A survey by Quartz reveals that if Apple doesn't dramatically alter the iPhone 7 from the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, nearly 90 percent of iPhone users will not upgrade.

This is a turnaround from the days where Apple could put out whatever it liked and people would upgrade anyway. While we estimate six million Apple fanboys would still do that, it looks like the rest of them are looking at what is being said about the iPhone 7 and will give it a miss.

Apple took a big risk this year, as its sales were shrinking it decided to issue an iPhone 7 which was practically the same as the iPhone 6S. We are guessing it assumed that users would not notice.

The online survey, which involved 525 respondents through SurveyMonkey, showed that nearly 63 percent of users wanted a revamped iPhone and it is starting to look like they will not get one.

In fact, it looks like the tiny changes for the iPhone 7 will be annoying – such as getting rid of the headphone jack. Some users suggested that they think that Apple is going to restrict all of the worthwhile updates to the 7 Plus/ Pro which will make the iPhone 7 the Vista of Apple’s products.

Other than sliding sales, Apple has started to worry about the large number of Apple fanboys who have not even upgraded to the iPhone 6S. CEO Tim Cook has said that 60 percent of iPhone users own a version older than iPhone 6. Telcos are also getting less interested in subsidising upgrades for new iPhones.

Jobs' Mob is testing out a new program that lets users pay off a new phone on credit, and then update once a year, which might help move fanboys even if they don’t really want, or need to upgrade.

However, the long term problem is that the Apple cult is losing control over its fanboys and they are actually starting to think different. The worry is that in a couple of decades they might start making sane purchasing choices.