Users Underwhelmed by iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, Survey Suggests

Users appear to be underwhelmed by Apple's upcoming iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 updates, according to the findings of a new survey by SellCell.

iOS 15 Users Underwhelmed Feature
The survey asked 3,000 iPhone and iPad users, evenly split between men and women, aged 18 or over in the United States, what they thought of iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and the naming of the upcoming ‌iPhone‌ 13 lineup.

Over 50 percent of all of the survey's respondents said that the iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 updates are only "slightly" or "not at all" exciting. 28.1 percent rated the updates "somewhat" exciting, but as few as 19.3 percent are "extremely" or "very" excited about them.

Within iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, 23 percent of users said that the most exciting upgrade is ID cards in the Wallet app, 17.3 percent are most excited about enhanced Spotlight search, and 14.2 percent are most excited about new Find My features.

Very few respondents were enamored with many of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15's new features. Less than one percent of respondents thought that iMessage's "Shared with You" feature, Health app upgrades including fall-risk metrics and data sharing, and improvements to Apple Maps with more transit details and AR walking directions were the best new features. Likewise, FaceTime app improvements with Spatial Audio, screen sharing, grid view, and portrait mode, the redesigned notifications system, and Focus statuses only attracted around five percent of respondents.

When asked what features respondents thought should have been added in iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, 32.3 percent said that there should have been interactive widgets, 21 percent said that there should have been always-on display features, 14.9 percent said that there should have been Pro apps such as Xcode or Final Cut Pro for the ‌iPad‌, and 13.2 percent said that there should have been better external display support for the ‌iPad‌.

iphone 13 teal with text
Beyond the iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 updates, the survey also investigated triskaidekaphobia, a superstitious fear of the number 13, around the naming of the upcoming ‌iPhone‌ 13. As many as one in five ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ users said that they would be actively put off by the "‌iPhone‌ 13" moniker.

Respondents were also asked how they thought Apple should name its upcoming series of ‌iPhone‌ models. Interestingly, most responses indicated that the devices should not be called the "‌iPhone‌ 13." 38 percent said that Apple should call its next smartphone series simply "‌iPhone‌ (2021)," 26 percent thought that the "‌iPhone‌ 13" was the best name, and only 13 percent said that they would like to see the devices called the "‌iPhone‌ 12S."

Related Forums: iOS 15, iPhone

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 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...
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....
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 Beta 1 Features: What's New So Far

Monday December 15, 2025 4:23 pm PST by
Apple is testing iOS 26.3, the next version of iOS 26 that will launch around January. Since iOS 26.3's testing is happening over the holidays, it is a smaller update with fewer features than we've seen in prior betas. We've rounded up what's new so far, and we'll add to our list with subsequent betas if we come across any other features. Transfer to Android Apple is making it simpler...
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...
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

DJC631 Avatar
59 months ago
Neither update looked very exciting, and iPadOS was downright a disappointment for anyone hoping to really use an iPad as their main machine.
Score: 84 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
59 months ago
Things like “ipad widgets on desktop” shouldn’t even count. It was almost like apple purposely didn’t given ipad certain features last year just so they’d have something to provide this year.
Score: 67 Votes (Like | Disagree)
darcyf Avatar
59 months ago
Everyone: why can’t I add multiple destinations to a route in maps??

Apple: we’ve changed the way moonlight looks on 3D buildings!
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kylo83 Avatar
59 months ago

Too early to make any judgements. Apple introduced well over 500+ changes this year come on now. Just look at the new weather and map App!


and 490 of them are minor and make no change to your daily life
Score: 45 Votes (Like | Disagree)
icanhazapple Avatar
59 months ago
Let iPadOS with M1 chips run full OS X when docked with an external monitor.
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TopToffee Avatar
59 months ago
52.6 vs 47.4

Amongst a group of people who will on average know very little about the upcoming OSes

It's hardly a landslide.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)