Apple’s Q2 2023 earnings talked about a study from 451 Research in which the company’s latest iPhone 14 lineup had a 99 percent satisfaction rate. However, new data compiled by PerfectRec has revealed some vastly different findings, stating that users of the latest iPhone series have given a significantly reduced number of 5-star reviews compared to previous launches. What is the reason for this decline? Let us discuss this in thorough detail.
Lack of improvements on the iPhone 14 did not meet customer’s expectations, leading to a drastic drop in 5-star reviews
Around 669,000 user-generated reviews were analyzed by PerfectRec to monitor the customer satisfaction ratings of iPhones for the past few years. With the iPhone 13, the data revealed that there were around 80 percent of 5-star reviews, but the iPhone 14 launch saw a drop of eight points to 72 percent. Fortunately, the iPhone 14 Pro had better feedback, getting 76 percent of 5-star reviews, though it was still lower than the iPhone 13 Pro, with 84 percent.
As for the iPhone 14 Pro Max, Apple’s top-tier offering from last year saw a 6 percent drop from 86-80 percent compared to the iPhone 13 Pro Max. This comparison does show that at least the ‘Pro’ models are selling better than the regular and ‘Plus’ models, which is why Apple has been reported to incorporate more exclusive features to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, as it will help propel demand, and generate more revenue.
So why did those 5-star reviews see an eight-point drop with the iPhone 14? Did Apple skimp out on quality? No, it was more to do with the lack of improvements the latest iPhone family had compared to their direct predecessors and how customers overestimated what the company could deliver in 2022. As PerfectRec notes, several reviewers considered the iPhone 14 range a modest addition.
“We suspect what happened with the iPhone 14 is that the rate of improvement simply didn’t match customer expectations. There wasn’t a big new, must-have feature and consumers didn’t view the incremental improvements as worth it, so fewer of them rated it five stars as a result. Mainstream critics generally described the iPhone 14’s performance improvements as “modest” and “a teeny upgrade.”
Now, not all of these reviews could be authentic, but the fact that PerfectRec organized data from nearly 700,000 user-generated Google reviews indicates that numbers speak volumes. This is also the reason the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will have an increased number of upgrades.
News Source: PerfectRec
