The iPhone 5 News Blog

Much has been made about users’ dissatisfaction with the iPhone 4S, coupled with the still lingering frustration of the ever-delayed iPhone 5. But a new poll reveals that the iPhone 4S is the most beloved iPhone yet.

A statistics professor once told me, “you can make a poll say anything you want it to.” But in the case of a recent iPhone 4S customer satisfaction survey, it would appear that the results are plain and true: iPhone 4S users love their iPhone — and particularly Siri.

The new survey, which was conducted by ChangeWave Research, has been widely reported in the tech media today, as it cites a customer satisfaction rating that tops even the ever-popular iPhone 4. From AllNewsMac: “According to the results, iPhone 4S owners are 77% “very satisfied” with their new device. This is an increase of 5 points compared to iPhone 4 last year.” The article and survey go on to reveal that, in spite of the fact that users are indeed complaining about the newest iPhone’s battery life, the sheer coolness of Siri seems to be overshadowing the battery issue.

Coming in as close seconds and thirds to the popularity of Siri, users also identified “ease of use” and the beefy 8-megapixel camera as favorite features. In this way, it can be stated with some degree of certainty that iOS 5 has been a net success for Apple, since “ease of use” points toward the operating system of the iPhone 4S more than anything else. Surprisingly, however, iCloud, while on the “likes” list of the survey, only places a distant fifth place, gaining just 19% of the vote. Given Apple’s massive data center investment into iCloud, it remains to be seen if Cupertino could see poll results like that as a success or failure.

Even more surprising, however, are some of the “dislikes” in the poll results that fall under the obvious first place finisher — “battery life is too short.” The lack of 4G LTE — a feature that many vociferous iPhone users believed would be unnecessary in making the anticipated 2011 iPhone 5 a success, is apparently sorely missed by a plurality of iPhone 4S users. 30% of poll respondents complain of a “lack of 4G capability,” a percentage that rivals the poor battery performance issue at 38%.

Also, “screen size,” while represented as the third-place dislike, is actually a distant third, getting only 11% of the vote. In a nutshell, this poll found that 4G LTE is almost three times more coveted among iPhone 4S users than a larger screen.

Or am I just making this poll say what I want it to say?

In either case, it won’t matter: based on what we know and what we think we know, it seems highly plausible that the iPhone 5 will feature both 4G LTE capabilities and a larger screen. And we can also assume — or at least hope — that bigger, better battery will accompany all of these high-octane features on the iPhone 5 as well. Otherwise, the next poll might be far uglier for Apple.

By Michael Nace