Potential iPhone 13 buyers are 'underwhelmed' by the lineup, a new poll claims

Iphone 13 Pro Sierra Blue Hero (Image credit: Christine Romero-Chan / iMore)

What you need to know

A new poll appears to show that almost two thirds of people find the new iPhone 13 lineup underwhelming.
Just 14% of those polled said the new handsets were exciting.

Apple's iPhone 13 lineup has been receiving stellar reviews by those who already bought one of the four new devices but that isn't translating into excitement from those yet to pick one up. A new poll shows that a massive 64% of respondents feel the iPhone 13 lineup is "not very" or "not at all" exciting.

The poll, but together by SellCell, saw more than 5,000 United States-based iPhone owners respond to questions relating to the newly-announced products. Of those who do find the new models compelling, the new ProMotion display and longer battery life were the main reasons.

When asked what they think of the new iPhone 13 lineup, 14.4% of Apple users said it is "extremely" or "very exciting"; 21.5% rated it "somewhat exciting"; 64.1% deem it "not very" or "not at all" exciting.
23.2% of existing iPhone users intend to upgrade to iPhone 13; purchase intent down 20.5% compared to a pre-launch survey published two months ago.
iPhone 13 Pro is the most popular choice among upgraders at 42.5%, followed by iPhone 13 Pro Max (26.3%), standard iPhone 13 (22%), and finally iPhone 13 Mini (9.2%).
Upgraders revealed '120Hz ProMotion display on Pro models' (34.1%), 'Longer battery life' (25.3%), 'Just due for an upgrade' (15.7%), 'Locked into yearly upgrade/trade-in program' (10.5%), and 'Improved camera features such as Cinematic mode, Photographic Styles, etc.' (5.4%) as top reasons for considering the upgrade.

Iphone 13 Reaction Graph (Image credit: SellCell)

While those who already own iPhone 13 handsets believe them to be the best iPhones ever made, it's clear that the perceived 's' year phenomenon is in full effect here. That despite huge improvements to battery life, the Pro models gaining a silky-smooth 120Hz display, and re-worked cameras systems all around.

The whole iPhone 13 lineup went on sale late last month and anyone ordering a device today could be waiting into November for delivery, depending on the model and configuration they choose.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.

Latest in iPhone 13