes from regular Apple tipster Instant Digital in a follow-up to a previous iPhone Fold (or Ultra) report on their Weibo account. In their latest post, Instant Digital said that Apple's "extremely rigorous underlying engineering logic has truly come to fruition."Callback leak (Image credit: FPT | YouTube`)Instant Digital's post seems to be a follow-up comment on a massive leak they posted in early February that revealed several potential design elements for the iPhone Fold.That included moving the volume buttons to the top of the device, Touch ID and Camera Control buttons to the right edge and two colorways. It is also supposed to have an iPhone Air-esque camera plateau and single punch-hole front-facing cameras.Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.Apparently, the motherboard is on the right side of the device, which necessitated the moved buttons. ID alleged that Apple didn't want to run cables across the device, so they ran up instead of side to side.The left side is dedicated solely to the screen structure and battery, suggesting that the Fold will have a massive battery. Previous rumors have said the device will feature a 7.8-inch inner display, a 5.5-inch cover display and an A20 processor.That leak also touched on the internal structure of the Fold with ID describing it as "hocking and rationally elegant, capable of shocking the industry."Apple is expected to debut the iPhone Fold/Ultra this September alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. We'll know for sure how repairable it is when we can get our hands on the device. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Subscribe to Tom's Guide on YouTube and follow us on TikTok.More from Tom's GuideThe new Apple Watch Pride Luminance watch face is stunning — here’s why it’s my new go-toApple settles Siri class action for $250m over delayed Apple Intelligence, making 36m iPhone users eligible for a cash payment — this is the total amount you could receive and how you can claim your shareApple MacBook Ultra: Everything we know so far
Smartphone Owners Aren't Convinced to Upgrade for Foldable Designs and AI Integrations, CNET Finds - CNET
Only 13% of smartphone owners would be motivated to consider upgrading to a new phone concept, such as a foldable or flip phone.
Best foldable phones to buy in 2026: The top foldables we recommend - PhoneArena
These foldables are meant to be as portable as possible. They give you the power of a regular flagship phone in a smaller footprint, with the cover screen becoming increasingly useful. Tri-fold devices like the Galaxy Z TriFold push the concept further by unfolding into near 10-inch tablet territory.
