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Other 2018 iPhone naming scheme

What will the 2018 iPhones be called?

  • iPhone and iPhone Pro

    Votes: 21 21.9%

  • iPhone 9, iPhone XI/Xs and iPhone XI/Xs Plus

    Votes: 33 34.4%

  • Something else...

    Votes: 23 24.0%

  • iPhone Xc, iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Plus

    Votes: 13 13.5%

  • iPhone 11c, iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Plus

    Votes: 6 6.3%
  • Total voters
    96
MF878

MF878

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 12, 2011
370
338
Auckland, New Zealand
The names of the 2018 iPhones probably remain the biggest unknown as no source seems to be claiming that they know the naming scheme. They mostly get referred to as 11/XI/Xs, but now that we're only a few weeks out and still aren't sure, what do we think?

Personally, I have to go with iPhone and iPhone Pro. It fits right in with iPad/iPad Pro, MacBook/MacBook Pro, iMac/iMac Pro, etc. X is a good place to stop the numbering, because it starts to get ridiculous when you go into double digits, and also smartphone design seems to have largely matured that the old tick-tock cycle (eg. 5-5s, 6-6s) may no longer make sense. It would also fit with how Apple seem to be allocating features to the cheaper model compared to the OLED models (eg. LCD vs OLED, single cam vs dual cam, aluminum + more color options vs stainless steel + traditional color options).
 
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If I were to make a guess:

iPhone 11
iPhone 11 Plus
iPhone SE 2 for 6.1” or maybe just iPhone or maybe even iPhone 9

OLEDs could even be 10S and 10S+.
 
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MF878 said:
Personally, I have to go with iPhone and iPhone Pro. It fits right in with iPad/iPad Pro, MacBook/MacBook Pro, iMac/iMac Pro, etc. X is a good place to stop the numbering,
Click to expand...

(This isn’t aimed specifically at your post, but your post is an example). Every year this comes up where someone thinks the next iPhone will be called ‘Pro’. Apple is likely never going to name an iPhone with the Pro moniker. The reason being, there is nothing Pro about a smart phone. The MacBook and iPad are really two different types of devices that are use more for productivity, where as a smart phone is Communication device first, but it’s not meant to be derivative of what the MacBook or iPad currently is.

If Apple were to name the next iPhone ‘Pro’, It would be severely conflating and confusing, which the numbering scheme is important to Apple because it devalues the older model iPhone and shows the newest model iPhone with the highest number.
 
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This could be their opportunity to align the numbering of the phones and drop the Roman numerals since the X was for the 10-year anniversary and rumored to be dropped from the lineup. Skip the ‘9’ if the lower-priced phone will continue to be in the lineup going forward. This is the 11th year, so start with 11 for them all.

iPhone 11
iPhone 11 Plus
iPhone 11c
 
Wouldn't it be weird if history shows there was never an iPhone "9"?

I initially thought they may've gone with 11, 11C & 11 Plus.

But my alt theory is 11, 9 & 11 Plus....which looks distorted, so maybe I'll stick with my first prediction...
 
Ralfi said:
Wouldn't it be weird if history shows there was never an iPhone "9"?

I initially thought they may've gone with 11, 11C & 11 Plus.

But my alt theory is 11, 9 & 11 Plus....which looks distorted, so maybe I'll stick with my first prediction...
Click to expand...

I don’t think skipping the 9 would be jarring or anything major. It would be more like one of those occurrences that later becomes weird trivia or “did you know” facts in the future.
 
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naturalstar said:
This could be their opportunity to align the numbering of the phones and drop the Roman numerals since the X was for the 10-year anniversary and rumored to be dropped from the lineup. Skip the ‘9’ if the lower-priced phone will continue to be in the lineup going forward. This is the 11th year, so start with 11 for them all.

iPhone 11
iPhone 11 Plus
iPhone 11c
Click to expand...

I forgot about the ‘c’. I’ve added it to the poll because it’s definitely a possibility, as the ‘c’ supposedly meant ‘color’ and the LCD model is offering more color choice. Personally, I don’t know if they’d use it in this instance though. The reason I lean iPhone and iPhone Pro is because I think they’re more likely to position the phones as standard (LCD) vs high-end/prosumer (OLED) rather than budget (LCD) vs standard (OLED). The rumors suggest they expect the LCD model to be the most popular, and if it’s also packing an A12 then you don’t want to cheapen it’s appeal compared to competing Android flagships by suggesting it’s a budget-conscious option.
 
MF878 said:
I forgot about the ‘c’. I’ve added it to the poll because it’s definitely a possibility, as the ‘c’ supposedly meant ‘color’ and the LCD model is offering more color choice. Personally, I don’t know if they’d use it in this instance though. The reason I lean iPhone and iPhone Pro is because I think they’re more likely to position the phones as standard (LCD) vs high-end/prosumer (OLED) rather than budget (LCD) vs standard (OLED). The rumors suggest they expect the LCD model to be the most popular, and if it’s also packing an A12 then you don’t want to cheapen it’s appeal compared to competing Android flagships by suggesting it’s a budget-conscious option.
Click to expand...

Nothing Apple offers in their iPhone lineup is ‘budget’ related. If you mean ‘affordable’ entry level, that would be different.

Also, I don’t really think the differences between LCD and OLED is justifying making the iPhone to have ‘Pro’ behind it. Especially being that they’re all allegedly to share face ID, and a similar form factor.
 
I’ve had every iPhone since launch with the exception of the X. I have to say my passion is gone. I don’t care about names, new features, new iOS. I haven’t been excited about an iPhone launch since the 6.
 
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Ralfi said:
Wouldn't it be weird if history shows there was never an iPhone "9"?

I initially thought they may've gone with 11, 11C & 11 Plus.

But my alt theory is 11, 9 & 11 Plus....which looks distorted, so maybe I'll stick with my first prediction...
Click to expand...

It won’t be weird really, modern macOS started with OS10, Microsoft have done it many times- skipped 9 and moved from Windows 8.1 to 10. There was never windows 96 /97 etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Microsoft_Windows_versions

naturalstar said:
I don’t think skipping the 9 would be jarring or anything major. It would be more like one of those occurrences that later becomes weird trivia or “did you know” facts in the future.
Click to expand...

Exactly! Like Windows 9.
 
Given that the 5C wasn’t a huge success (I’d rather buy last years flagship phone than one that feels cheap), I think the LCD iPhone could just be iPhone 9, while the other two are the S version of the current X.

It’s all marketing, no logic needed.
 
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Relentless Power said:
(This isn’t aimed specifically at your post, but your post is an example). Every year this comes up where someone thinks the next iPhone will be called ‘Pro’. Apple is likely never going to name an iPhone with the Pro moniker. The reason being, there is nothing Pro about a smart phone. The MacBook and iPad are really two different types of devices that are use more for productivity, where as a smart phone is Communication device first, but it’s not meant to be derivative of what the MacBook or iPad currently is.

If Apple were to name the next iPhone ‘Pro’, It would be severely conflating and confusing, which the numbering scheme is important to Apple because it devalues the older model iPhone and shows the newest model iPhone with the highest number.
Click to expand...
Yup and also, where would they go from a Pro-moniker in the iPhone line? What would the iPhone the year after that be called, iPhone Pro 2? The "new" iPhone Pro? Or would it drop the "Pro" again and go with something else (in which case people would wonder what professional features Apple has dropped to warrant that)?

On the Mac and iPad line, the changes are oftentimes more incremental and separation from last year's model not as big of a deal – and they have also (almost) never had an enumeration to begin with. On the iPhone on the other hand, dropping the number and going with "Pro" would not only be confusing and misleading but it also wouldn't be a great setup for the years to follow.
 
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aakshey said:
If I were to make a guess:

iPhone 11
iPhone 11 Plus
iPhone SE 2 for 6.1” or maybe just iPhone or maybe even iPhone 9

OLEDs could even be 10S and 10S+.
Click to expand...

I feel like SE 2 is definitely not the name of the 6.1" phone. That would just cause serious confusion for people who currently have an SE or know the SE is the 4" phone, regardless of what SE stands for.
 
I think at this stage they are better off going with simple names (iPhone, iPhone pro, iPhone Plus, iPhone mini, or even iPhone 6" & 7" etc) followed by the year. So maybe iPhone 6.1" 2018....

Otherwise it's just going to keep getting messy. Double digit numbers are just not going to roll off the tongue as well, plus sound a little stale. An iPhone XS or XL type name won't sound that great realistically as the 'X' is supposed to be pronounce as 'ten' although i keep hearing everyone just saying 'ex' instead (and it sounds cooler). I think having an iPhone 9 range plus an iPhone 11 range would just seem silly when the 10/X was last years model.

Also, with many people not bothering to replace their existing phones as much as they did in years previously, and iPhones basically being all screen from the top down (with a notch at present), it's not going to matter too much what your newest iPhone is called, as no one will specifically notice any difference.
 
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aakshey said:
On second thoughts I’m fairly sure of the below:

11
11+
11c
[doublepost=1534352434][/doublepost]

Least likely scenario IMO.
Click to expand...
I second this. The "iPhone X"-name would in retrospect make the most sense if the X/ten signifies the start of the "new" iPhone line which now get numbers in the two-digit range for the time being.

I'm very doubtful that the 6.1" will get the "iPhone 9" name like some people like to believe: for one, this would mislead people into thinking that it's "between" the iPhone 8/8+ and the X feature- and spec-wise, which most likely won't be true as the A12 will obviously be a better chip than what we currently have in either of those two (and there might be other new features that neither the 8 nor the X have). So it would be unnecessarily misleading and confusing. Secondly, the "9" wouldn't serve as a good foundation for the next years, because where go from there next year? iPhone 9.5? iPhone 9 3/4? These three models/sizes are likely here for some years to stay, and with an "iPhone 9" they would name themselves in a corner.

Having all of this year's iPhones get the number 11 and the appendage after that be the model specification on the other hand would be clear, concise, easy-to-follow and would make for a good setup for the next few years.
 
aakshey said:
Least likely scenario IMO.
Click to expand...
Going by the pattern Apple has with naming their devices I would say the Xs and Xs Plus are following that pattern.
afir93 said:
Having all of this year's iPhones get the number 11 and the appendage after that be the model specification on the other hand would be clear, concise, easy-to-follow and would make for a good setup for the next few years.
Click to expand...
That would be ideal but I don't see it happening.
 
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