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Does Apple need to change the name of the iPhone when it comes time for the iPhone 10 and beyond?

AyeKay15

AyeKay15

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 14, 2015
53
164
It seems that Apple will need to come up a way to move away from the "iPhone" brand and make a new name with a new identity for Apple's newest phone when it comes time. I do not think Apple will keep their current iPhone naming scheme as it is in the next several years. There's no way they are going to keep naming the iPhones by numbers in 2025 or so. That just seems ridiculous. How will Apple address the iPhone going forward after the 10, 11, 12...? Will it come time for Apple to make a "sequel" to the iPhone?
 
AyeKay15 said:
It seems that Apple will need to come up a way to move away from the "iPhone" brand and make a new name with a new identity for Apple's newest phone when it comes time. I do not think Apple will keep their current iPhone naming scheme as it is in the next several years. There's no way they are going to keep naming the iPhones by numbers in 2025 or so. That just seems ridiculous. How will Apple address the iPhone going forward after the 10, 11, 12...? Will it come time for Apple to make a "sequel" to the iPhone?
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They will probably at some point drop the number off the end and keep only the + modifier in the name.

For instance iPhone, iPhone+. Maybe they will reserve the iPhone S for some kind of high end trim.

Then internally they will have their little code like the model identifier in system report on OS X.
 
C DM said:
How does that relate to iPhone naming?
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True that could be how they handle the OS naming.

The all new iPhone+ with iOS 10.6 Snow Leopard. :D
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Qbnkelt said:
I don't mind the current naming convention. It differentiates models. I don't think I would want that to change.
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The look does a perfectly fine job of making sure people know you have the new hotness.
 
Daisy81 said:
True that could be how they handle the OS naming.

The all new iPhone+ with iOS 10.6 Snow Leopard. :D
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The look does a perfectly fine job of making sure people know you have the new hotness.
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Oh I wasn't talking for people. I meant for tech issues, OS/hardware, etc.
 
With the iPads, they had iPad, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad Air, iPad Air 2.

Maybe, if Apple can come out with a way to make the phones even thinner, they can have iPhone Air, then Air 2, etc :)
 
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Daisy81 said:
They will probably at some point drop the number off the end and keep only the + modifier in the name.

For instance iPhone, iPhone+. Maybe they will reserve the iPhone S for some kind of high end trim.

Then internally they will have their little code like the model identifier in system report on OS X.
Click to expand...
They need to do this.

They also need to drop the "Pro" and "Mini" moniker from the iPad line and just go by their screen-sizes. "The 13" iPad" is in no way a pro device just because you can use a (completely optional) stylus with it.
 
They'll probably do what Motorola did with the Moto X,G, and E and go with the year instead. 2025 iPhone or something.
 
kevink2 said:
With the iPads, they had iPad, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad Air, iPad Air 2.

Maybe, if Apple can come out with a way to make the phones even thinner, they can have iPhone Air, then Air 2, etc :)
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I don't think the iPad 3 was called that. I remember it being called the New iPad or iPad with something related to the screen.
 
The new new iPhone :p
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Elisha said:
I don't think the iPad 3 was called that. I remember it being called the New iPad or iPad with something related to the screen.
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The iPad 3 was called the 'New iPad' and the 4th generation was called the 'iPad with Retina display' if I recall.
 
Elisha said:
I don't think the iPad 3 was called that. I remember it being called the New iPad or iPad with something related to the screen.
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You are correct. Originally it was called The New iPad. Then was marketed as ipad 3 when the 4 came out
 
Same stupid way they name the Macs, early 2017, late 2018 etc.
 
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Apple has become conservative as it grows older. More risk adverse than ever, they will retain the iPhone model name without any significant change. That's not bad since the other smartphone manufacturers are more nimble and able to create variety. Plus iPhone is crucial since they represent a full two thirds of Apple’s revenue. That's getting close to having all their eggs in one basket. A practice that's not without its own risks. What the Cupertino Company truly needs is a fresh new product that's not a gadget like Apple Watch. Something that's exciting enough to get people to line up on release day, figuratively speaking.
 
I was thinking about this today. They could actually kind of bring all the naming conventions to a similar spin.

Mac Mini
iMac
Mac Pro

MacBook Air
MacBook
MacBook Pro

iPad mini
iPad
iPad pro

Then if they do release a smaller iPhone

iPhone mini
iPhone
iPhone pro

There's no need to have numbers after it. Just my $.02.
 
Apple should just drop the whole number naming scheme and just identify each new generation by either the year or the generation number itself. They do that with the Macs, they used to do it with the iPads so why not the iPhone?
 
BillyMatt87 said:
Apple should just drop the whole number naming scheme and just identify each new generation by either the year or the generation number itself. They do that with the Macs, they used to do it with the iPads so why not the iPhone?
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I'm thinking marketing probably plays a role in it. People get the message that much more clearly about something new when there's a new number or designation rather than the same name. Also when it competes against other products that have increasing numbers it might make sense to have something like that too to make sure you are also up to pace or ahead of pace even in some ways. Marketing is more about perception than reality.
 
C DM said:
I'm thinking marketing probably plays a role in it. People get the message that much more clearly about something new when there's a new number or designation rather than the same name. Also when it competes against other products that have increasing numbers it might make sense to have something like that too to make sure you are also up to pace or ahead of pace even in some ways. Marketing is more about perception than reality.
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If Apple referred every new iPhone release as "the new iPhone" or "the (generation number here) iPhone," I think people would immediately be able to understand that it's a new model because it's referred as such. People are not that stupid, well I sure hope they're not. That's a much better straightforward marketing strategy and really streamlines everything. Also, why should Apple care about what Samsung, HTC, Nokia, etc. name their phones? Shouldn't Apple be focused on doing their own thing and thinking differently? You know, like what they used to preach during Steve Jobs's tenure as CEO. That's Tim Cook's major flaw, he's overly worried about the competition and appeasing Wall Street which are two things Jobs couldn't care less about. Apple is at their best when they carve out their own path and have everyone else follow their lead, not the other way around which has become the norm under Cook.

Still, the iPhone naming scheme needs an overhaul. The iPhone 7 (which it will most likely end up being called) will actually be the 10th generation iPhone. That's the big problem with all these numbers, they don't really make any sense in the grand scheme of it all. The only time everything aligned perfectly was the iPhone 4 because it was the 4th generation iPhone and it ran iOS 4.
 
BillyMatt87 said:
If Apple referred every new iPhone release as "the new iPhone" or "the (generation number here) iPhone," I think people would immediately be able to understand that it's a new model because it's referred as such. People are not that stupid, well I sure hope they're not. That's a much better straightforward marketing strategy and really streamlines everything. Also, why should Apple care about what Samsung, HTC, Nokia, etc. name their phones? Shouldn't Apple be focused on doing their own thing and thinking differently? You know, like what they used to preach during Steve Jobs's tenure as CEO. That's Tim Cook's major flaw, he's overly worried about the competition and appeasing Wall Street which are two things Jobs couldn't care less about. Apple is at their best when they carve out their own path and have everyone else follow their lead, not the other way around which has become the norm under Cook.

Still, the iPhone naming scheme needs an overhaul. The iPhone 7 (which it will most likely end up being called) will actually be the 10th generation iPhone. That's the big problem with all these numbers, they don't really make any sense in the grand scheme of it all. The only time everything aligned perfectly was the iPhone 4 because it was the 4th generation iPhone and it ran iOS 4.
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Well, like I said, marketing is perception and not reality. What you mentioned is fairly rational, but that plays little role in marketing. I don't know if that's really the reason or how much of a reason it might be if it is, just some of my thinking about it.
 
I'd continue to use current naming convention.
Now they are selling iPhone 5s, 6, and 6s and that's ok. If they change name to "new iPhone" they would be forced to changed its name after an year to continue selling it.
They could use the year, but in 2020 they'd continue to sell iPhone 2018 for example, and it would sound old.
The best naming convention is the current one, a number lasts for two years and it is easy to remember
 
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