Survey Says <50% of iPhone Users Know Which Model They Own, But It Gets Worse

You use your smartphone every day — but how well do you really know your device? A new survey suggests that many iPhones owners aren’t that familiar with their handsets.

Tech resale and refurbishment site Decluttr recently conducted a survey of about 2,000 smartphone owners in the U.S. The survey found some interesting results.

The Survey Results

For one, Decluttr found that a majority of iPhone owners couldn’t name the specific model of the device they owned. Here’s how the numbers break down.

1. Only 44% of iPhone XR and iPhone 7 owners could correctly identify their smartphone model.
2. For iPhone 8 owners, the numbers weren’t that much higher. Only 45.90% correctly identified their devices.
3. Owners of newer iPhones seemingly knew a bit more about their devices. 51% of iPhone X and 57% of iPhone XS owners correctly identified their own devices.

Naive to Capabilities

When it came to feature sets, even fewer smartphone owners knew about what type of tech was baked into their handsets.

1. Only 14% of iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone X owners knew about the NFC capabilities of their smartphones.
2. Just over 50% of iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone X owners were aware that their devices are water-resistant.

5G Misinformation

The Decluttr study also found some interesting tidbits about general knowledge of 5G among consumers.

About one-third of those survey thought they owned a 5G-capable device. Among those who said they had a 5G capable device, around 62% said they noticed an improvement in cellular service.

Interestingly, more people on T-Mobile’s network thought they were using 5G than those who were on AT&T’s network. (Despite AT&T’s misleading 5G E indicator.) Here’s what people thought.

1. About 24% of iPhone owners on Verizon thought they had 5G.
2. About 47% of iPhone owners on AT&T thought they had 5G.
3. 34% of iPhone owners on T-Mobile thought their device was 5G-compatible (compared to 51% of Samsung owners).
4. About 35% of iPhone owners on Sprint thought their devices had 5G capabilities.

How to Find out More About Your Phone

Of course, despite what you might think about your iPhone, it’s much more handy to know what your Apple device is actually capable of.

Luckily, there’s a fairly easy way to find the specifications and feature set of your specific iPhone model. Here’s how.

1. Go to the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Tap on General.
3. Then, tap on About.

In this menu, you’ll be able to see the model name and specific model number of your device (as well as network and warranty information).

Equipped with this knowledge, you can head over to this Apple webpage to find out more about your specific iPhone model.

If you’re curious about whether your iPhone is still covered under a standard warranty or AppleCare+ coverage, you can also type your serial number into Apple’s Service and Support Coverage page.