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Pau Miquel

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 20, 2012
1
0
The next generation of the iPhone will be its 6th generation. What does that imply for its name? The iPhone 4 was the fourth generation therefore it was called iPhone 4, not because it was after the 3Gs, the 3Gs was called like that because it was a better version of the 3G, which was called like that because of its cellphone technologies. So, I don't know if I explained myself clearly, but the big question is: shouldn't the next iPhone be called the Iphone 6?
 

LostSoul80

macrumors 68020
Jan 25, 2009
2,136
7
The general public. For instance:

Person 1 - "I just got my iPhone 5 running iOS 6 and it's 4G."

Person 2 - "Huh?"

I'm sure Apple's learned from the 4, 4S, not 4G fiasco. Everybody here gets it, but explain it to Grandpa.

I'm not sure how that relates to the public.
It's up to the buyer and user to know at least what's an Intel processor or the technology used by a device. If he doesn't care who gives a duck? I see no point there.
 

Tilpots

macrumors 601
Apr 19, 2006
4,195
71
Carolina Beach, NC
I'm not sure how that relates to the public.
It's up to the buyer and user to know at least what's an Intel processor or the technology used by a device. If he doesn't care who gives a duck? I see no point there.

It's called "marketing." Companies typically try not to confuse customers. It's bad for business.
 

daooof

macrumors regular
Nov 24, 2010
103
1
Technically it's not the 6th generation, but rather the third. The 2, 3G, and 3GS were all the same generation, just different builds, and the 4 and 4S were also a generation. So it will be the iPhone 3. JUST KIDDING. It's really a tough one though. Apple hasn't exactly been consistent with the names, so expect anything. iPhone LTE sounds cool and might work, but it doesn't go in spirit with the numbers, so I'm not sure.

The only reason that I can think of that it would be called "iPhone 5" is that EVERYONE is just assuming it is, so Apple will just ride on that. If a product is already named and accepted by the public, why not keep it that way? That is, if it lives up to expectations.
 

arn

macrumors god
Staff member
Apr 9, 2001
16,363
5,795
The general public. For instance:

Person 1 - "I just got my iPhone 5 running iOS 6 and it's 4G."

You mean like my iPhone 4S running iOS 5 and it's 3G?

iPhone 4 -> iPhone 4S -> iPhone 5.

It won't be iPhone 6. It may be iPhone LTE, or some weirdness, but not iPhone 6.

arn
 

mike5411

macrumors regular
Jan 15, 2008
135
0
You mean like my iPhone 4S running iOS 5 and it's 3G?

iPhone 4 -> iPhone 4S -> iPhone 5.

It won't be iPhone 6. It may be iPhone LTE, or some weirdness, but not iPhone 6.

arn

I agree with this idea. However, I wish Apple would drop everything after the word iPhone.

By now almost everyone knows what an iPhone is and I think it would be acceptable to refer to it as iPhone (Mid 2012), when clarification is needed.
 

Apple OC

macrumors 68040
Oct 14, 2010
3,667
4,328
Hogtown
The general public. For instance:

Person 1 - "I just got my iPhone 5 running iOS 6 and it's 4G."

Person 2 - "Who Cares?"

I'm sure Apple's learned from the 4, 4S, not 4G fiasco. Everybody here gets it, but explain it to Grandpa.

fixed that for ya ... signed Grandpa :D
 

Tilpots

macrumors 601
Apr 19, 2006
4,195
71
Carolina Beach, NC
You mean like my iPhone 4S running iOS 5 and it's 3G?

iPhone 4 -> iPhone 4S -> iPhone 5.

It won't be iPhone 6. It may be iPhone LTE, or some weirdness, but not iPhone 6.

arn

You keep calling it the 5 on the site, what's your reasoning? Your post above makes 0 sense especially because you left off the first three. Even your example above starts with the iPhone 4 which provides the rationale for calling it 6. It was the fourth phone. This will be the sixth phone. To keep calling it 5 seems silly.

Maybe it will be something different, I hope it is. I like the idea mike5411 suggested they use the release year. It makes much, much more sense.

fixed that for ya ... signed Grandpa :D

I sell phones to normal people everyday. Not fanboys, not techies, and they're not stupid either. The current naming convention really needs to change because Grandpa does care. My customers don't have a clue what all the numbers and letters mean. They're trying to piece together what the commercials, news stories and their neighbors are saying but its tough with all the jargon.

I can't see Apple confusing the public even more, especially after the firestorm over the 4S name when people were expecting it to be called 5. It is just a name, after all, just don't make the consumer work hard to figure it out.
 

MonkeyBrainz

macrumors regular
Feb 18, 2012
194
0
It will be 6 or LTE or X. It will not be 5. It doesn't make any sense, especially with iOS 6 being released before it.

What doesn't make sense is you thinking it should be called iPhone 6 based on the OS it uses. The second iPhone was called 3G because it used 3G, it wasn't called iPhone 2. The iPhone 4S is the 5th gen phone using iOS 5, but it's not called iPhone 5. Their naming schemes have nothing to do with that stuff, they'll call it whatever they call it.
 

arn

macrumors god
Staff member
Apr 9, 2001
16,363
5,795
You keep calling it the 5 on the site, what's your reasoning? Your post above makes 0 sense especially because you left off the first three. Even your example above starts with the iPhone 4 which provides the rationale for calling it 6. It was the fourth phone. This will be the sixth phone. To keep calling it 5 seems silly.

Maybe it will be something different, I hope it is. I like the idea mike5411 suggested they use the release year. It makes much, much more sense.

The Apple III wasn't the 3rd Apple computer.
The Mac II wasn't the 2nd Mac.

Names don't have to equate to the generation. They just have to make logical sense for the consumer. 4S -> 5 makes sense. 4S -> 6 makes no sense for 99.9999% of customers.

arn
 

No5tromo

macrumors 6502
Feb 17, 2012
396
1,028
It's like Windows 7, it's just a name, it doesn't mean that it's the 7th edition, cause it's not.

Talking about iPhone names, I think that naming a phone 3G was stupid. 3G is a technology used worldwide way before Apple came up with iPhone 3G. Picking up the technology kind of late it's not something to brag about or name a device after. It could be worse though, imagine something like "iPhone Copy/Paste", or a future iPhone named "iPhone Flash" or "iPhone removable battery"... ok I went too far.
 

Tilpots

macrumors 601
Apr 19, 2006
4,195
71
Carolina Beach, NC
The Apple III wasn't the 3rd Apple computer.
The Mac II wasn't the 2nd Mac.

Names don't have to equate to the generation. They just have to make logical sense for the consumer. 4S -> 5 makes sense. 4S -> 6 makes no sense for 99.9999% of customers.

arn

The Apple III came out four years after the Apple II, though. It was not on an established yearly product update cycle. I do see your point, but as I mentioned above, I'm dealing with Average Joes everyday and to try and explain the 5th phone was the 4S and the 6th is the 5 will be another disaster. I've had people walk out the door because they swear the iPhone 4 is 4G and they think I'm lying to them when I tell them it's not! If they were really going by generation, this next one would be the 4 (original, 3G, redesign with glass and external antenna).

I guess the best I can hope for is a different naming convention all together, like they do with OS's. The numbers just get too complicated to convey. Tech people get it. Dick and Jane don't.
 

No5tromo

macrumors 6502
Feb 17, 2012
396
1,028
Or maybe since this is supposed to be the last project that Steve Jobs was involved with, maybe they will give it a tribute-name, can't think of any that doesn't come out corny though. Maybe iPhone Legacy... :rolleyes:
 
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