How Precious (and Necessary) Are Your Apple Devices?

So, it’s New Year’s Eve and you unfortunately lost your iPhone. What do you do next (other than lock down your iCloud account)? In other words, how quickly would Apple owners replace a missing iPhone, iPad, or Mac computer?

We’ve long tracked the importance of these devices to Apple owners. One way is by asking if a survey subject lost or broke a device, then how quickly would they replace or repair it? Not surprisingly, iPhones are most essential, followed by Mac computers. iPads, while relatively important, are apparently not as necessary as the other devices.

Over 80% of iPhone buyers would replace or repair a lost or broken device within a day or two (Chart 1). Almost half would do so the same day!

Chart 1: When Owners Replace or Repair Lost or Broken Devices (twelve months ending September 2024)

Almost as many (70%) of Mac buyers would replace or repair a lost or broken device on the same day or within a day or two, though only about one-third are in the immediate group. Somewhat fewer (58%) of iPad buyers would replace or repair their iPad immediately or within a day or two.

An incredible 96% of iPhone buyers would replace or repair their smartphone within a week, compared to 85% of iPad buyers and 89% of Mac computer buyers. Apparently, the vast majority of customers use each of the three devices so consistently and heavily that they would move swiftly to get a working one back in their life.

At the other end of the committed device owner spectrum, only 1% of iPhone buyers would not replace or repair a lost or broken iPhone. The number is similar for iPads, and while still an incredibly small group, 3% of Mac owners would let their lost or broken Mac be their last.