iPhone Remains Popular With Teens as iPad Interest Plateaus

Apple's iPhone continues to grow in popularity with U.S. teenagers, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster's latest semiannual teen survey [PDF], which asked 7,500 teens about their device preferences. 61 percent of teens now own an iPhone, compared to 55 percent from a survey conducted in October 2013 and 40 percent in the fall of 2012.

67 percent of teens expect their next phone to be an iPhone, up slightly from October's survey. When it comes to tablets, 60 percent of teens own one, up from 56 percent in the fall. 66 percent of those own an iPad (55% full-sized, 11% mini), which is down slightly from 68 percent, with ownership shifting further towards the mini. 18 percent of teens who don't own a tablet expect to buy one in the next sixth months and of those prospective buyers, 66 percent plan to choose an iPad.

teensurveypiperjaffray
The Spring 2014 survey also covered prospective teen interest in an Apple smart watch, which the company is said to be developing. Of the 7,500 teenagers surveyed, six percent currently own a smart watch and 17 percent of teens would buy an iWatch if Apple were to sell it for $350 or less.

The bigger takeaway from our survey is that 17% of teens suggested they would be interested in an iWatch, which we believe is an indication of consumer thirst for not only the iWatch specifically, but the new product categories that have been promised by Apple.

In the past, Samsung has attempted to position its Galaxy phones as the choice for teenagers by portraying the iPhone as "uncool," but this marketing tactic appears to be largely unsuccessful given the segment's growing interest in Apple products.

Despite the iPhone's popularity, the iPad has become slightly less popular with teenagers as competitors like Google and Kindle have released more affordable options. Android tablets in particular have seen consistent growth among teens, even after the launch of the Retina iPad mini and the thinner and lighter iPad Air.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.4 and iOS 27 Features Revealed in New Leak

Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28. The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple Leak Confirms Work on Foldable iPhone, AirTag 2, and Dozens More Devices

Monday December 15, 2025 2:05 pm PST by
Last week, details about unreleased Apple devices and future iOS features were shared by Macworld. This week, we learned where the information came from, plus we have more findings from the leak. As it turns out, an Apple prototype device running an early build of iOS 26 was sold, and the person who bought it shared the software. The OS has a version number of 23A5234w, and the first...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Leak Reveals Foldable iPhone Details

Monday December 15, 2025 9:09 am PST by
The first foldable iPhone will feature a series of design and hardware firsts for Apple, according to details shared by the Weibo leaker known as Digital Chat Station. According to a new post, via machine translation, Apple is developing what the leaker describes as a "wide foldable" device, a term used to refer to a horizontally oriented, book-style foldable with a large internal display....
Apple Logo Top Half

Early iOS 26 Software Leak Uncovers Dozens of Upcoming Apple Features

Monday December 15, 2025 3:05 pm PST by
Software from an iPhone prototype running an early build of iOS 26 leaked last week, giving us a glimpse at future Apple devices and iOS features. We recapped device codenames in our prior article, and now we have a list of some of the most notable feature flags that were found in the software code. In some cases, it's obvious what the feature flags are referring to, while some are more...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.2 With Alarms for Reminders, Lock Screen Changes, Enhanced Safety Alerts and More

Friday December 12, 2025 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.2, the second major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.2 comes a little over a month after iOS 26.1 launched. ‌iOS 26‌.2 is compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features on Your iPhone

Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon. Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week. iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
macOS Tahoe 26 Thumb

Apple Releases macOS Tahoe 26.2 With Edge Light

Friday December 12, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Apple today released macOS Tahoe 26.2, the second major update to the macOS Tahoe operating system that came out in September. macOS Tahoe 26.2 comes five weeks after Apple released macOS Tahoe 26.1. Mac users can download the macOS Tahoe update by using the Software Update section of System Settings. macOS Tahoe 26.2 includes Edge Light, a feature that illuminates your face with soft...
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2 Likely to Offer These 10 New Features

Monday December 15, 2025 7:41 am PST by
Apple released the AirPods Max on December 15, 2020, meaning the over-ear headphones launched five years ago today. While the AirPods Max were updated with a USB-C port and new color options last year, followed by support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio this year, the headphones lack some of the features that have been introduced for newer generations of the regular AirPods and the ...

Top Rated Comments

inkswamp Avatar
153 months ago
This is interesting especially in light of all those consumer surveys from a couple years ago that showed increasing numbers of Android users planning to buy iPhones and few going the other way.

I've joked that dealing with the Android clusterf*** for 2 years is enough to make anyone an iPhone user, but I'm starting to think that's what is actually happening. I watched it happen with my wife and my daughter, both of whom loved their Android phones at first, but grew weary of its eccentricities after 6 months and switched to iPhones. I know others who have done the same. I know of nobody who grew to hate their iPhone and jumped to Android.

It's anecdotal, I know, but it does fall in line with the consumer surveys from the last few years.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
153 months ago
But...but...but all the Samsung commercials say iPhones are for old people!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chrisbru Avatar
153 months ago
Parents are in for a rude awakening once they discover cell phone companies are going away from this and you're paying for your phone outright.

No they aren't. Phone companies are moving towards installment plans. So it will just be another monthly fee along with the bill.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DipDog3 Avatar
153 months ago
The reason is probably because the iPhone is subsidized & the iPad is not.

Parents probably don't mind paying $100-200 for a kid's iPhone (since all subsidized phones cost about the same), but they will balk at spending $500 for an iPad when other tablets are much cheaper.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
joshisaboss Avatar
153 months ago
At my high school (I'm in Year 9) however Samsung is 'The Next Big Thing' as all the 'popular' kids have S4s and the like while iPhones are pretty much what Nokia was in the late 2000s, as a phone for mums and 'old people (Samsung marketing victims).
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bawbac Avatar
153 months ago
But...but...but all the Samsung commercials say iPhones are for old people!

Well, sort of...

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)