You don’t become the world’s richest company without knowing what your buyers want from your most popular product line. But if Apple needed a little inspiration, the phone trade-in store SellCell (opens in new tab) has some valuable intel with fans’ most wished-for iPhone 15 features.
The site asked 2,560 American iPhone owners what theoretical features they would be most excited about in the iPhone 15, allowing respondents to pick up to three answers. While some were undoubtedly more likely than others, the answers provide interesting insights into what the average iPhone shopper is looking for, rather than the hardcore tech enthusiasts who read sites like this.
As such, cosmetic changes come out on top, with the vague hope for “a fresher look and design to previous models” being selected by 35.2% of respondents. A similarly high selection of 30.3% of buyers hoped for “new colors in the range” which goes to show just how important aesthetics can be.
In third place: “full accessories & return of charger” which is interesting given the survey was specifically targeted at those who own an iPhone, and therefore already own a charger.
The 28.8% of people who selected that option are almost certain to be disappointed, as are the 8.5% wanting an iPhone 15 mini and the 13.8% hoping for a folding phone in the mix. Apple is reportedly experimenting with foldables, but the fruits of this research won’t be in consumers’ hands for years, and may first come in the form of a folding iPad rather than an iPhone Flip.
Sellcell did slip a few more technical responses in there, with a surprising 8% of people excited about Qualcomm’s services reportedly being retained for the modem chip in the iPhone 15.
But from the more technical wishlist, a potential periscope zoom lens was by far the most popular option, with 23.9% of respondents selecting it.
Even the best iPhones have been stuck with a 3x telephoto lens, while the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s periscope system allows up to a 10x zoom without too much loss in quality. This would be a valuable upgrade and has been tipped for the iPhone 15 range by the analysts Jeff Pu and Ming-Chi Kuo — though possibly only for the rumored iPhone 15 Ultra and capped at 5 or 6x.
The imminent arrival of USB-C on iPhones is cheered by 20.3% of respondents, while the prospect of Dynamic Island arriving on cheaper iPhones gets 11.7% of fans’ thumbs up. Neither of these things would be as popular as the return of Touch ID in some form, which is possible, albeit likely under the screen rather than within the Home Button. Sorry, Chris Evans — who said he would miss the good old Home button on his iPhone 6s.
Elsewhere, Sellcell asked about respondents’ views on the struggling iPhone 14 Plus. While 20.4% of those surveyed had one, the rest ruled it out due to its high price (22.5%), it being too big (12.1%) or having a poor feature set compared to the Pro models (7.8%). Interestingly, 6.6% stated that they would have preferred an iPhone 14 mini instead.
